Observing and drawing like Scientist

Here are some Oil Pastel creations done by 4th and 5th grade students from Observation.  I purchased several of those really large artificial pumpkins on clearance several years ago.  They have naturally aged and gotten slightly dirty creating different colors making them great for an observation work.  Students were task with drawing a pumpkin as it looked and not stylized with a rectangle stem sticking on the top of a circle.  We talked about the texture of the pumpkin and how it was not truly smooth but had irregularities that we wanted to make apparent in our work.   Using oil pastels in analogous colors, students them added color and dimension to their drawing.  I'm really pleased at the variety of the completed projects and how each of them hints at the 3D element of the pumpkin.  They were allow to finish them as they chose which is evident in the many different backgrounds.

Kindergarten snowmen 2016

A crowd

I do this project every year with my Kinders.  I am sure I have posted it here before but had to add it again because of this picture.  The snowmen are a preface to working with clay after the first of the year.  Students practice forming spheres, cones and snakes using model magic.  The nose is formed by a tooth pick, painted orange, the arms are sticks from a bush in my yard and sharpies are used to add other details.  These are always individual and unique.  Sometimes they even appear melted and ill-shaped; just like real snowmen would.  I try to display them in the case at the front office for the weeks prior to Holiday break.  This is what they looked like when I gather them up to redistribute to the kids to take home.

Student works - they are color coded by class

Student work

Student work

Calder Mobiles with a Math twist

student work

teacher example

I was cruzing on pinterest a few weeks ago and spotted this pin where straws were being used to create a 3D shape.  Fourth grade teachers in the past have mentioned to me that students need to understand shapes better for the state test.  I have done many different projects where I have had students create a 2D piece of work that is then folded to create a 3D pyramid or cube.  This shape using straws and string struck me as intriguing and I immediately knew I was ready to try this out with a  group of students.  I decided to try my idea with 3rd grade and since I already had the needed materials in my classroom began immediately with the idea of creating a 3 sided pyramid.  The materials were simplistic:  plastic straws, string, plastic needles, paper clips, scissors and a ruler.  The first week was dedicated to having student measure and cut the straws into 2" pieces.  This turned out to be a full lesson in itself as they need reinforcement on how to use the ruler to measure.  We wasted a few straws but success with measurements far outweighed the cost of the straws. (I was able to obtain some donated straws as the weeks went buy so that was off set anyway.)  The needles were used to allow for ease of putting the straws onto the strings.  Next step was knot tying.  With Velcro shoes, kids aren't very good at this anymore and I knew I did not want to be taxed with tying all the knots.  I challenged the students to create the pyramid, a cube and a rectangular cube.  After a visit with the 3rd grade Math teachers, I knew what vocabulary I needed to concentrate on to make connections to their classroom work.  I encouraged making a minimum of four shapes.  They view the works of Alexander Calder and his work with both mobiles and stables.   The final step was to actually create their own mobiles with

teacher example

 attention to balancing on a fulcrum.  All the vocabulary they had been exposed to in 2nd grade Science was review during this process.  I must say, much of this project was a very painful experience.  Often, I doubted whether the students would actually achieve my goal and complete a Calder mobile.  Witnessing the pride of accomplishment when completed was so worth it!
Oh, and this is my 300th post!!! I never knew I had that much to say.

Artic Habitats in first grade

 Recently on Facebook, I viewed a great post by Michelle Reile on habitats and I knew it would be perfect for a collaboration with first grade.  Students were doing classroom projects on Walrus, Emperor Penguins and Polar Bears.  I decided to jump in and have them create habitats in the art room.  The students loved taping into the information they were learning in their classroom and then exploring how to create their 3D habitats in the art room.  There were many ahhhha moments as the paper was transformed into the triangular habitats.  They did struggle to understand the method to attach their animals and a few children were forced to go back and

 try again to create an animal that could be glued into the habitat.  They kept cutting off the tab but there were many successes as you can see as everyone caught on to the process.  The best part was having the older grades view the results and beg to create their own.

What October looked like in the Art Room

1st grade Piet Mondrian

4th grade Observational Drawing of a Harvest Still Life

5th Grade 1 pt Perspective Review

3rd Grade Dia de los Muertos Mask

2nd grade 3D color mixing pumpkins

Kindergarten - What I saw when out Trick or Treating

Let's Recycle!

Here we are in the final weeks of school and I have so much cleaning out to do!  My room became the catch all space for some really cool recyclables this year so when I was trying to come up with a final project for a class of second graders, recycled materials came to mind.  I had a huge pile of thin cardboard that a stamp collector had passed on to me as well as some cool ovals cut from mat board.  I pre-cut all the cardboard into 2" x 2" squares and gave students the option to use as many as they wanted but with a minimum requirement of five squares for each sculpture. First we reviewed how to slit the squares on each side so they could slide and lock together to form the structure.  Students experimented with what they sculpture might look like and determined how many squares they would need.  They also could cut anything into a small size if they wanted.  As soon as they had a plan they disassembled everything and painted the pieces in colors of choice adding designs and patterns as they wanted.  Once everything was dry, sculptures were reassembled and I used hot glue to attach them to the base.  This was a very successful project, the students really enjoyed it and it was all recycled!!

Architecture in 3D

My second grade students recently spent sometime observing the homes outside the windows in the art room.  They were evaluating the way windows were placed on the homes and the exterior finish of the buildings.  They also examined the roofing choices made by the home owners.  Using a terrific little house template I had discovered a few years ago on pinterest,  they then created their own homes with a focus on the architectural elements.  Some students explored creating the illusion of siding while others attempted creating brick.  All students experimented with adding shingles on the roofs.  The above photo shows one classes completed "village".  I wish we'd had more time to maybe create a collaborative community with other elements but the weeks are quickly slipping by so that was out of the question.  Mental reminder for next year, start these a week or two earlier.  Below are a few individual houses.  I chuckled as I realized a few students had grabbed their scissors after these were completed and cut slits so they could open their doors.  Clever 2nd graders aren't they?!