5th Grade in the Christmas Spirit

I feel pretty lucky that my administration lets me do whatever I want in terms of lesson ideas.  I also feel like my ideas are accepted by not only the students but their parents too.  I don't always like the idea of holiday projects because they can get kind of cheesy or cutsey crafty.  However, they do have their place at times.

My 5th graders did these beautiful tree branches and ornaments.  We focused in on creating the texture of the tree branches by using lines with oil pastels.  We divided watercolor paper into 4 sections and did a wet-on-wet technique blending colors together.  We used a compass to create the circle shapes of our ornaments and then put it all together by cutting and gluing.  The final touch was to add hooks so our ornaments and branches went together.

The work in the hallway got great reviews and compliments by many teachers and parents.

Santa Ornaments

My 1st graders created these ornaments, based off an idea I've seen on Pinterest.  I used clay and rolled out some slabs before giving the students some clay tools to trace and cut out their hand.  Then after they were fired in the kiln, we painted red and skin tone in the appropriate areas.  Because my clay fires white, we just left the white alone.  I think this idea was fun to do and my students had a great time with it.

I love how all of them seem to have their own personalities!

HS Photo-Realism Candy Drawing

Around Halloween my HS students worked on candy drawings.  They brought in candy of their choice and set up a mini still-life.  Working from a photograph, students focused on the realistic qualities of packaging, lettering, and candy.  We used colored pencils which worked out well for the most part...however, I sure do wish I could afford more expensive colored pencils like Prismacolors.

Here are some student examples: