The Lions Get Creative!

What can I say, its been a great year at Lynn Road Elementary and I’ve truly enjoyed teaching the children at our school.  I have ended this year with many great memories.

Fifth grade learned all about drawing from observation with a series of activities that included some drawing outside and inside.  We used the patio outside to draw some outdoor scenes, and then set up a still life inside the room to draw our own Henri Matisse inspired still lifes.   Matisse would paint simple still lifes and then fill is canvas with beautiful patterns and designs.  He also used wild and unusual colors.  The results from our fifth graders are colorful and very observant.

Fourth grade looked at some amazing Tibetan Sand Mandalas.  As seen here.    This kids were amazed at the intricate details that the monks achieve with just sand and even more amazed that after all of those hours of work, they sweep up the designs and pour them into a river.  We talked about how the mandalas that the monks make represent the world and students were asked to think of things that represent themselves.  I asked for things that were more deep or important than their favorite video games or such.  They were to think about how they would feel about things in 10-20 years and what they think would still be important to them after that long.  We drew and cut out circles and then designed only one quarter of the circle.  We used a crayon transfer technique to put the designs into the other sides of the circle, thus creating radial symmetry.

Third grade worked in pairs to complete some awesome mythical creatures.  We started with oatmeal boxes and other recycled materials and covered them with papier mache.  It was pretty hilarious watching the students react to having their hands covered in the water and flour mess that they used to cover everything.  They all loved getting so messy and I apologize to parents for the mess on their clothes when they came home.   We then painted the sculptures and added other embellishments.  The results are pretty darn cute.

The art room is starting to wind down for the year.  In three weeks, I will be stepping out  for the last week of school.  So in an effort to make that last week easy and simple for the fabulous substitute we have lined up, projects are finishing up a little early, and we’re keeping things simple but awesome for these last few weeks.

Lets start with our second graders!

They’ve been working on some beautiful sea turtles and learning about color schemes.  They learned about analogous colors and complementary colors and then had to choose their own color scheme to color their turtle.  We used crayons for coloring, and then painted the water with liquid watercolors and added tissue paper seaweed.  This results are very striking.

First grade read a new book A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon.  The story is about a little girl who tries too hard to be like everyone else and learns that its ok to be different.  We learned about self portraits and drew ourselves with our own bad case of stripes.  The kids laughed as they drew the stripes or dots on their faces and then used watercolors to paint crazy colors on themselves.

Kindergarten learned about the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh and looked at his famous painting, Starry Night.  We used our fingers to paint starry backgrounds for old European style towns that we drew on brown paper.  This is one of my favorite projects that kindergarten makes, and every year I modify it just a bit to see if I can make it better.  This year we added a pretty green hill to put the city on.

The last blog post of this year will feature 3-d papier mache sculptures by the 3rd graders, still lifes from the fifth graders, and mandalas from our fourth graders.  Also, another favorite, dancing cows!

Kindergarten has made some beautiful still lifes!  We made symmetrical flower pots and then used sponges to stamp colorful flowers.  The students are giving these pretty flowers to the residents of an assisted living facility they will be visiting this week.

First grade has turned their attention to the book A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon.  We’re working on some pretty silly self portraits and the kids have all left the art room giggling to themselves about their work.  I love silly projects like this.  They’re not finished yet, so I’ll put pictures up as soon as they’re finished.

Second grade made some wonderful windsocks in the shape of fish.  These windsocks are inspired by Japanese Koi Nobori, which are windsocks in the shape of a koi which are flown every year on May 5th by all of the children in Japan in the hopes of bringing the child good luck.  We stamped scales using bottle caps, and drew details with oil pastels and crayons.  We attached long strips of tissue paper for tails and when we were finished the students got to go out on the patio and make their fish fly around outside.  To make things even more amazing for the kids, I let them take their windsocks home the day they finished them.  I usually keep projects for a while to photograph and display around the school.  The children were very excited as they left art with their creations.

