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.

Wayne Thiebaud: Collaborative Projects

The students typically work on collaborative projects each Friday once their individual projects are completed. During our study of Wayne Thiebaud, the students created large scale drawings, paintings, and collages of cupcakes and cakes. Some of the cakes were painted with water colors. Some of the collages were made with torn and cut pieces of paper. Other collages were created with magazine pictures in a color blocking style. These were displayed in our cafeteria on three new display panels our school was able to purchase this year. We use the panels as backgrounds for music programs and to display art throughout the year.

Wayne Thiebaud: Third Grade Popsicles

Third Graders had a mini measurement lesson during our study over artist Wayne Thiebaud. The had to measure four popsicles, two on each side, that were exactly five inches long. As a part of this lesson, we talked about symmetry and repetition. They then worked together to add white to various colors of tempera paint to make lighter tints to paint their popsicles. These were displayed as a part of Open House.

 

Wayne Thiebaud: Third Grade Cupcakes

As a part of an artist study over Wayne Thiebaud, third graders learned how to draw cupcakes sitting on a table at different locations to give the perception of one being in front, one being in the middle, and one being at the back. They used oil pastels to add color to their drawings. Their work was displayed in our hallway for Open House.

Spirit of Service

Our district recently had their annual "Spirit of Service" Art Show and Contest honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Here are the three entries from my campus. One student drew a silhouette of herself with symbols of a service job, a nurse. Another drew a still life of vegetable cans to symbolize donating to a food drive. Another drew a picture of himself now with a reflection of him in the future performing a service job. I loved them!

Dale Chihuly Sculptures

While looking at some pictures of Dale Chihuly's glass sculptures, I got an idea on how to make some simple sculptures with my third, fourth, and fifth graders using recycled materials common household materials. The students worked together to wrap the cardboard tubes from lamination rolls and covered them in foil. They twisted the ends of the foil at one end to make a point. They then spread out sheets of tissue paper on the tables and sprayed them with Elmer's Spray Adhesive. They then rolled the foil covered tubes on them to create the color. The bases are just small pieces of scrap wood with dowel rods nailed/glued on. Our PE Coach helped me make the bases during our conference period one day. Yay for great teammates! This was super easy but cool. We still have them displayed in the back hallway where you can see them from the inside or outside.

Dale Chihuly: Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grades

As a part of our school wide artist study over Dale Chihuly, the third through fifth graders explored how heat can change an object. I try to incorporate as many general education connections into art as possible. To recreate a kid friendly, safe version of Chihuly's glass art, the students used permanent markers to design a clear plastic cup. After the students were done designing, we went to the Kindergarten kitchen to experiment. The cups were placed on parchment paper on top of cookie sheets and placed in the oven at 350 degrees. The students took turns watching the changes in the cups. Once they were cooled, the students were able to take their "glass" sculptures home.

Noun Neighborhhood

This is a lesson I always did when I taught first grade. Now that I'm in art, I extended it to a collaborative project for Kinder through Third Grade. Each student drew their favorite restaurant, their favorite store, and their home. They created roads, grass, trees, clouds, and various vehicles. After all classes had a chance to do this, they worked over the next few weeks to create a giant collage mural out of them. Once completed, their art project covered almost half of our back hallway which is pretty long. As they worked, we talked about what nouns were and how each thing they were creating was a noun. We talked about the role of different parts of a community to tie in Social Studies.

Third Grade Snowmen

We obviously went with a snowman theme in the younger grades during winter. For this lesson, I asked the third graders to take turns laying on the ground while others stood around them. We talked about how the view of their friends is different than if they are sitting or standing next to them. They then pretended that they were laying in snow somewhere and magical snowmen came to life and surrounded them. Using the corners of their square paper as reference starting points, they students created four snowmen with different details to show that perspective. They used oil pastels for their creations.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from Moseley Elementary! Each student from Pre-Kindergarten through Fifth Grade designed a turkey feather using only lines and/or patterns. Their feathers were then assembled as grade level collaborative turkeys. I love how unique each feather is and yet they complement each other.

Third Grade Pattern Spider Webs

The Third Grade students drew spider webs using a variety of straight lines with the aid of a ruler. The free-hand drew curved lines to connect the straight lines forming the spider web. After drawing, the colored each section with crayons in a two-color pattern. They worked on showing variety and balance as they worked. After completing the patterns, they created spiders out of black paper to add to the web.

 

Dinosaurs: Third Grade

Third Grade performed "Dinostars" for the monthly PTA program. To go along with their program, they created dinosaur art. They first painted the sky background using orange, yellow, and purple. They then added a dinosaur in black construction  paper to the sky background to create positive and negative space.

Second and Third Grade Murals

On Fridays, we have "Collaborative Art Fridays." Monday through Thursday, I teach the main focus lesson and the students create artwork individually. Each group will visit art on average about one Friday per month according to our rotation schedule. So, on these days, the students work on a collaborative project that incorporates the art elements we have been working on during that month. For this lesson, the students worked to trace various geometric shapes on white bulletin board paper. They then connected the shapes to one another and the edges of the paper with various lines to create organic shapes. They then painted in the shapes. As they worked, we talked about balance and the need to space the colors out in work like this. These really add a pop of color to our neutral back hallway!