Flowers in Hand, Kindergarten

 This is a very cute simple project for Kindergartners.  I found the basic idea for this lesson at Artrageous Afternoon.  This project is based on Picasso's Hands With a Bouquet. 

 To begin this lesson, I had my students trace their hand.  This hand was then cut out and glued to the bottom of the construction paper.  Next, students create tissue paper flowers and glue it to the paper.  Lastly, students draw stems and leaves with oil pastels. 

These are adorable!

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!

Kiln Conundrum

 This week I received a phone call from someone who wanted to donate their old kiln.  This was excitting news, because my school really needed one.  Well, today the kiln came, and at first glance it seemed great.  However, now that I have looked at it closer, there seems to be some problems.  First, it has a bunch of wires sticking out of the front.  I believe this is where the Sitter Controls are supposed to be.  Second, there is no power cord.  I talked to the lady who donated this to me, and she said she had no idea where these parts were.  Most likely I would have to buy these parts.   

At this point I am a little worried about purchasing the parts for this kiln.  It looks like it could be quite expensive, and I am not 100% sure if it will work once I have the parts.  Also, I am not an electrician, and have no idea how to put it together once I received the parts.  I would love everyone's thoughts on this.  Is it worth trying to fix this kiln?

Clay Tile Mural, Part 1

I have been incredibly busy lately. This year, I have decided to create a clay tile mural with my fifth graders. I have never done something like this, and it is quite an undertaking. I have about 130 fifth graders and each one is creating one tile out of clay. The first step was to have my students create their tiles. This mural will be in the style of Keith Haring, so each student created a tile of a person in motion.After creating the tile, I had my students glaze them. Amazingly, this was the hardest part for my students. They struggled to paint the sides and small spaces neatly. If I do this project again someday, I may have them do an underglaze instead. These have not been fired in the kiln yet. I can't wait to see what they look like finished. Eventually, these tiles will be permanently installed on the wall in our cafeteria. This is my first time attempting a project like this. It would have been impossible for me to do without the help of Deep Space Sparkle. She has a wonderful Booklet that you can purchase which explains the entire process of creating a mural like this.

Recycled Robots, 1st Grade

I found this really great lesson on Deep Space Sparkle. This project was all about Recycling, and it was perfect because my students have been learning about being "Green" in Social Studies. The background was done by stamping with a Styrofoam cup. Students then used old pieces of cardboard to create a robot. This robot was then painted with gray paint. Lastly, students used bottle caps, foil, straws, and string to add details to their robots.

Styrofoam Printing, 5th Grade

I have been wanting to do a printmaking lesson for a long time, but have never had the opportunity until now. The brayers and ink are fairly pricey, and in the past I didn't have the budget for it. However, I received a grant last year, and with that money I bought printmaking supplies.
These are just basic Styrofoam prints. We drew onto styrofoam with a pencil, making sure to push hard enough to engrave into the styrofoam. We then printed this design four times onto a piece of white paper.
Overall, I think these turned out GREAT!

Music, 2nd Grade

I have done this lesson many times with many different grades. It is one of my favorites. For this lesson, we focus on Jazz music. I first have my students listen to jazz, and we discuss how music has rhythm and movement. We then discuss how artists can use lines and patterns to show movement and rhythm as well.Students begin by drawing and cutting out a guitar. Then, students cut out smaller shapes to add details and designs to their artwork. During the last ten minutes of class, I allow them to use oil pastels to add final details.