Third grade is working hard on papier mache.  They are enjoying the mess they get to make and are looking forward to having a sculpture to take home.

Fourth grade is finishing up their group projects inspired by the work of Wassily Kandinsky and the music they heard at the NC Symphony.  Students listened to the music from the symphony and drew an abstract composition based on what they thought the music would look like if you could see it.  Then, the children voted on their favorite ones and then broke up into teams to enlarge the winners to a very large size.  Students had to learn how to work together, make group decisions and problem solve together.  I was very impressed by the children’s ability to communicate with each other and collaboratively design these very beautiful and colorful creations.  The conversations I listened to were very intuitive and intelligent.  Three of these large pieces will be displayed permanently in the music room and the others will adorn the walls of the school until the end of the year.

Fifth grade studied the art of the Inca people of Peru.  We talked about some of the myths of the Incas and compared them to Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology. The students were given a list of the Inca gods and goddesses and had to choose one to illustrate into a traditional Inca mask using foil.  We also talked about the two kinds of reliefs, high and bas.  The final product are these beautiful bas reliefs.

Next month, our Kindergarten students will be visiting a nearby assisted living community and watching a performance by local trained dogs.  They’ve also been working  with the local SPCA to learn about pet care and holding a drive for pet food donations.  To celebrate all that they’ve learned and experienced and to get ready for the field trip next month we decided to create a dog inspired project.  The students created hot dogs!  I got the idea from a website, so I can’t take credit for this pretty cool idea.  We drew dogs on orange paper and then painted yellow and red details.  Since they were dogs made with hot colors, they are hot dogs!  The students liked their little joke and enjoyed learning how to draw dogs.  The next week, we used our cold colors to make a tissue paper background for our hot dogs.  The end result is quite striking!

First graders read the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  This book is an old favorite of mine and the students.  They had a blast drawing their own wild things and then learning about different visual textures to draw on them.  We created backgrounds inspired by the trees in the book and used a few of the brush techniques that the students have learned over the course of the school year.

Second grade’s big performance was on Tuesday of this week.  Each specialist did a special project to tie all of our subjects together.  The specialists usually try to collaborate on a few projects a year.  For this project, students wrote poems in their classrooms with the teachers, typed the poems with Mrs. Walcheske, our computers teacher, and then illustrated the poems with me.

Here as teaser for our next project with second grade, can you guess what we’re making?

Third grade has finished their beautiful Aborigine Bark Paintings.  They are so gorgeous! Students had to choose an animal that they liked or that they felt represented them and then draw the silhouette of that animal.  That was an unexpected challenge!  Once the silhouette was glued to the large brown paper, we filled the rest of the paper with shapes and dots.  We used words like radiating lines, perimeter and area to describe different parts of the work.  The end result is completely wonderful!

Fourth grade has started group projects inspired by the work of Wassily Kandinsky.  Recently they attended the NC Symphony on a field trip, so we listened to the music they heard on the  field trip to create abstract art inspired by the music.  The 8 best designs were voted on by the class and their creators named team captains.  Now the task is for the students to enlarge the designs to a very large size and then work in a group to paint them.  I’m so excited to see these get finished.  I’m sure they will be great.

Fifth grade is working on Inca art still, the designs I’m seeing are looking very promising.

I wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who came out and supported our second grade students at their performance this Tuesday! We had a great turn out and everyone seemed to really enjoy the performance.  I know the kids were very excited and proud of themselves.

Here are some pictures from the event.  I can’t post any of the children for privacy reasons, but have a look at the general ambiance of the night!

Lets start with the older kids!

Fifth grade is starting a project where they get to work with Metal tooling foil to make Bas Relief masks inspired by Inca art.  They’re tying in things that they learn in their social studies lessons.

Fourth grade typed up and created power points in their computer class with Mrs. Walcheske.  In art class, they made covers for their printed off power points.  The students were guided to fill the page and draw neatly.

