3D Color Mixing Pumpkins

Color Mixing Pumpkins

I have done this project with my 2nd grade students for a number of years but felt I wasn't making the strong Math connections that I wanted.  I was motivated to create a template for the project where students could more closely be involved in the measuring of the clay  to make clearer connections.  Here is the template I created.   I made enough copies so each child would have their own and ran them through the laminator.  It can be used like a place mat to actually do the work on.

First I measured out the red, yellow and blue model magic clay for each student.

I use scissors to cut the individual pieces.

Measure off pieces and mark in the clay

Use a ruler to connect the marks

I used the side of the ruler to connect the dots and mark the cutting lines

Blue pieces are much smaller

I began by handing out the three colors of clay that were needed:

The place mat ready to begin

First step, mix red and yellow 1" pieces together.  Add in an extra piece
of red that measured 3/4" x 1/4".  This gave a red-orange
color for the pumpkin.

I conducted this project as a directed activity, walking them through each step, one step at a time.

Next the brown for the stem was formed by mixing the very small
pieces of yellow, red, and brown. 1/4" x 1/4"  The 3/4" by 1/4"
yellow and blue were mixed to make the leaves.

Placed on a tray with student's names until they are dry
enough to write on the bottom with a sharpie

Picasso-stein

Okay, let me begin by sharing, this was not my project idea.  I needed one more quick project for October and a fellow art teacher friend shared this one with me.  First, I presented a brief history on the life of Picasso where we focused on the development of cubism.  The lesson was presented in a directed drawing format.  I always like to keep them guessing when I present a lesson this way.  Instead of revealing what we are drawing, I focus on shapes and lines and how they are combined to create form.  It doesn't take too many steps until students begin to guess what they are creating.  This one took awhile but they did quickly catch on to the fact we were creating like Picasso.  They are drawn on construction paper and colored with construction paper crayons and texture plates.  Texture had to be added in at least one area but could be utilized as much as the student wanted.

Rubric for Kindergarten Assessment

I successfully administered my Roll a Dice Assessment to all Kindergartners.  They thought we were playing a very fun game and were exceptional listeners for the entire class.  I did not have time for them to color in all of the shapes in my 45 minute class period.  The average was about 16 rolls of the die.  Today I am attaching the rubric I used for this assessment.  I made sure to walk around during the test to do a bit of formative assessments to determine if they could identify the shapes.  I also made a master list of what number was rolled and what they were told to color. The assessment post is here.