I have a seen a bunch of versions of this on Instagram and Pinterest lately with all different variations in materials and style. I wanted to try it out with my 4th graders in between our clay unit and our stitching unit as a easy drawing and painting project. It was a huge hit!
Teacher Samples by Me 🙂
The first day, we began by measuring the paper into sections and creating horizontal lines. Then students wrote their names in a way that filled up the space and traced over the lines with sharpie.
On the second day, we reviewed warm and cool colors. Students used Crayola Twistables to color in some of their shapes with either warm or cool colors. On the third day, they painted the remaining empty shapes with the opposite color scheme.
After starting and stopping this sculpture project with one of my 5th grade groups, I wanted to rethink the sculpture making process. I took a peek into my Mary-Poppin’s bag of a supply closet (I am always finding some crazy thing in there) and realized I had a ton of empty yarn cones. I also had a lot of pipe cleaners and colored card stock so after playing around with the materials I came up with this sculpture project.
The first day, students had to sketch out their idea and practice their bubble letters. They had to plan out what colors they would be using to paint their cones and for their letters.
The second day, they used metallic versa temp paint to paint their cones.
The next couple of classes were spent drawing and cutting out the bubble letters from colored card stock squares. The toughest part was getting the kids to draw their letters big and wide enough to be taped to a pipe cleaner. So many of the letters ripped apart or just ended up being tiny little spaghetti noodles. Why do kids draw to tiny?!
I taught the kids how to cut out negative space inside of their letters and we used tape to adhere them to pipe cleaners. One kids brilliantly discovered that if you tape the letters to each other the sculpture becomes sturdier. I just love when students problem solve to make a project better.
They could choose any school-appropriate word they want but I encouraged them to do their name, initials, or the name of something that has significant personal meaning. There ended up being an awful lot of Fortnite and Stranger Things inspired sculptures. I guess that is what the youths are into these days.
I would say the majority of these turned out great but the process was rather difficult. Perhaps with less of a time crunch we could have added more details and art knowledge into these. For the last project of their elementary school experience, the 5th grader’s did a nice job overall. Hopefully I will be able to collect enough yarn cones to do this again next year!
This project is based on the one created by @2art.chambers for the Mini Matisse Blog.
Kindergartners practiced their alphabet for this scrumptious project. We began by reading Alpha Oops. Students traced a pie pan circle onto white paper and used oil pastel to draw their letters. Using a mixture of brown, yellow, and gold liquid water color, they painted their “soup”.
Next, the kiddos picked out a piece of construction paper and used crayons to create patterns. They cut and glued their circle along with a plastic spoon (that was spray-painted silver).
3rd graders are finishing up their Collagraph Printing project. This project was extremely awesome and spanned over several weeks. The lesson included planning, production, and even a critique of sorts. We began by talking about Jasper Johns, an artist from Georgia who made prints of letters and numbers. We discussed symbolism and even identified symbols like peace signs, street signs, bathroom signs, etc. Then, students came up with their own symbols with personal meaning.
Next, it was time to create our “plates.” The whole point of Collagraph Printing is that it includes different textures and a variety of materials. Students loved this how-to video. With materials like styrofoam, pipe cleaners, and cardboard, 3rd graders began to build their plates.
Then the real fun/mess began! Students decided on a duo of complementary colors and could make 2 prints. They rolled the ink and carefully placed their plate onto construction paper to create beautiful images.
(Check out that neat-o digital watch!) Printing was a process I was super nervous about but it ended up being very smooth and by the second day of printing, the kids were basically running the show. Only 6 students could print at a time so while those 6 were at the counter with the ink, the rest of the students worked on a color wheel worksheet to reinforce color theory. (Borrowed from this AMAZING website ) I had only 6 printing at a time in the hopes that at the end of the class period it would not look like a rainbow threw up all over my classroom.
Check out the prints!
