Picasso took over the Art room!!

All of my students created a Picasso inspired project this semester. 

K-1 students created Picasso's Flowers,  by tracing their hands and adding green stems with markers then testing their cutting skills by creating the flowers. 

2-3 students created a collage in the crazy abstract style of Picasso using cut paper and then finishing with a black paint outline.

4-5- This was the project of the year! We started by studying Picasso's Old Guitarist and then broke down the parts and drew the man together as a class.  We then discussed Monochromatic color schemes and how you make tints and shades of the same color.   The students had a lot of trouble with proportions when we first started this project so it took some time but i created scaled boxes which i had the students trace on their papers to then draw each body part in.  The results aren't perfect but then again, what Picasso art work is?

Wang Yani Monkeys

The students loved this project!!  I found a short clip about the history and life a Wang Yani to show the students and the K-1 kids loved seeing a 4 year old paint better than their teacher.   This project started with the clip them the kids just painting a monkey on their own, no directions given.  Then the went step by step with me as we painted a monkey then they painted a green bamboo background for their monkey to live in. Over all a very fun project that the kids loved! Lasted roughly 3 weeks.

Monsters

My K-1 kids were getting a little antsy and needed a meaningful quick project.  This two day project painting monsters came after reading a short story about a monster that went to school and didn't know how to behave properly.  As i read the quick story the students needed to picture the monster that went to school and think about he poor choices the monster made.  After we talked about what we can and cannot do in school we started to draw our monsters, first with two circle eyes, then a large nose, big mouth and a rainbow shaped head.  This was a quick easy drawing and then painting project with a good moral.  The kids also loved using the crayon with the tempera cakes.  One key was having the students just draw with the crayons, it eliminated the problem of having them want to erase every 2 minutes.

Samples are from a K class

Fruit Mosaics

Third grades Fruit bowl mosaics turned into more of a project than i had imagined.... took FOREVER to complete leaving them with one great project for the quarter.   They learned the history behind mosaic art and then how they could create one using cut paper.  It was quite the task to make sure they understood that they didn't overlap the paper but those that understood the concept and took their time did a fabulous job!  Here are a few shots of them in process... never got a finished picture since they went right up in frames around the school but ill get one on here asap.

Secondary Frogs

My 2nd grade students needed a little refresher on mixing colors, what colors are primary and secondary, what that means, and how you make them.  So they created their secondary frogs.  They learned how to make the secondary colors then actually blended the paint colors to create the secondary color.  They then used stamped tissue paper to cut out lily pads and glue their frogs into their paper pond.  Here are a few pictures of the process...,

Some came out better than others in the end but these are the few pictures i remember to take... over all it turned into more of a process than product project. 

Busy Month

My oh my how time is flying by! with Thanksgiving Break i was hopeful to get many of our past projects up and posted but seems like the Turkey took over my day and i haven't even gotten my photos on my computer yet.  But within the next few days i plan to have many new projects up and out there to be used and taught!  Thank you to all those who keep up on this blog world better than i do your projects have been a great help to a starting out teacher and i hope once i get mine up they can help all of you too!

2nd Grd- Laurel Burch Cats

This project was one i picked up from my students teaching teacher and then i have seen many versions of it around the web.  But my second graders did a great job on this projects!  We started by viewing a short power point on Laurel Burch to make them familiar with the artist and her life.  They then got to work.  Each traced a pre-made Cat template and then drew in their cats face and tail details.  Then followed mixing their own tins and painting the whole cat.  then next day they added pattern details with construction paper crayons, and if they did a nice job and finished on time they were able to add smaller details with glitter glue.  Finishing by cutting out their cats and having their own Laurel Birch inspired feline.

The lesson over all took about 3 40 minute classes:
Day 1- Ppt and tracing
Day 2- Painting with tints
Day 3- Cutting out cat and adding crayon details and patterns with glitter glue 

My sample Cat :

 Second graders results:

Boards and Decor

After a few weeks i began to truly figure out what i wanted my room to look like, i love colors and wanted it to be a bright and fun place for the kids to come into and then being in Florida it feels like summer year round so a bug or bee theme seemed to fit the mood. I mainly tried to put up things that would be helpful for the kids and friendly reminders, like the rules, color wheels and then the Art No No's board
The no no board is more of a fun thing than anything else for the kids.  Never do i intend to limit their creativity but i want it to be simple reminders for them to take their time and put care into their work, if they simply scribble and rush through free draw time or their projects they will never reach their highest potential, but if someone draws an amazingly detailed sun with a face, i would never call that a no no in art. 

One Project Down, Many more to go...

Under the Sea

First project the kids did for the year was aimed to please the parents with our annual art fundraiser with Square One Art.  the students took the school team mascots and designed and under the sea world using different color combinations and colleaguing techniques.  

 The Kindergarten kiddos created hand print fish, the First grade crew created Rays, Second Eels, Third sponge painted Seahorses and fourth used analogous colors to create a collage styled and animal of their choice and Fifth grade used Warm and Cool colors to decorate their chosen animal.

Kindergarten:

First Grade:

 Second Grade:

 Third Grade:

Fourth Grade:

 Fifth Grade: