Cultural Landscapes, 4th Grade

This was an art integrated lesson that was co-taught with the librarian at my school.  In library, the students researched a country of their choosing.  They also wrote about their country.  Then in art, the students drew a landscape of that country.  I borrowed a few Chromebooks and library books, so students could research the features of their country's landscape. 

Using observational skills, students drew landscapes using photos as reference. Students drew in pencil, outlined in marker, and painted with watercolors.

Each one turned out different, and the students are so proud of them!  This is one of my favorite assignments from this school year!  We will be displaying these at International Night at my school.  

Face Pots, 5th Grade

My fifth graders have been working hard on their clay pots in the last few weeks.  To begin, I showed my students this History Detectives Video, by PBS, to introduce the history of face pots.  This video explains how face pots can be traced back to African Americans during the mid 1800's.    

 I then taught my students how to create a clay pot by making slabs.  Students added details to their face pot, and I taught them to score and slip all added pieces. 

These are looking great so far.  After these are out of the kiln, we will be glazing them.

Paper Masks, 4th Grade

 I have taught this lesson many times, and my students always love it.  We begin by looking at masks from around the world.  Then students construct a paper mask using paper, scissors, and glue.  I generally allow my students to create anything (animal, monster, or person).  However, every mask must have, eyes, nose, mouth, and other details.

These turned out great this year!

Styrofoam Prints, 3rd Grade

I love printmaking lessons, and this year I decided to try styrofoam printing with my 3rd graders. This year I managed to get a hold of four printing brayers and printing ink, which was exciting for us.  It has been a few years since I have been able to teach styrofoam printing. 

 To begin this lesson, we looked at Adrinka Cloths from Ghana.  Students used this as their inspiration for their designs.  Students then carved into Styrofoam to create their designs, and printed them four times.

These turned out great! and the students loved the printing process!

Paper Masks, 5th Grade

 This lesson focused on symmetry.  Students created a symmetrical mask by cutting paper.

 I LOVE the detail in these!

5th Grade, Egyptian Pharaohs

 This was a very popular lesson with my fifth graders.  We created Egyptian Pharaoh sarcophaguses after discussing the history and art of Egypt.  These were drawn with oil pastels and painted with tempera paint.

Indian Elephants, 4th Grade

These Indian Elephants were inspired from several elephant lessons that I found online.  One was MaryMaking and the other was, Painted Paper.

 To begin this lesson, we talked about the importance of Elephants in the Indian culture.  I also showed my students images of decorated elephants from the Indian Elephant Festival, which is an annual event in India.

To draw our elephants, I showed my students step by step how to draw an elephant.  After this, my students used a Crayola washable marker to trace their elephant.  Once the elephant was traced, students used water and a paintbrush to do a simple wash over the elephant.  This turned the marker into a simple watercolor.  Next, students cut their elephants out and glued it to their paper.  Lastly, students used oil pastels and construction paper to decorate their elephants.

These turned out WONDERFUL!  I just love them!

Adinkra Style Prints, 4th Grade

This lesson was based on Adinkra Symbols, which are traditional symbols from Ghana.  I began this lesson by showing my students different symbols and their meanings.  Here is a website where you can find Adinkra Symbols and their meanings.  For this lesson, I gave my students the choice of either choosing an actual Adinkra symbol, or making up their own. 

The symbol was drawn on a piece of Styrofoam.  It is important to make sure the students are carving deep  into the Styrofoam.  Many of my students were drawing too lightly. Next, students printed their stamp onto a piece of construction paper.  I had them print their design four times.  After this is finished, they used pastels to draw an interesting boarder. 

These turned out great. 

Mexican Bark Paintings, 3rd Grade

I've seen this lesson posted on many blogs in the past. Most recently I found it on MaryMaking. These paintings were done on crumpled up brown paper, to mimic the look of Mexican bark paintings.  Traditional bark paintings were painted on bark which had been boiled in water and beaten until smooth.

 Students drew their drawings in crayon first.  Then, we crumpled the paper to give it the look of bark.  Lastly, I gave my students tempera cakes to paint their paper.  This lesson was done in quick one hour class.

Mexican Hats, 5th Grade

 I found this really cool Sombrero lesson on Flikr, and just had to give it a try.  For this lesson, I had each student draw a large sombrero.  Then students used oil pastels to draw patterns and designs on the hats. To finish the hat, students painted it with watercolors. Students then used tan or brown paper to draw a simple face.  These faces were then glued to the hat. 

These are very FUN!

Chinese Dragons, 4th Grade

I've taught this lesson many times in the past, and it is always a favorite with my students. I originally found this lesson on The Incredible Art Department. For wonderfully detailed instructions on this project, just click on the link above. These are very fun!

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.

