High School Paintings

My high school students did a color matching project with acrylic.  I had students print a color and black and white copy of a photo of their choice.  All of the photos were found on the internet, but some had discussed using photos of their friends, etc.  I left it open-ended for them in terms of subject matter.  I am glad I left it open-ended because the photos they chose all fit into their personalities and interests.  This made the project as a whole more meaningful for them.

The objective of the project was to accurately re-draw their photo on 18X24 canvas board using a 1 inch grid and to match the colors in the photo with paint.  The results blew me away!  I have seen my students change and grow artistically and creatively right before my eyes and it is AMAZING!

I am so proud of my students!  What a good good feeling that is :)

                                                                                                  Nicki Minaj - singer

                                                                    Lil' Wayne - rapper

    Some country singer...I can't for the life of me remember his name.  Obviously I don't know country well.


This was a huge challenge for my students and they stepped up to the plate...I am so PROUD!

3rd Grade Aquariums & Fish Prints

3rd grade ventured into the world of a fish in a fish tank.  We started with blue paper and oil pastels "decorating" their fish tank with things like rocks, plants, and even castles.  Everything except the fish was done with oil pastels.  We then used styrofoam to create a fish stamp.  My 3rd graders had previously done styrofoam prints with printing ink so they were familiar with the process.  We flattened the edges of the styrofoam with the side of a pencil, so that when printed all that would show up would be the fish.  Instead of using printing ink, I had them use acrylic paints so they could have more variety in color.  Some students also made the fins different colors.  We added on the paint using small paint brushes and just painting it on.  It worked pretty well and the results are all different and very interesting.  I love the bright colors and the cheery feel of an underwater fish world.

Kindergarten Sculptures!

Last semester I had some extra "fun" money that I needed to spend by October.  I was looking at some fun supplies that weren't really necessity items.  In the magazine I purchased from, these fun styrofoam-like things are called Stick-Its.  I wasn't quite sure what to make with them or which grade I would use them with.  I bought 2 boxes and each box had like 450 pieces.  I came across a blog post just a few weeks ago where these Stick-Its were used in Kindergarten.  I loved the idea and decided to use it.  I apologize because I can't for the life of me remember where I saw the blog post, but I do have it listed somewhere at school in a pile somewhere. 
I brought the Stick-Its out yesterday for my Kindergarten class and it went well!  The kids had SO much fun!  I used 1 box and had a class of 16.  I will be using the other box tomorrow with my other Kindergarten class but was excited with the results so I wanted to share.

The Stick-Its magically stick together with water and there is no mess! 

The lesson I saw used the idea of playground for the sculpture.  My students and I discussed different things we would play on during recess or at the park.
Using sponges as a "trampoline", students jump the pieces on the sponge 3 times and hold them together for 3 seconds.  Easy!  I had a container of random foam stickers that were animals and little people, so each student got to pick one from the container to play on their playground.

The results for Kindergarten were surprisingly awesome!  I had my camera out and we had a few minutes to spare, so I took a picture with each student holding their sculpture.  They enjoyed this and I got to capture the results for this project that I deemed a make and take.  They were so proud of their work and were excited to take them home right away.  What fun!

Here are some of my Kindergarten Cuties :)

Monster Within

When I student taught I used a lesson my mentor teacher had in her bag of tricks for a 6th grade project.  It was a fun project, so I thought I would use it this year with my 6th grade. 
This self-portrait project has a fun twist.  The first week of this project, I had my students do a step-by-step drawing of a face using correct proportions.  This led into what we would be doing the next week so they could come in and jump right into the step-by-step again.  The students did a half and half drawing of themselves and the monster within themselves.  We discussed monster qualities and I also allowed the students to add in animal characteristics.  I stressed the importance of making the realistic half as close to them as possible, considering eye color, hair length, etc.  I had students color with colored pencils.

My theme for our school art show coming up in May is "Wild about Art" and I thought this could fit in even though it is not as literal as animals.

Clay!

I decided to do a week of clay with my HS students.  I wanted to focus on basic construction since many of them have never had much experience with clay.  We used coils to create a vessel of choice, and the slab technique to create a triangle or wedge shaped box.  My requirements were pretty simple, so I left a lot of choice up to the students.  We used glaze and had some nice results.  I love clay and so do the students.  They enjoyed this a lot.  We will do more clay sometime after spring break.