I love Blogging!

When I began this blog, I didn't think anyone would ever read it. The main reason I began the blog was to organize my lessons and photos. I figured if my lesson ideas were on the internet, I wouldn't loose them. Anyway, I am constantly amazed that people are actually reading it, and best of all, through this blog, I have been able to be connected with other art teachers. Being an art teacher is often a very solitary career, and blogging has become my way of staying in touch with other art teachers.I am just constantly amazed that people from all over the world take the time to read my blog. Recently, I received an email from Labbé, a german family-run publishing house who wanted to do a short interview with me, and include my blog on their website. I am incredibly flattered that anyone in Germany would care about me or my blog. Anway, here is the link to their Blog Portrait: For those like me, who don't speak German, just translate it through google. The internet is a wonderful thing!

(By the way: the pictures here have absolutely nothing to do with this post. I just hate posting without a picture.)

Lizards, 3rd Grade

A few months ago, I saw this on the Painted Pear , and I just had to try it. My students absolutely LOVED this project. Some of them have gone home and taught their brothers and sisters how to make these as well. If you want directions, they are written out on the Painted Pear.
My favorite thing about these lizards was displaying them in the hall. We have been joking around about how we have a "lizard infestation in our school, and we might need to call an exterminator." The kids are getting a kick out of it.

Fall Trees, Pre-K

The little Pre-K kids are adorable, but I sometimes struggle to come up with good developmentally appropriate lessons for these little ones. I am always praying that my lesson won't end up being a disaster. However, I think this one was perfect for them. I began by giving each child a pre-cut tree trunk. They then used a glue stick to glue it to the middle of their paper. After this, I gave each child a small green piece of paper with short lines drawn on it. I then had the students use scissors to cut the lines for grass. (Make it clear that they are not to cut the entire strip off. It is suppose to have a frayed look.) Many of my little ones have a hard time with scissors, but this was great practice for them. Since they were only cutting straight lines, most did a great job. After this, they glue the grass to their picture. Lastly, students make leaves using their finger prints. I handed out sponges with red and yellow paint on top. This was kind of like a hand made stamp pad. It kept the kids from having too much paint on their fingers.
I think these turned out great. I know that they absolutely loved putting their fingers in the paint! Days after, they were still talking about it.

The Southwest, 4th Grade

Okay, so I know I posted on this project last year, but I LOVE the results, so I thought I would post some pics again. I do this project every year when the fourth grade students study the different regions of the United States. It is just a fun way to depict the Southwest region. To begin, I have the students draw sand dunes, cacti, and an expressive sun on black paper. I do emphasize that I want everything drawn fairly large, and that things can overlap. (For instance, the cactuses can go all the way into the sky). Otherwise, they will draw tini tiny. This time, I had the students use oil pastels to color everything in. In the past, I have had them use soft pastels instead. Both work nice, just a slightly different look. Many of my students love to mix colors, which I love, but sometimes they don't think before they blend colors together. Before letting them color, I brought out the color wheel, and explained the concept of analogous colors. I told them that if they mix colors next to each other on the color wheel, they will never end up with a hideous color. I also tell them that complimentary colors look wonderful next to each other, but not as wonderful on top of each other.
The final step to this project is to outline everything with black glue. I basically just take regular glue and mix in black paint. Students have to be very careful when outlining with the glue. They should not squeeze the bottle to hard, or huge globs may come out.

Blog Award...Wow...

I was excited to find out that my blog has been included on the Top Teacher Blog List. I am not sure how I was lucky enough to be chosen for the award, but I was excited to find out about this.

Teacher Salary Info

Patterns, Kindergarten

This was a super fun and easy kindergarten lesson. I loved this lesson because it was a simple but fun way to teach the concept of patterns to my little kinders. To begin this lesson, I had the students divide their paper into six sections. Then I had the students use oil pastels to draw a pattern in each section. I emphasized that it needed to be a pattern, and not just random designs. Lastly, students used a light watercolor wash over the whole thing. (I had them paint each section a different color).

These turned out great. I think they came up with quite interesting patterns too!

Totem Poles, 5th Grade

These Totem Poles were lots of fun for my fifth graders. To begin this project, I showed them photos of real totem poles. We discussed that often the animals on the totem pole were representation of family or tribe members. The Native Americans often associated themselves to one specific animal. For this project, I asked the students to choose an animal that they felt they identified with. (Students chose everything from birds to fish). Each child created one animal which became one piece of our large class totem poles.
I found the idea for this lesson on Thomas Elementary Art, except instead of painting, I had my students use construction paper. To begin this project, I had my students choose a piece of large construction paper. They then folded it in half "hot dog style," and cut the sides to make interesting shapes. The rest of the mask was made from my construction paper scrap box. Students used small scraps to cut out eyes, nose, mouth, and designs. For this project, I emphasized overlapping shapes and colors. For example: To make an eye, they could use one color for the eye shape, and then cut out a second color for the eye ball.
I absolutely LOVE the outcome of this project! They look absolutely wonderful hanging tall in the hallway.