Kinder-Third Crazy Line Sculptures

During a study of artist Alexander Calder, Kinder through Third Grade students created crazy line sculptures out of air-dry clay and pipe cleaners. The students displayed these on their homeroom desks for Open House which also happened to be Big Art Day.

First, Second, and Third Grade: 'I Have a Dream"

The First, Second, and Third Grade students brainstormed various dreams they have for the future as we learned about the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They then drew a self-portrait with a thought bubble to illustrate their dream.

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Students who finished work early worked at the collaborative table to create large snowman collages using construction paper and sheet music to songs such as "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?", "Winter Wonderland", and more.

Third Grade Texture Snowmen

Although the drawings/paintings themselves look simple, the students had to measure and mix tempera paint and baking soda to create a snow-like texture to paint their snowman:

Collaborative Joan Miro Inspired Mural

The students worked in small groups to create Miro inspired designs and then pieced them together to create a large display:

Collaborative Graffiti Line Mural

Third Grade Pollack Inspired Owls

Third Grade Fall Landscapes

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.

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.

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.