The last part of this project was an Art Criticism Scavenger Hunt. We talked about how in school, you mostly focus on your own work and hardly ever get to see what other people are doing. In order to foster some good dialogue and conversations, we did this interactive critique. Students arranged their artwork on their tables and walked around the room to find people who had the clue. They collected “autographs” to fill in the graphic organizer. I included clues that are cross-curricular and prompt the students to read and even do math! This activity allowed students to explore their classmate’s artwork. I got the idea for this activity from a seminar I attended which would have otherwise been dreadfully dull. I thought hey, if adults think this is even slightly fun then kids will too. I thought it would be a great way to engage the students and have them reflect on a project and the students loved this activity.
I am extremely glad to be finished with this because now we can move on to our paper chameleons — here is a preview:
4th and 5th graders are also completing their prints and they are coming out quite beautifully. 🙂
Due to field trips, holidays, assemblies, and all kinds of other occurances, some classes end up being behind. I like to keep each class as close to on track as I can so scheduling projects doesn’t become a logistical nightmare. Therefore, I have come up with a few one day lessons that are appropriate and can be adapted for k, 1st, and 2nd graders. I use these lessons for classes that are a little ahead of the others or if we are waiting for our ceramics to be fired in the kiln.
CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM PAINTINGS
This lesson begins with storytime. We read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom which the kids pretty much know by heart.
After the story, students use oil pastels to write the alphabet one letter at a time on their paper. We talk about what words start with the letters and the difference between capital and lowercase letters. Then we use water color paints to paint a coconut tree.
If there is enough time at the end, we watch the song video and then it gets stuck in my head for a week. http://viewpure.com/I4DQlvk6c84
PETER MAX HEART
Students look at hearts painted by one of my all-time favorite artists Peter Max. We talk about warm and cool colors, positive and negative space, and symmetry.
We look around the room to find other things that are symmetrical like human bodies, cabinets, windows, etc. First, we begin by folding a paper in half “hamburger style” then we cut out a “fancy letter C” to make a heart. They set their “positive space” heart off to the side and use their “negative space” heart as a template. With oil pastels, students color on a white piece of paper. When they pull of their “negative space” heart, a perfect heart is left behind!
Kinders were given the option to use any color but 2nd graders had to chose if they wanted their heart to be warm or cool and do the opposite in the background. Students used watercolor paints to fill up their papers with color.
Most art teachers are terrified of teaching graffiti. This is understandable considering the implications of a child going out into the world and actually doing graffiti. It is illegal and vandalism. And most art teachers do not want the blame for when that child becomes a hooligan. I have a true love for street art and believe that in 2012, it is not only a form of contemporary art but a social movement that will be part of history. That being said, when I teach street art, I very dramatically stress the fact that IT IS ILLEGAL TO TAG ANYTHING THAT DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU AND YOU WILL GET ARRESTED AND GO TO JAIL!!!!!!!I make this very clear to students. When we look at pictures of street art (we looked at tags and work by Banksy for this lesson) there are always a couple students who ask “did those artists go to jail?” and I slyly answer, “No, because they got permission of course.” This is obviously not true — the very nature of street art is one of anarchy and belligerence. But I am not teaching kids to be belligerent anti-society vandals; I am teaching them about modern pop art and how they can use the style to express themselves.
We talked about the style of graffiti letters, how they are not always easy to read (it was fun to try and untangle some of the tags I showed them as a class) how artists use embellishments like arrows and curvy wavy lines. We started off by drawing the letters regular. Then we turned them into bubble letters. Last was the fun part of adding graffiti details. Students had to use a variety of patterns and shapes to fill the space and I reminded students to make their compositions balanced.
Some students struggled with what to add but when I asked them what kinds of things they like to do, they were quick to add basketballs, pencils, flowers, headphones, and even magnets (from a kids who loves science). We painted using INTERMEDIATE COLORS of liquid watercolors. Students had to paint with contrasting colors. I urged the students to experiment with mixing colors and blending or splattering the paint. This was an overall successful project that the kids really connected with.