Third Grade has started beautiful works inspired by the Aborigines in Australia.  They create these wonderful bark paintings that use a lot of repetition and design.  Here is their progress so far.  Soon, I will be able to post some finished works, and so far, they are amazing!

Second grade is finished with their masks that they’ve been working on to wear to their performance on March 13th.  Certain students who are dancing will also be holding their masks for extra decoration.  Please come out and support our second graders during their performance before the PTA meeting on March 13th!

First grade has started work on some pretty cool wild things inspired by Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are.

Finally, Kindergarten has finished yet another project.  These guys churn out artwork every two weeks and it is always spectacularly pretty.  This time, we looked at the first part of the book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue fish by the incomparable Dr. Seuss.  This week, students will be celebrating his life and work with Read Across America.  We talked about primary colors and why they are important and then drew Dr. Seuss styled fish on yellow paper.  Students could choose to draw their fish standing up or swimming, and then were allowed to add touches of red or blue details.  The second week we painted striped backgrounds, sprinkled glitter on the wet paint, cut out the fish and glued it into our backgrounds.  The end result is a very colorful and Dr. Seuss-y piece of work!

Wow! I can’t believe its already February.   Work in the art room continues on steadily.  The kids are all enjoying their projects.

First off, Kindergarten has finished some beautiful polar bears using water colors and white tempera.  We tried some new watercolor techniques using salt and saran wrap.  The kids painted on their papers in purple and blue using lots of water and extra paint.  We sprinkled salt on the sky and crinkled saran wrap on the blue ground.  Finally we painted polar bears in white paint and collaged eyes and noses onto the bears.  The results are beautiful.

First grade read the book Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton and made their own Splat the Cats using black tempera.  We focused on painting skills like even painting, keeping it inside the shape, working in small spaces, and finally we introduced the new concept of flicking the brush to make a furry look to the cat.  Then, we drew our own version of Splat the Cat’s best friend and pet mouse, Seymour.  We drew Seymour on grey paper and used our cutting skills to cut him out and glue him next to Splat.  If time allowed, students were able to add pencils and books for details.

Fifth grade has finished their perspective drawings at long last!  These things take a very long time and a lot of effort on the kid’s part and mine.  The concepts in perspective drawing reinforce many math concepts.  Students use parallel lines, rays, angles, perpendicular lines, measuring, and converging lines, while reinforcing skills in using a ruler.  These pictures are such a challenge, but the kids are so proud of themselves at the end of it.

In the next post, Second grade finishes their African Masks, Fourth grade finishes NC state symbol book covers,  and third grade finishes up Aborigine bark paintings.

Kindergarten has been working on lovely self portraits.  I showed you, last week, the abstract backgrounds that the children made for the drawings they did of themselves.   The artwork included three parts; a drawing in crayon, a background with tempera paint, and a picture frame out of construction.  These pieces were assembled and the picture frames were decorated with stamps.  I love this project because it employs so much of the students’ skills.  In one project, they must stamp, cut, draw, color, paint and glue.  To make things better, the finished project makes a great memento to keep and look back on for years.  Its always amusing for me to see what the students feel that they look like.

Fourth Grade finished up their animal drawings that they have been working on for a while.  These animal projects are an extension of their wiki’s that they worked on in their classes and in the media center.   We drew the animals, added texture to them with crayons, we drew backgrounds and painted them and then put our animals into the backgrounds.   The final products are beautiful and colorful and will proudly grace the walls of the hallway.

The art room is really cranking out that artwork! The drying rack is jammed full and we’re having to leave artwork on tables to dry, I can barely keep up with the amount of messy brushes these kids are making, and kids are leaving the art room with smiles and telling each other “that was awesome!”  I loved having a kindergartener walk up to me today and tell me, “Mrs. Thornton, today was a really good day!”

