Bug Prints

On the continue quest to integrate classroom content. The last project I did with  my 2nd was about bugs! Now because bugs come in multiples a lot, went with printmaking!

Now part of this has changed from year to year to make it easier. It will change again next year. But what I do is show them some pictures of bugs/insects and have them tell me what they notice about the body. The goal being them notice the symmetry of the bugs body. So what I have them do is take their foam piece and trace it onto their paper. Then fold the paper in half and draw along the fold with only half the body. Then trace it with sharpie and let it bleed through. This year I introduced tracing paper and doing it that way. But once traced I have them draw it one more time onto the foam with the foam underneath and pushing it through the paper. 

Next the fun part. PRINTING! We do proofing first to make sure it looks good and they made their lines deep enough. Plus this gives them practice of how to use the bayers and ink. Problem this year was my 2nd was kind of a full class so bayers got mixed up and such. 

Once practiced and proof, we do color and I demonstrate to them that they can double print or triple print if they would like to. 

I like doing this project for many reasons. One being my joy of printmaking and it really is the only time I did it this year. Darn time. But I will be changing the method of how to get their design onto the plate and design it in general. 

Bottle Bobble Heads

BOBBLE HEADS!! So this project has evolved over the years. It original started as scientist but with the grade levels curriculum change focusing on animals and their adaptions. But I original got inspired by my teacher while I was student teaching who did bobble heads and modified it into this amazingness. 

SOO. I am cheap, like most art teachers but clever as a lever. (Not sure what that means but just go with it.) I had the students use recycled bottles for the body and to help weight it down, rocks (it is actually kitty litter but I tell them rocks. It is tidy cats dust free 24/7 and a 25 lb takes care of one class just about).  Then they take a piece of wire and have to wrap it around a ball of newspaper and paper mache the body and head. Over the years this has changed a bit to make it easier because the head is the hardest part. 

We first do a layer of newspaper, not covering the very bottom of the bottle and the wire part of the neck. Then we do white and I show them that if you fold and layer the paper, it will create a bump. I also show them how to add pipe cleaners for other parts like arms, legs, wings, and etc. Some kids really go with it and I ended up needing two days just to get this part done for how intense some got.  

INTENSE!

Now before they can paint, they need my approval of a design. Now it is an animal they are studying in science so they know how this animal looks and adaptions they could add. But just in case they forget the colors or what more detail. My school is lucky enough to have chrome books for them to look up their animal. They know how to use them already due to using them for animal research. But they are required to write down what adaptions their animal has and if they added it or not. Along with describe what they plan to do. I give them the tip to do a base coat of paint then do details the next day. (Similar to the bottle banks, I use bottles and paper mache' a lot in 3rd. Such a  horrible thing.)

Once students are done, I introduce them to the idea of a self-assessment. Just a simple few questions asking about how they feel they did, what they would change, what grade do they give themselves, and about their animal and what they included. 

I love this project and look forward to it every year. It is so open and has such possibilities. Every year this is a challenge though so adjustments are made. I think for next I will change my demo video for how to add the head again. It is such a challenge to do. 

One-Point Perpsective Cities

One-point perpsective. A challenge in its own to even say. To teach, is a whole other ball of knots. I have taught one-point perspective for 4 years now. Every year, I change and adapt to the technology I have to do it better. This year was probably the best yet. 

So to start, I actually do a study on just the vanishing point and understanding that those diagonal lines go to the point. So we just do shapes the first day. And I show them how to cut them off before they get to the point. Which leads us to day two, city time. I go step by step on how to draw a city using one-point perspective as a group. 

Third day is where the fun really begins and I feel a huge jump in quality happened. CHROMEBOOKS! Thats right, I flipped the second half like a pancake. I put all my demo videos on screen-cast and provided a link to the students. This way, they can pick up where they need help on their own and go at their own pace or re watch steps over and over. Now this didn't solve all the problems but it helped. I love screen-cast because it also allows you around that whole youtube thing. 

But students got to use it for their sketching and then chromebooks again if they wanted to add references to items. 

Lastly, because these are cities they worked hard on, I had them do some writing on them. This time, rather then me trying to teach them and get them to write in art. I asked their teacher to do writing with them. Just gave the basic info on what I was looking for in it. SOOO MUCH BETTER! And finished off with critique! 

