Fabulous Fish
A Fine Kettle Of Fish
Green Fish
Brown Fish
Two Fish
Three Fish
School of Fish
My second graders do an “intro to slab construction” clay project. For the last ten thousand years or so it’s been a spoon holder in the shape of a gingerbread person. I got a little tired of those, so this is the first year of “Fish Dishes” instead! I think they’re pretty great, too.
We rolled slabs, cut a free-form fish (no templates… yes, Mrs. A works without a net.) added texture and details like gill cover, lateral line and rays. Then we turned them over on bowls for a slightly concave shape and added little feet to the bottoms for a little elevation. I’m pretty impressed – I think they’re “keepers”!
Markers!?
Markers are driving me crazy!!
Seems like I search and search to find good quality markers that last, and when I do, they become unavailable somehow. Last year I ordered the cheap ones from School Specialty and was horribly disappointed in the longevity and overall quality. They came apart, lids didn’t stay on, some were dried up when they were new, and they just didn’t last. That, and I didn’t realize that they were “smelly” markers, which kids love, but I hate because the focus shifts from the artwork to opening and sniffing all the colors. (Frequently resulting in multicolored noses.)
So here’s my research project. I ordered a pack or two of every type of marker I could find, and I’m dumping them all together in mixed-up baskets. We’ll see who lives the longest. It’s a showdown in the wild west, folks! Place your wagers!
And The Crowd Went WILD!
Yep – that’s me! Ever been clobbered by 30 or so pies?
It’s fun! You should try it sometime!!
Animal Masks for The Little Red Hen
First graders put on a fabulous production of The Little Red Hen last week, so in collaboration with the music teacher the kids and I took two weeks of the sculpture unit and created these mask/hats. Each kid made a structure to hold it on his/her head, then used folded, cut and glued paper to make it into whatever farm animal the child chose. It was fast and furious, and I didn’t think to get any pix until the day of the play, so I apologize for the terrible photography. Great project, though – pretty paper intensive, but amazingly high interest. The kids were SO invested in their animals, and were super excited to bring them home after the performance.
Tower of Babel
Here’s a sneak peek at the third graders’ sculpture project. We start with these great 12x12x12 cubes. Next we’ll make an “environment” or a “habitat” in the inside of each one. Always a extremely high interest project. Don’t they look great taking up that whole wall?
Laurel Burch Cats
I stole this idea from somebody (Phyllis, maybe?) and boy, was it successful!
First I made a powerpoint of Laurel Burch’s cats over the years. We looked close at the rich colors and imaginative patterning and talked about the realistic/abstract qualities of her work. Then we got oil pastels (black or yellow. I think next year we’ll all use black) and I had them draw along with me. I started with eyes – I find that ensures a large enough size outcome in the end. Then we drew eyebrows which connected to the sides of the nose, and I let the kids take it from there. Before we painted we watched the” analogous” section from “Getting to Know Color in Art” and talked about warm/cool contrast and how to make analogous colors with watercolor. Finally I harped and harped about “Transparent!! Juicy!! Thin and see-through like Koolade!!” and helped kids to make puddles of transparent watercolor in the lids of the trays, painting wet into wet but never scrubbing thick paint out of the pans. Last thing was cutting out and gluing onto black backgrounds. This simple step totally made the difference between a pretty good looking display and one that’s gotten scads of positive attention from everybody that walks in our school. Definitely a keeper, this lesson!
Dipping my toe in Choice Based
Choice Based Printmaking
I tried something new in first grade and kindergarten this unit: Choice Based Centers! I was always nervous to actually try having multiple things going on at once (one mess to clean up is enough for me, thank you!!) but have been very pleased and surprised at the results of my little experiment.
The centers are:
1. Monster Stamps
I have teeny little rubber stamps that have monster eyes/feet/horns/hair etc. on them, and the idea is to stamp some parts then use fine markers to draw the rest, then color with colored pencils.
2. Ed Emberly Thumbprint Stamps
Colored stamp pads, fine markers and the Emberly old standby book
3. Gadget Print Flower Garden
Spools, lego, pen tops etc. for printing and a tray with tempera puddles, colored paper as a background.
4. Letter and Number Tempera Prints
Foam letter and number stamps and the tempera painting tray – again, colored paper for a surface.
I introduced the stations, let them know they could change stations NEXT art time, but today they needed to stay at the station they chose. Then, the following art time they had the choice to continue work on the previously started project or start fresh, again, at any station they chose. To my surprise and delight, choices were pretty evenly distributed both sessions, and to my even more surprise and delight, kids often chose to continue work on the same piece for both sessions, making for some nicely elaborate work. While the quality hasn’t visually been top choice bulletin board material, the work is very authentic, with kids really investing in work that’s meaningful and interesting to them. That’s really what art’s all about, right? So I guess there’s room in my life for a little choice after all!
Paul Klee, Sinbad and warm/cool
Here’s a lesson where second graders look at some early painters that used abstraction. They interpret Paul Klee’s “Sinbad the Sailor” into their own vision and use war
m and cool contrast in watercolor to show them off.
Monarch Migration
First graders at our school study insects, and they hatch butterflies in their classrooms. So it’s a perfect connection to make monarchs in class. We started with mixing an orange, then outlining in black and cutting out. Painting the orange and black on the other side was a little tricky, but we finished with a small brush for veins and white dots, and look! The archway into their hall is a perfect resting spot!
First Grade Wrapped Sticks
First graders use short pieces of yarn to wrap over sticks for a colorful piece of fiber art. Wrapping and tying are great skills and lead into the second grade “God’s Eyes” project