First, kindergarten has been hard at work on some very lovely self portraits with crayons.  The portraits are finished and now they’re making abstract colorful backgrounds for them. Basically, I handed them a piece of paper, a brush, and two different colors of paint and told them to knock themselves out.  They could do anything they wanted, mix them, swirl them, scratch, dot, splatter or smear.   This is a favorite day for the students.

First grade has finished their pastel dragons and have moved on to dancing giraffes.  This lesson plan is a classic.  We read the book Giraffes Can’t Dance, by Giles Andrae and Guy Parker Rees.   The story is of a giraffe who is told by all of the other jungle animals that he can’t dance at the animal party.  He goes away on his own and discovers that “we all can dance, when we find music that we love.”  The students also learned about this book in their literacy and Music specials.  I have done this lesson for a couple years now and it is one of my favorites.  The kids love the double painting technique in the backgrounds and learning how to draw these silly giraffes leaping in the air.

Next up, Second grade is finishing up a big collaborative project between our specials and the classroom teachers.  More information will come about these lovely projects at our next school open house in March.  We talked about collage and used a few different and new techniques to make these colorful safaris.   We’ve begun the transition from the African safaris to African masks.  Our second graders are super excited about symmetry and these masks!  I love how art can make those kinds of connections with students.  As second grader actually yelled out, “symmetry is so cool!” in art this week.

Third graders are also working on self portraits, just like kindergarten, but with a few twists.  They’re having to paint their self portraits which is much more difficult.  We talked about what they see when they look in the mirror and then looked at a few famous self portraits.  The students learned about Frida Khalo, Pablo Picasso, Chuck close, and Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun.  All of these artists lived incredible lives and you can really learn a lot about them from their self portraits.   Their self portraits were painted on foil so that they would look like what students see when they look in the mirror.  I think they turned out beautifully!

Fourth and Fifth grade are the students who really take their time.  Fourth grade is finishing their animal projects and habitats and fifth grade is painting their very complicated and intricate cityscapes.  Perspective is tough business, just ask a fifth grader.  The next post will feature the finished projects from fourth and fifth grade as well as kindergarten!

 

This week, I’ve decided to feature the art room itself on the blog.  Many parents don’t get the opportunity to come visit our beautiful art room so here is a glimpse into the place the children spend part of their week in.

First off, is the view from the door as the students enter. The tables are arranged in a "U" shape so that I can easily maneuver around the room and see what every child is working on. The center table is where I often demonstrate techniques or read books.

This is the view from the other side of the room. The counter is where we keep the messier materials such as paint and glue. The shelves above are storage for paper and other supplies that we use frequently.

This area is where the student's work is stored. Its organized by what day the students come to art. Morning classes are stacked horizontally and afternoon classes are vertical. Over that is the scraps station where students can get different colors of scrap paper, tissue paper and even foil. Reduce, reuse, recycle!

This is the far wall away from the door. I love the track lighting that displays what each grade level is doing so brightly. The children love coming in and seeing what other grade levels are doing. I love to hear them get excited about what they think they'll be doing next year. The desk there is the time out spot where students can cool down or take a break.

This is the board where I demonstrate all of our projects. It sees a TON of use and I am always running out of dry erase markers. Above the board is a group of pictures called "The No-No's" These are simple guidelines that help students be more successful in their drawing. As you can see, the art room is very fortunate to have its own digital document camera and projector as well as easy access to a smart board.

And there you have it, a quick and maybe uninteresting tour of the art room.  I have to say, its definitely my favorite room in the school!

Finally, we have a preview of a project the kindergarten students are working on.  We looked at a self portrait by Vincent Van Gogh and then the children were asked to draw their own self portrait on their own without my help.  After that, I walked through some easy steps to draw a more professional looking self portrait.  At the end of the class, we compared the first self portrait, drawn on the little paper, to the second self portrait.  The children really enjoyed looking at the improvement between the two, though some insisted they preferred their original drawing.