Grade Level Fingerprint Trees

At the beginning of the year, the students added their fingerprints to a large tree to create a grade level piece of artwork. We did this in connection to building our social contract of class expectations. We talked about how we are going to often work as a team to create artwork.

Alligator Effigy Vessel: Art Critiques

As a part of Hispanic Heritage Month, the 4th and 5th graders wrote art critiques over Alligator Effigy Vessel from Chorotega, Costa Rica. Art critiques are a part of our curriculum to encourage the students to think and write critically about art using appropriate vocabulary.

Lizard Alebrije: Art Critique

As a part of Hispanic Heritage Month, the 4th and 5th graders wrote art critiques over Pepe Santiago's wood carved sculpture, Lizard Alebrije. Art critiques are a part of our curriculum to encourage the students to think and write critically about art using appropriate vocabulary.

Silk: Interactive Generative Art

I recently stumbled upon an app for IPhones and IPads that art students will love. The app is Silk Interactive Generative Art and it allows students to create various pictures with lines of light. It is very easy to use and the pictures can be saved for printing. There is also an online version here.  The app is great to teach symmetry and balance. Below are a few examples I quickly created.

Hispanic Heritage Month

Three of our students have their work on display at The Grand Prairie Education Center as a part of a Hispanic Heritage Month.

Tree of Life by a First Grader:

 

 

Aztec Sun by a Fourth Grader:



Frida Kahlo by a Fifth Grader:

Back the Blue

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Graders drew portraits of police officers on Back the Blue Day to show our support for our local police officers. The portraits were submitted to our school office who sent their work along with letters written in the general education classes to one of our local stations.

Fifth Grade Tie-Dye

Fifth Grade drew various intersecting wavy lines to divide the space of a piece of paper. In those spaces, they used oil pastels to create warm and cool color tie-dye patterns to practice blending techniques.

Fourth Grade Tints and Shades

Fourth Graders drew continuous wavy lines and then drew geometric shapes on top. For the geometric shapes, they colored them in with a shade and a tint of a color. They repeated this for the background but I a different color.

Third Grade Hot Air Balloons

Third Grade drew hot air balloons and added various lines as details. To color in their designs, they chose one color from the color wheel and filled in the space created between every other line. They then had to use the color wheel as a graphic organizer to figure out what their chosen color's complimentary color would be and color in the rest of the space. For the background, they colored the clouds with white crayon and then painted over them to create a crayon resist.

Second Grade Rockets

Second Grade practiced using a ruler as a tool for measurement when drawing. Each student had to draw a rocket ship that was five inches long. They then added various lines to be the flames. The students colored the rocket ship with crayons and then painted the lines in color wheel order.

First Grade Crazy Hair Lines

The First Graders recently drew self portraits with crazy hair to practice drawing various lines, after drawing their portraits and coloring their faces with crayons, they painted their hair in color wheel order with liquid water colors.

Kindergarten Lines and Colors

The Kindergarten students practiced making various lines in pencil and then traced them in permanent marker. The following week, the used liquid water colors to paint their art in color wheel order.

 

How I Stay Organized...

I teach six art classes per day with a 5 minute transition in between. I'm naturally pretty organized but I've found I have to be even more organized now that I teach art. So, I set up all the supplies I need sorted by grade level on a back counter. I can quickly grab whatever I need and pass it out. The students know where to get supplies as needed which helps a lot. For paint, if there are certain colors that they will all be using for their project, I pre-pour them in take-out sauce containers with lids that I pick up from a restaurant supply company in my neighborhood. I like having the lids because I don't have to do set up every day since the paint doesn't dry up. I do the same thing with liquid water colors. I place them in some old tempera cake trays or muffin tins for easy distribution and clean up. I also put whatever book I'm reading to a particular grade level with the needed art supplies.

 

Gelli Print Flowers

Here are some large scale flowers that my students made from Gelli Prints. I talked about Gelli Printing in my previous post. My kids absolutely love making Gelli Prints and I think these turned out awesome. The students worked in stations to trace and cut out circles and petal shapes. They then glued them together. I hung up their flowers in the back hallway of our school by the art room.

 

Gelli Prints

I took a professional development class this year from one of our district's awesome high school art teachers. The class was over Gelli Printing. I had never heard of this technique before but found it very interesting and so did my students. I used a recipe I found online to make more permanent Gelli Plates although you can buy them. I could not find where I had written down the recipe we were given at the professional development session. The recipe I used just called for gelatin, glycerine, and rubbing alcohol. I made several plates over Spring Break in various sized casserole dishes. My principal approved the purchase of a small refrigerator to keep in the art room for Gelli Plate storage. Here are some prints my students from Kinder all the way through Fifth Grade made. They used whatever colors of tempera they wanted and a variety of texture tools. I'll post later some of the finished projects they turned their prints into.