Success with the Blick project from the AOE Conference

 If you participated in the Winter AOE conference, you will recognize this great project.  We received a  materials sample in the SWAG box.  I feel in love with it right away and knew it would be a way to use my stash of twistee wire and a new way to have students demonstrate movement in their art.  The challenge was to create movement and the work had to balance.  I have done a twistee wire project in the past but this one is a little simpler and a lot more interesting.  I had the black ovals stashed away from a donation from another teacher, they worked great for the bases.  As you can see, some students opted to decorate the bases as well as the cardboard pieces that make the bodies of their people.  I know my 4th graders struggled with this in the beginning but in the end, they loved their creations and were so excited to take them home!

Action Figures

No, I am not talking toys here.  One of the subjects covered with 2 nd grade each year is how to show action in art.  For this lesson we look at sculptural action and create a stabile. First a definition of action figure is in order and we practice "freeze frame" using our bodies to visualize actions.  Once each student has decided on an action,  twisted wire is used to create a figure.  One leg or one hand is embedded into a ball of model magic to create a base for the sculpture and success is achieve when the figure successfully balances in a stance showing motion.   This is always a favorite and challenging lesson.  Listening and following directions to first create the wire figure takes almost an entire class time.  Once created,  students must analyze their chosen action to determine how they will achieve balance.  The photos below demonstrate a very successful class.