Scrapbook Paper Collaged Christmas Trees

Gelli Plate Flowers and Trees Collages

Kandinsky Inspired Trees

Second Grade Owls

First Grade Collaborative Fall Trees

Third Grade Fall Landscapes

First Grade Reflective Fall Trees

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.

Holiday Collaborative Projects

During December, since we had a short month, my students mostly worked on collaborative projects. These are some Christmas trees that they made out of tomato cages, mesh fabric, and zip ties. Once I modeled for them how to get started, they were able to easily complete these on their own. We decorated the stage with them and in front of the library. 4th Grade also used them for their holiday PTA program. Included is a picture of a sign the students and I made for their show using the school's poster maker, some die-cuts, scissors, and glue.

Kindergarten Fall Leaves and Apples

Kindergarten experimented with color mixing with shaving cream and food coloring. We added fall colored food coloring to shaving cream and stirred it in a swirling pattern. The students took turns adding their white construction paper on top of the shaving cream, transferring the color to paper, and then wiped away the shaving cream with paper towel. This left a marbling effect on the paper. The students then practiced tracing and cutting skills by tracing leaves on the paper and cutting them out. In another lesson, they practiced using watercolors and paintbrushes appropriately by painting apples. Their leaves and apples were added to the Kinder bulletin board in a fall display.

Trees in Moonlight: Fourth Grade

Fourth Grade students practiced creating tints and shades by adding white or black to blue tempera paint. Starting with the tint, they painted a full moon on construction paper. They then used the blue hue to paint a ring around it. They then used the shade to paint the rest of the paper in a circular shape. In the pictures, they outside looks more black than it really is. After painting, they cut out a tree on black paper and glued it to their moon background to create positive and negative space.

Be a Friend to Trees

During a lesson on natural resources, we talked about the need to conserve and protect trees. We read Be a Friend to Trees by Holly Keller. After reading, the students created a class Circle Map about things we would not have if we did not protect trees. They then wrote one sentence about what we would not have and illustrated it.