Falling Through Space, 5th Grade

I have done this lesson many times, but this year the results are better than ever before.  This year, we had more time to do this project, and therefore their drawings had more detail.  This lesson focuses on the concept of foreshortening.  This is a hard concept for even experienced artists, so to make it simpler, we traced our hands and feet.  The other details were drawn in after.

 I found the idea for this lesson years ago on the blog Oodles of Art.  Over the years, I have adapted this lesson, and this year the results are amazing.

 I just LOVE these!

Musical Art, 5th Grade

 I did this project a few weeks ago with my third graders, but I loved it so much that I did it again with my fifth graders. These are our Jazz Paintings.  Students drew one large instrument, and then added designs to create motion.  Everything was then painted in tempera paint.  If you are looking for a good cross curricular lesson, this lesson ties into Science.  Students generally learn about sound and sound waves in science. My students learn about this near the end of the year, but talk to the classroom teacher and find out when they will be covering this topic.  It is always nice when art integrates into the other subjects.

These turned out wonderful!

Symmetrical Butterflies, 1st Grade

 This is a very cute simple art lesson.  I started by having my students fold their paper in half, "hot dog style."  Then, students drew half of a butterfly with oil pastel.  Next, students folded their paper so their design was now on the inside, like a sandwich.  Students then rubbed their paper until the design was copied onto the opposite side of their paper.  Once the butterfly was drawn, students used watercolors to paint. 

These are very pretty. 

Music, 3rd Grade

 In science class, the students have been learning about sound, so I thought this would be a great time to create music art.  To introduce this project, we discussed how sound has movement.  We also discussed ways to create movement in art.  For this project, I asked students to draw one large instrument.  After this, students added movement to their drawing by drawing lines, patterns, and shapes. 

Once the drawing was completed, I had the students paint the background.  They could only choose one color.  After the background, I had my students choose a color for their instrument.  For this, I had my students think about warm and cool colors.  If their background was cool, then they had to choose a warm color for their instrument.  If their background was warm, they had to choose a cool color for their instrument.  Once their instrument was painted, students worked on painting the other details in their picture.  Lastly, students used black paint to outline.  

I just love these!  They are so fun and colorful. 

Rainy Days, Kindergarten

 My Kindergarten students have been learning about weather in their science class.  I thought this was a great time to do a rain art lesson.  I began this lesson by handing out stencils for the umbrellas.  The umbrellas were traced with pencil and colored with pastels.  The rainy background was done with liquid watercolors.  I encouraged the students to paint in vertical lines, so that it looked more like rain.  Some students got this, some did not.  However, they all turned out great anyway.

Starry Night on the Moon, 3rd Grade

 The third grade teachers asked me if I could create an art lesson about space, since they are studying space in science class.  Throughout the years, I have done many outer-space lessons with my students and I was somewhat tired of the typical space lesson.  So after a little bit of thinking, I decided I wanted to do Starry Night space lesson.

 For this lesson, I showed my students Van Gogh's Starry Night.  I then asked them how Starry Night might be different if Van Gogh was standing on the moon.  They told me that on the moon they would be able to see other planets, space ships, and maybe even aliens.  I then asked them to draw these things.  My students colored their drawings with oil pastels and then painted the sky with watercolors.

I just love the creativity in these.

Constellations, 4th Grade

 Recently, the fourth grade teachers asked me if I could do a lesson on constellations with the fourth graders.  They had been studying space in science, and they thought it would be wonderful to tie it into art as well.  I had taught space lessons many times, but had never done a lesson that included constellations.  This is the lesson that I came up with.  

We began by splattering white paint onto a black piece of paper for stars.  Next, I asked my students to look at the stars and create a constellation.  Students used gold brads which was pushed into the paper to create their constellation.  Then, students used a piece of white string to "connect the dots" and finish the constellation.  At the end of class, students gave their constellation a name.  After this, students used oil pastels to draw planets, comets, astroids, space ship, and other space objects.

I am quite proud of these!  They turned out wonderful.

Fish, Kindergarten

 These adorable fish were made by my kindergartners.  They drew and colored the fish with oil pastels and then painted the background with blue watercolors. 

Space, 5th Grade

 My fifth graders have recently been studying space in science class.  To tie my art lesson into this, we created these really cool space paintings.  I began by having my students splatter paint stars onto a black piece of paper.  After this, I had my students draw a rocket ship, planets, or aliens on white paper.  These were then painted with watercolors.  Next, everything was cut out and glued to the black paper. 

 I think these turned out wonderful!

