Calder Contour Portraits

The 5th Graders started the year by doing a unit on contour line. We used Alexander Calder's wire work as our inspriation to take our line "off " the page to create wire self-portraits. We started by doing continuous blind contour drawings of our friends to understand how with wire, everything had to be connected. It was amazing to see the student's personality come through in a media most of them had never used before.

Kandisnky's Abstract Squares

4th and 5th Graders started thier unit on Abstract Art by studying the father of abstract art, Wassily Kandinsky. In addtion they had a color family review by having  to have one square primary, one secondary, one warm and one cool. They used oil pastels and water color as thier media.



Winter Landscapes

In a study on landscape painting, creating space in our compositions and using only value in black and white, 5th graders created these beautiful snowy scenes.

Students had to put at least 4 trees in their composition using placement and size to create space. After then their could add other objects to their paintings, like snowmen, animals etc.

Clay!

I make the kids wait until the spring to do clay. Right after April vacation I turn my whole room over into a ceramic studio and do clay with the entire school. We all start out with a rules and play day where guidelines and rule are gone over and they get to play with the clay and get all the "ooohhs, aaahhhs, and icks" out. The following week we have a practice week with their project where I give a demo and they practice making their person, animal or pot.  I do this because I don't have time or space to keep work wet enough to be workable over a week's time. I tell them they have to be able to create their piece in 1 class time. Of course if they are stuggling they can try again the following week.

The 5th graders make clay portaits where they have to show themselves doing something they like. The other requirement is that the figure has to be standing or sitting independentely without supports. The starting construction method is the same.

The 4th graders create animals. These animals can be real or imaginary but have to have 4 legs. Again,they all start again with the same construction method and have to be standing or sitting independently of supports.

3rd graders create coil pots. This is their first big clay project. They learn the coil method of constuction along with the glazing process.

Value Space Station

I was trying to come up with a interesting and fun away to teach value and 3-D shapes. Students first practiced their value scale and practice their cubes, spheres, pyramids, and cylinders. Then they were told to create a space station using at least 3 3-D Shapes and be as creative as they could.

Sign it!

In talking about line we eventually get to contour line. One of the basic and hardest things for students to draw is their own hand!I decide to throw a little bit about disabilities and sign language in this lesson and had the students learn how to sign their names using the ASL alphabet.

Starry Starry Night

Vincent Van Gogh is one of my favorite painters so its no wonder that I make my student create their own inspired Starry Night piece. Students read a short biography on Van Gogh then we talked about his unique style and how it was evolved from Impressionism and Pointallism. Students then set to work. Using dashes and swirls, we talked about using quick little strokes using oil pastels on dark blue contruction paper. I have to say the students love this projects and I love the results.