Our very first "real" project and I want to see what my new fourth graders are made of. I pulled out the "oldie-but-goodie" shoe contour project. The focus is on teaching the kids about CONTOUR LINE DRAWINGS and COMPOSITION. The first day we looked at different types of shoes and talked about how to approach drawing them. I am blessed with very small 4th grade classes, so we pulled out the dry erase boards and practiced starting with the outline of the shoe and then filling in basic details. I had them use their finger or marker (w. lid on) and trace around the outside of the shoes before they started on their white board.
After practicing on the white boards, they began to draw on their paper, but not before discussing COMPOSITION and the RULE OF THIRDS. The objective was to create an interesting piece of artwork by how the shoe(s) are laid out on the page.
These aren't finished yet, and I haven't had all of my 4th graders, but so far, I'm super impressed. I can't wait to post more pictures and show you the end results.
We have been studying LINE as an element of art the past two weeks in Kindergarten. I started out by introducing different types of line to them. On our first day we used our "magic marker" or finger and practiced drawing them in the air. (We even have different sounds for different types of lines.) After we got a good feel for each type of line: straight, broken, curvy, zigzag and overlapping crazy (that last ones just for fun) we practiced drawing them on paper.
On day two I let them take turns identifying different types of lines on other people's artwork. We also rolled out play dough into long skinny "snakes" and practiced creating lines in 3D.
The last day we made these beautiful "Hidden Line" pieces. I told them to create a "secret" piece of artwork that no one could see. We used white crayon on white paper. They worked pretty sneakily to keep it a secret from their neighbors! Then we rubbed/blotted dot-painters over the top to reveal their secret lines! They really loved this project and its nice to "paint" without making a huge mess. I admit, I was short on dot-painters, so we worked in stations. I have 5 tables with 4 dotters each. After a 2 minutes at a table, we all "rotated" to a new station with new colors. The Kindergartners really liked the constant moving and discovering new colors at every table. I think the artwork turned out very well!
For the beginning of school, I'd thought it'd be fun for the all of my students, K-4th, to participate in a community art project. I admit, I openly stole this idea from another art teacher's blog. But, it's such a good idea...
Our tree after the 3rd week of school.
Each student was asked to create a leaf/flower/acorn to decorate, cut out and place on our ART TREE. They could decorate it however they wanted. They wrote their first name on the front and then the 4th graders put one goal they have for the year on the back. At the end of the year, I'm going to let them take the leaf home.
My students got creative, of course! After a while, some asked to draw animals instead of leaves. I told them as long as they stayed with in their size and remained school-appropriate, they could make whatever they like. I have some very creative students at ORE, so now we have chipmunks, owls, worms, geckos...all kinds of lil' creatures in our tree. With my kinder students, I had them trace their hand, decorate it however they like and then cut it out. I also encourage my older kids to raise their hand as high as they could (without standing on their tiptoes) and place their leaf at that height. At the end of the year, they are going to see if they can reach any higher to see how much they've grown. :)
The kids so far are really excited about participating and donating their artwork to such a big, colorful piece of community artwork.
I've been working really hard on getting the artroom up and running for Monday morning. I hope you like all the changes I have made. In the meantime, please enjoy this video. A teacher friend sent it to me, and I love it. I might have to download it and play it on my Ipod while I finish up the room tomorrow to keep me motivated.
I am ready for you guys! Are you ready for a new school year?!
It is with a happy, yet heavy heart that I announce my move this coming fall. I have enjoyed 5 exciting years with the kids at Creighton, but I have an opportunity to work closer to home and take my little ones with me to the school's daycare, so I have now been adopted into the Oak Ridge Family. While I'll dearly miss my Creighton Cub family, I'm very excited about my future with the lovely Oak Ridge Owls.
IT'S GONNA BE A HOOT!
Hope you all have a happy and safe summer! See ya in the fall!
I was inspired by another art teacher website, and by my cousin's pending Greek Loggerhead Sea Turtle trip, to draw sea turtles with my 3rd and 4th graders. After learning more about them on National Geographic Kids, we practiced drawing them on sketch paper. We focused on PROPORTION and SHAPE to get our turtles just right. Then, we drew the final turtle focusing on COMPOSITION. The pencil lines were traced in oil pastel and the texture of the turtle's skin and shell were also defined with oil pastel. The students finished up their work by adding a watercolor wash over the top and sprinkling everything with salt. They turned out beautifully! More turtles are popping up everywhere.....
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For the beginning of school, I'd thought it'd be fun for the all of my students, K-4th, to participate in a community art project. I admit, I openly stole this idea from 