Space, 5th Grade

My fifth graders have recently been studying space in science class, so I thought I would use this theme in my art class as well. This is an idea I found on the blog SmART Class.To begin this project, I had my students splatter paint stars. While this was drying, I taught my students to draw a rocket on a white piece of paper. Students also drew planets. Everything was then outlined with a black crayon, and painted with liquid watercolors. After this, these were cut out and glued to the black construction paper. This lesson was completed in one 75 minuted class.

Tornadoes, 5th Grade

This is a fun tornado lesson that I did with my fifth graders. I've done this lesson before, but it has been a few years.
This is a very simple lesson. Basically, we used cotton batting to form the tornado. Then we dug into my scrap paper box to create the rest of the picture. During the last 10 minutes of the lesson, I handed out oil pastels to add details. I just love the creativity in these pictures.

Volcanoes, 5th Grade

I found this really cool artist online recently. Her name is Margarate Godfrey, click on the link to see her blog. I used this artist as inspiration for a volcano lesson with my fifth graders. Here is what my fifth graders created.For the volcano, we used scraps of construction paper and tissue paper. These were collaged and glued to the paper. The lava was made with liquid water colors. We used a straw to blow the liquid watercolors. This made the liquid watercolors spread in random directions, which looked more like real lava. The sky was then painted with blue and purple watercolor paints.

Space, 1st Grade

I have been doing a lot of space themed lessons recently. This is my first grade space project. Basically, my students used a black crayon to draw planets, stars, moons, suns, aliens, etc. Next all of these things were colored with oil pastels. I emphasize the importance of coloring neatly and dark, since the paint will stick to all things that are left as plain white paper. Finally, I gave my students blue and black watercolor paints to paint the sky.
I think adding a little blue in the background, makes these space pictures look more authentic.

Space, 2nd Grade

Recently I had my second graders created these beautiful space pictures. To begin, I had my students draw small white stars onto black paper. Next, students drew planets, space ships, aliens, ect. on white paper. These were then cut out and glued to their black paper.
My students love this project every year. I swear my students have more knowledge about space than I do. Throughout this project, students were telling me random facts about planets, stars, and NASA.
This very simple project had wonderful results.

Falling Through Space, 5th Grade

This is one of my favorite projects, and my fifth graders look forward to it every year. This lesson is a wonderful way to teach the concept of foreshortening. Quite a long time ago, I found this lesson on Oodles of Art, and I have used it many times since. My students start by tracing their hands and feet. After this, they draw their head, neck, arms, and legs. I then have my students outline everything in black marker and color with oil pastels. Next, I have them cut the entire thing out, and glue it to large black paper. Stars and planets are drawn with oil pastels.We really have to rush in order to get this project done, in our 75 minute art block. I usually warn my students that they will have to work harder in this one class than they ever have before. Most of them will work extra hard because they LOVE this project. For those of you who are fortunate enough see your students every week, you will want to dedicate several classes for this project.

I absolutely love the way these look when they are hung together!

Dinosaur Super Heroes, 2nd Grade

This was a fun project I did with my second graders this week. In science class, the second graders have been learning about dinosaurs, and in reading they have been reading stories about super heroes. So, I thought I would combine the two, and do Dinosaur Super Heroes in our art class. We drew dinosaurs and gave them super powers. I love how creative my students are. Each dinosaur had a super power. Some could fly, some could become invisible, some could shoot water from their mouths. The ideas my students came up with were endless. To begin this project, I had my students draw everything in pencil. Once they had their drawing they way they liked, they outlined everything with a black crayon. (I am big on having my students outline everything before coloring). After this, they colored everything with oil pastels. Lastly, the sky was painted with watercolors. My students just LOVED this project! I mean 2nd graders love dinosaurs, and they love super heroes, so this project was a huge hit.

Dinosaurs, 2nd Grade

This was a fun lesson that I found on The Artist Woman. This lesson was perfect because the second graders are currently studying dinos in science class. It's great when I find awesome lessons that just happen to tie into the curriculum. To begin this project, I had the students use liquid watercolors to paint the sunset on a white piece of paper. After this, I gave each child some black paper. Students drew dinosaurs, and cut them out. When they are done with the dinos, then they cut out a long piece for the ground. (FYI: The biggest issue I had was getting the students to draw big enough. A few of them drew so small that they couldn't cut it out. You may want to emphasize that they should draw big.)This lesson was incredibly easy, but they turned out AWESOME! Plus, all kids love dinosaurs, so they were totally into this project.