Sunday, May 23, 2010

Kandinsky Circles

This ended up being a great end of the year project with water colors for fifth grade ( and some third). They just made a grid, drew targets in each on, and experimented with color relationships. They enjoyed focusing on the painting, but I didn't mind the chatting so much because they were working and I got a lot of compliments from other teachers
!

Clay Animals

I thought I had more pics, but some of my third graders did these clay animals, they turned out super cute!

Ceiling Tiles

Each year fifth graders have an opportunity to enter a competition to paint a book cover on a ceiling tile. I am the one in charge, but the whole staff votes on who wins. Here are this years winner's finish product:

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Moving!

I'm in the process of moving to Virginia from Oklahoma...I will be back soon!

Monday, May 17, 2010

AfroTextures: Self-Portrait


One of my favorite projects!
I walk students through how to draw a face, explain proportions and where things go. They practice in their sketchbooks, and then draw in pencil on card stock paper. Next they add five guidlines in the hair and add their first, last, or nickname in the "afro" area. They then outline everything in sharpie. They add different textures between the letters of their hair with the sharpie. Lastly, they outline the letters with glitter glue pens. The results are so fun, and always unique! 

Bubbly Wrap Prints

I'm not sure where I originally got this lesson plan from because I had it planned before blogging, and really I can't remember life before blogging. Anyway, I used it for my Art Focus class (a relaxing art program for students that, well, needed to relax) after school on Mondays. Here some of the results:


detail

first print
a second print
neon print
another second print

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Update

Last week was our Honor Art show at Piedmont Elementary, and it was a huge success:-) Pictures to come soon!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Husband's away...

I get to play!
Okay, maybe I have been watching way too much HGTV. And since we are moving in 1 1/2 weeks no point in me doing any apartment changes. Enter cheap target table. I stole the paisley pattern from Lilly Pulitzer. I think I am going to line the side edges with some sort of small teal  or cobalt blue colored tile or glass, but we'll see. I love impromptu projects!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Fifth Grade: VanGogh in Perspective

This project, is one of my few original ideas...it's a twist off of 4th grade project:Van Gogh's Cat Wander's into the Starry Night. This is Van Gogh's Dog Wander's into the Cafe Terrace.

The student's love this project for two reasons. 1. The learn how to draw dogs. 2. It looks good no matter what.

I love this project for two reasons. 1. It has dogs. 2. It looks good no matter what.

Actually, I love it a lot more than those two reasons. This project is a great teaching opportunity for perspective, collage, color, painting techniques (dry brush, wet into wet, premixing). The students get to use their sketchbook to learn perspective, and to practice drawing their dogs. The dogs "pop" out of the picture plane. Also, the project has many different types of steps which takes a few weeks for them to finish, which teaches students that every project shouldn't be finished within 45 minutes.







Materials:
  • 18x9 paper
  • pencils
  • tempera paint (primary colors + black and white)
  • silver paper or aluminum foil
  • construction paper
  • crayons
  • smal strips of cardboard

Day 1. Walk the students through drawing a simple version of Cafe Terrace at Night. Start with a horizon line and vanishing point. Add the porch, Terrace, store, and skyscrapers.(Don't draw tables yet)

Day 2/3. Paint yellow things (terrace, ground, sky scraperwindows, store window), then orange ( add to store window -dry brush-, doors, a little to the ground, then red on the porch and maybe a little dry brush to the store window to create a "glow". Green to the chandelier over the terrace and maybe some doors and the ground. Paint the sky blue. Next, paint all of the buildings grey and then outline EVERYTHING in black (normally I hate outline in black, but it looks much better outlined), and add "black,tiny rainbows" for the cobblestone. * May take longer than 3 days*

Day3/4. Practice drawing dogs in sketchbook, and start/finish final dog on construction paper and crayon. I always tell them "no floating dog heads, it needs a neck or a full body." I let them add funky details like sunglasses, mohawks, colored spots, brightly colored fur, etc. Cut them out. Add silver stars to the sky. Glue cardboard strip to back of dog, and glue to picture. * This day can be switched with a painting day if the kids get antsy after painting a while, or if cleaning up paint is too much for YOU that day*

That's it!