Chinese Gold Fish, 5th grade

I did this project several months ago, but I forgot to post on it. I did this lesson with my fifth graders because I wanted them to learn to loosen up when they paint. Often, I find that they are so worried about making a mistake, that they don't know how to paint freely and loosely. For this lesson, we focused on Chinese Gold Fish Paintings. If you search in google images, you can find lots of examples of these. Chinese goldfish paintings tend to be very loose, and the artist does not usually sketch the fish out ahead of time.
For this lesson, my students could NOT draw with pencil. Everything had to be sketched with paint. We used liquid watercolors, but you could also use India Ink or regular watercolors. My students painted the fish first, and the seaweed second. All mistakes had to be fixed with paint. An accidental drip of paint could become a bubble, or even extended into seaweed. I told my students that, "Our goal is to make our mistakes look like they were done on purpose." I really like the loose free brush strokes in these paintings.

Chinese Dragons, 4th Grade

Recently, my fourth graders have been reading Chinese stories for their Language Arts class. Therefore, this was a wonderful time to do a Chinese Dragon lesson. Before beginning this lesson, we discuss the differences between Chinese and Medieval Dragons. We look at pictures of both, and compare and contrast them. This would also be a wonderful lesson to do for the Chinese New Years.
I have done this lesson several times before, but originally, I found this lesson on The Incredible Art Department. If you click on the link, there are wonderfully detailed instructions for this project.
All kids LOVE dragons, so this project is a hit every time. They look really cool on the walls too.

Indian Elephants, 3rd Grade

I absolutely LOVE this lesson, and NO I can not take credit for this one. I stole it from Painted Paper, which is an awesome blog by the way. I had to simplify this lesson a bit in order to get it done in one hour, but I think they turned out quite nice. To begin with, I had the students draw an elephant on grey paper. Students then cut the elephants out. After this, students used sponges with black and white paint to add texture. Next, we glued the elephant to construction paper. Students then used colored paint to add designs to their elephants. Many students even decorated the border of the paper. Lastly, students glued gems to their elephants. In order to keep students from using too many gems, I limited them to only six. I told the students, "when it comes to sparkly things, less is more."

Cave Paintings, 4th Grade

I found this basic idea on Artolazzi. Except instead of focusing on Lascaux, I had my students look at cave paintings from the Anasazi Indians, which was an ancient Pueblo tribe in the Southwest of the United States.
I began by having the students tear the edges of the paper to make it look old. Then students drew a few simple hills and other symbols on their page. Students then made their own animal stencils. (I did allow students to share their stencils after they were made). Students used their stencils in two ways. First, they used chalk to outline a few of their animals. Second, students used sponge painting as a different way to use the stencil. Lastly, I used a spray bottle full of paint to put their hand prints on the page.

I did show students examples of cave paintings with hand prints on them. I don't know why the cave painters put hand prints on the wall, but my class theorized that maybe it was kind of like signing your art when its finished. I liked this explanation, but have no idea if that is the real reason or not.
For the most part, I really like the results. Next time, however, I will have them think more about placement of the stencils. Many of them became very random and cluttered. It would have been good for me to talk a little more about composition. Next time, I will perhaps talk about using their symbols and animals as a way to tell a story.

Cherry Blossoms, 5th Grade

Once again, I have stolen a lesson from another blog. I just don't know what I would do if there wasn't such an awesome community of art bloggers. Anyway, this has been posted on several sites, but I saw it origianlly from Oodles of Art . I began this lesson by showing students examples of Chinese art. Many had trees very similar to this.

We began by doing a light watercolor background on our paper. When that was dry, we were ready to start the branches. I began by having the students put piles of paint on the sides of their paper. (I used a mixture of tempra and liquid watercolors for the paint). We then used straws to blow the paint out. The paint will then move out in many different directions creating these trees. Students will have to periodically add more paint to make this work. Finally, we used a Q-tip to add flowers to the Cherry Blossom Trees.

These just turned out GREAT!

Chinese Dragons- 4th Grade

This was my Chinese New Years lesson. Originally, I was going to do this lesson a while ago, but we had a snow day on the real Chinese New Years. Better Late than never though!
This was such a fun exciting project to do with the students, and the kids LOVE it! Basically, we drew a head on one piece of paper and a tail on another. I did give students basic instruction on how to draw this. We then cut both the head and the tail out. After that, we used long strips of paper and did an accordion fold for the middle. I found this lesson on The Incredible Art Department, which is an awesome website by the way. If you need detailed instructions, please visit that website. The link above will take you directly to this lesson. It does a nice job explaining everything step by step.

I can't even express how much I LOVE these! They look even cooler in person.

Japanese Landscapes, 3rd Grade

I was looking through my photos from last year, and I found this project. I had almost forgotten about this lesson, and was quite excitted to find these photos tucked away in a file on my computer. The focus of this lesson was artwork of Japan. I started this lesson by showing my students both Japanese architecture and art. We then used this as inspiration to create our own Japanese landscapes. I originally found this idea on the Incredible Art Department.

Basically, I had the students draw at least five hills onto their papers. I showed the students how to do this. Then I asked the students to create a Japanese Palace on one of the top hills. (I showed students various ways to make their buildings look Japanese). Then students were asked to either add a river or a road into their pictures. Finally, students were asked to draw a farmers house and a few crops. To complete our drawings, everything was colored with oil pastels. A small piece of black paper was glued to the top and bottom to make it look like a scroll.

I just love the results of this project!