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.

Totem Poles, 5th Grade

My fifth graders have recently been studying Native American culture in history class, so I thought it was time to create Totem Poles again. Last year, I did this same project with my students. It was such a success, I decided to do them again. Each child made one piece of the totem pole. When hung, we have several large totem poles.

Winter Trees, 3rd Grade

These beatiful winter trees were created by my third graders. I found this wonderful lesson idea on Elementary Artists, which is a blog I recently discovered through Pinterest.

This is a very simple lesson. I began by teaching my students to draw a "Y" tree. Students then chose three colors. These three colors were used to color the trunk and the branches. Lastly, students used a Q-tip to paint snow. I just LOVE these!

Snowflake Quilt, 3-5th Grade

This lesson focused on radial symmetry. Each student painted one snowflake. We began by folding the paper into eight lines. Each line became one point of the snowflake. Students then decorated their snowflakes with shapes and lines. The only rule was that it had to be symmetrical. After the snowflakes were painted, students created patterns around the boarder. These turned out great, but I can not take full credit for this lesson. I found the idea from an image on Flickr.

Snowmen, 1st Grade

Here are a few snowmen that my first graders created this week.
I LOVE the details.

Ten Black Dots, Kindergarten

This lesson was based off of the book Ten Black Dots, which is part of the Kindergarten math curriculum in my school system. The Kindergarten teachers asked me if I could create an art lesson to go with this book, since they were going to read this book to the kids. I began this lesson by reading Ten Black Dots. I then asked each child to choose a few dots, which I had pre-cut before class. I challenged them to turn the black dots into something. For example; The black dot could be the wheel on a car, or the eyes of an animal. They drew first in black crayon, and then added color.These turned out adorable!

Falling Through Space, 5th Grade

This is a wonderful project that I have done many times with my fifth graders. It's a great way to teach the idea of foreshortening. It's actually quite simple. We begin by tracing our hands and feet. I then demonstrate how to draw the rest of the body. Finally we color everything with oil pastel, and the background is painted with watercolor.

Every year I LOVE the results.

Hamburgers, Pre-K

I have done this lesson several times before, but never with my little Pre-K children. One day last week my art schedule was suddenly changed, and I found myself having to come up with a last minute lesson for my Pre-K children. Usually I spend a lot of time preparing lessons, especially for Pre-K, since they often need things cut ahead of time. When I began thinking about the things I had in my classroom, I remembered I had a lot of leftover cardboard, felt, and string, from last year's Hamburger lesson with my first graders. This was perfect because most of the materials were already cut to the right size. That is how this fun Pre-K project came to be; all I had to do was simplify my first grade lesson. In the quick 30 minutes before school started, I had created a last minute lesson that turned out really well.
Every few months, the Pre-K children focus on a specific theme. This month's is; My Five Senses. I think this lesson fit very well into that theme.

Scarecrows, 1st Grade

A few years ago, I found this cool lesson on Deep Space Sparkle, and I have done this lesson with my students many times. The background was done with oil pastels and watercolors. The the scarecrows were made with paper, yarn, and a popsicle stick.I think these are super cute!

Melted Crayons

Friday was Parent Teacher Conference day. This is a day that I enjoy every year, because as the art teacher, I have few conferences and can spend the day working in my room. This year I decided to experiment with old crayons. Recently, I have seen quite a few melted crayon ideas on Pinterest, and I decided it was time for me to try this.
This is really simple to do. Basically, I used a hot glue gun to attach crayons to the top of foam-core. Then I used a heat gun to melt the crayons. I have also heard that a hair dryer can melt the crayons too, it would just take a little longer.

Fall Bulletin Board

I love creating bulletin boards. Here is my fall bulletin board. I put this up about two weeks before Halloween.

Clay

I teach a Saturday clay class with kids between 5-9 nears old. I am horrible at remembering to take pictures of their work, but here are a couple photos I took last Saturday.

We've done a little bit of everything in this class, but the birds are my favorite. I found the idea for that lesson on Mrs. Pector's website.

Fall Still Life, 3rd Grade

These simple still lifes were made with oil pastels. We drew pumpkins, apples, and corn on white paper. I encouraged my students to experiment with blending analogous colors (colors next to each other on the color wheel). After this, these were cut out and glued to construction paper. I think these turned out rather well.

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.

Blue and White Plaster Bowls, 4th Grade

These were made using plaster gauze, and a plastic bowl for a mold. The great thing about plaster is that it dries really quickly. This entire lesson was done in one 75 minute class. To begin, I have the students rub liquid dish soap inside the plastic bowl. This helps keep the plaster from sticking to the bowl. Then, we dipped plaster gauze strips into water, and laid it flat into the bowl. I had my students do 3 layers of plaster gauze inside their bowls. Next, I had my students use blue paint to create a design inside their bowl. Because of time restraints, I had them do this while the plaster was still slightly damp. I let these dry overnight before popping them out of the mold. Lastly, I sprayed them with a clear sealer to keep the paint from chipping. I absolutely love plaster gauze, and will have to come up with other uses for it in the future.

Leaf Prints, Kindergarten

This is a very simple project that I do every year with my kindergartners. For this project, we used real leaves. To do this, we painted the back of the leaf. Then we turned it over, and stamped it to the paper. For the background, we used a sponge and tempera paint.
These turned out great, and look even better in person.

Patterned Owls, 1st Grade

This is a very simple and adorable project. I began by teaching my students to draw an owl (they used black crayon for this). Next, I gave them oil pastels to draw patterns inside their owl. (Pastels were also used to draw stars). I then gave my students red, yellow, and orange liquid watercolors to paint their owl. Lastly, they were given black watercolor for the sky.

These are super cute!

Flowers in a Vase, 1st Grade

This is my second time posting on this lesson. I did this lesson with 3rd graders just a few weeks ago. I liked the results, so I decided to try it with my little 1st graders. I originally found this lesson on Deep Space Sparkle. I began this lesson by teaching my students how to cut and draw a symmetrical vase. The designs on the vase were drawn with a Qtip and blue paint. Lastly, I taught my students several ways to paint flowers.
I think these turned out nice.