At the end I even had these kids self-assess themselves with rubrics and give me notes for next year. One said to just go for the chromebook videos first. Might use that advice to see how it turns out. 

Yes, it has been done before but the reason I am deciding to post this project is due to my technology usage.

Recycled Kindness Monsters

"We are doing research into recycling, is there anything you would want to do with them for that in art class?"

Yep, that is how the recycled kindness monsters started. I wanted to start by having it be 3D to prepare my 2nd graders for next years as 3rd graders. 

So to start, had students bring in a box. Not a super big box but not super tiny. Then using small snack bags filled with kitty litter. (my go to for weighing anything down) Students had to figure out how many they might of needed to keep their box from falling over. Then we gessoed! I had them gesso so painting over those bright colors of some boxes would be easier. 

For painting, I let them go at it with whatever colors they wanted. This gave them an opportunity to experience getting their own paint and taking responsibility for my paint bottles themselves. Plus getting to mix paints however they wanted. 

Now at this point I introduced the book I used "My Friend the Monster" a little book about a family that moves into a house and the son finds a monster. The monster is kind and just wants to be friends. I used this to base the "what are we doing with these??" question.

Last the fun part. I have been saving supplies for them to build their monsters with for awhile. We used yarn, fabric, and paper scraps along with cardboard tubes and spools. My one design requirement for these monsters was the mouth. It had to be saying something kind that they would want to hear every day. A motivational saying to get them going. Some really got it and had great ideas. A few, not so much. 

Note: to get the tubes and spools to stick I did have to get out the hot glue gun. I manned it and gave students a limit of visits. 

I would like to do this project again but might put more parameters on the size of the box and requirement of the mouth. See if I can get the classroom teacher to come up with some good phrases. Otherwise I feel successful in this integration and sort of diving into maker space. 

Where the Wild Things Are

I do not know any art teacher who does not like "Where the Wild Things Are" Seriously. So I thought of a project to have my 1st experience it and have them focus on shapes, texture and a tiny bit of landscape developement/depth, with watercolor paints. 

To start we read the book and discussed the themes behind it. Next we observed the art style around it and what we noticed about the body designs of the wild things. Noticing the shapes and size and that there was texture. I had them example what would be good lines to use for textures and what they should include in their wild things. IE no robots? or pirates? Wild things are more like two animals put together. 

So we sketched and practiced with sketchbooks and white boards to help out. 

I really pushed for big! And to follow those shapes with texture. I had them draw them with pencil first then use crayons to do outline and just draw their texture. They asked why they couldn't color it in and I explained they will get to experiment with watercolor paints and they will discover something interesting about watercolor paints and crayon. And showed them pictures of the book pages again to understand they are on ground and the sky goes to that ground line. 

They had a ball with painting and I had them develop good habits of setting up their space and understanding how to do painting without smooshing the brush down. This was their first time with me using the big 16 count set. 

I would like to do this project again but really need to push more of the DO NOT color in idea. And have the animal mixed. I had a couple give their wild thing names so I might play with that more next time and have them maybe express an emotion and story about their wild thing after Max left them. 

Recycled Bottle Banks

Integration is such a part of my art teaching that the classroom teachers share what is going on in their room on a regular bases. So one day my 3rd grade teacher asked if I had any idea on how to do a project based on their inquiry into renewable energy and recycling. Some time and planning later and a few eye twitches later. I came up with these Recycled Bottle Banks. Which I feel, honestly is pretty genius. 

So it starts with having the students pick a bottle. Now because bottles are cylanders that like to roll on their side, I have students attached old marker caps to the bottom as feet to hold the bottle in place. Just simple masking tape will do.

After that we paper mache', first in newspaper or old phone book paper. Then a layer in white to really finish it off. 

When they were all dry I cut the hole for the money myself with a box cutter. 

Next we paint! Now painting it was interesting because I had the students use their renewable energy source as their inspiration to paint. I had them design and describe to me what they planned to do before painting and I demonstrated to them the importance of a base color before details. The rest is all them.

I loved this project and so did my students. I had them make sure to paint the whole thing and they learned about the round. If I were to do this again, which I totally would. I would have more guided questions for my students. I feel like I told them why they needed the feet and why a base color is good. I want them to answer rather then be told why.