Dia de los Muertos

Hello there!

This is the first time I have tried this lesson, inspired by a few *wonderful* art educators on Instagram! Fourth grade artists are studying Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead!

After having a conversation about the celebration, we began painting the skull, and creating a ton of painted, textured paper to use! 

The second class (that was today!) we began by looking at examples of the incredible parades and figures that make Dia de los Muertos so beautiful, and made a list of details to add to our skulls from what we observed. I even had a kind student bring in one of his favorite graphic novels - Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier - which features the celebration! We used the painted paper we created the previous week, and began our details! We haven't even begun to add the smaller details yet, but I am too excited about this lesson to not post a progress entry! Once they are complete, I'll post finished images :)

Here are some progress pics:

This artist brought in a rock she painted with a Calavera!

Look how organized they left the scraps! Warms my Art teacher heart!

Thanks for stopping by-  come back soon to see the finished products! :) 

Hello Artists!
It has been almost two full years since I've been on this little blog! Holy smokes! It's crazy how time gets away from you - it feels like I posted those Lichtenstein-inspired works a week ago! Well, in the words of Eve 6, "Don't look back, the past is just that." 

Presently, it is my SIXTH year teaching Art! I am at two elementary schools, and a lot has changed! I have been at one school since I began teaching, but my second school is a bit new to me - this is my second year there. I have officially taught at every elementary school in the district! 

School began just a couple weeks ago, and now that we're settling in, I thought it would be the perfect time to bring back the blog. Below you'll see a few of my favorite parts from both of my rooms. I have gotten so many ideas from so many fantastic Art educators! (I will do my research and credit everyone asap!) Thank you Cassie Stephens for the new Art room rules! :) I'm excited to continue this journey with you, and thank you for stopping by!

 Here is room #2! A bit smaller, but it has so much charm! :)

Lichtenstein-Inspired Self-Portraits

Hello there! 
This is a first-time lesson (Update: lesson plan from The Art of Education <3)! In third grade, we create onomatopoeias inspired by Roy Lichtenstein. In this lesson, fourth grade takes it a step further by adding their self-portraits into the mix! I took pictures of the students, printed out the faces, and had the artists trace their most prominent features with sharpie on clear transparency paper! We then used only primary colors on the portraits, and of course, included Ben Day dots. The students LOVED the process of creating the portraits, and working with this medium for the first time! The results are great, and the process was super fun! Click the pics to enlarge!

Thanks for checking this out!! =)

Monochromatic experiment

Hello there!
This (first-time) lesson was to reinforce a bit of color theory with a third grade class (thanks Pinterest!). They are getting the hang of creating monochromatic artworks again, and this was their first time mixing their own tints and shades without my guidance. There was a lot of trial and error, where students were making the same shade over and over, so they had to figure out how to fix their "problem" of sorts without my help! I have never done it this way before, but it was very cool seeing them talk it out with their table-mates! 
We also talked a little about abstract art. Before we started painting, the goal was to take a certain amount of painter's tape, and create the word "ART" on their paper in any way they could. I tried to really stay back and have them figure this out (though it was difficult for me to be so hands-off!).  They loved pulling the tape off after the paint dried! I really like the results for a first-time Art lesson, and I think the kids really learned a lot, just by working through the challenges they encountered! Definitely will do this one again.  Click the pics to enlarge!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Jasper Johns Initials

Hello there,

Thanks for checking back in! This week, fourth grade artists were finishing up their Jasper Johns- inspired Art lesson. (shout out to my awesome colleague for the idea!) In this lesson, they needed to use their overlapping initials to create an abstract artwork (much like JJ's overlapping numbers), using only primary color oil pastels. They were required to use secondary colors, but only achieving them by mixing the primaries. Drawing out their initials seemed to be the toughest part, since the letters needed to touch every side of the 9x9 inch paper! Creative problem solving definitely played a role in this project! I think they came out beautifully! 

Can you spot all three initials in their work?

Here are some exceptional examples~

Pretty sweet!! Thanks for stopping by!

Miro!

So, full disclosure, this is a Pinterest art project. I know, I know, how unoriginal, but lordy did they turn out cool! Kinder kids learned about Miro and his artwork, "Cat encircled by the flight of a bird". I was AMAZED that the students understood there was a bird and cat in the painting, and they all agreed there was a lot of motion going on in the image. I was really surprised how quickly they caught on without even knowing the name of the painting! 

This was a lesson on line, shape, and primary colors. The young artists also had to dabble in cutting and gluing, which is getting better with practice! 
They needed to include 5 lines, a "starburst", and six circles, however they wanted. We then used water to brush over the marker, and it created a painterly effect.
The kinders really enjoyed this lesson, and they loved talking about his artwork!
Here are some examples: 

 Thank you for checking this out, see you soon!