At the end of the year last school year, I passed out Summer Art Challenge sheets. Each of the students who participated received a certificate and a prize or two or three depending on how much of the challenge they completed. Visit this past blog post to read about the challenge activities. Here is the certificate I passed out. I blocked off my name and the school name/year, so you can use this award sheet and just add your name … Read more…
At the end of the year in June, I posted about a collaborative word banner project I did with all of my students. Write inspirational words using block or bubble letters on large banner paper. Outline with paint. Color patterns and designs inside with markers. Use printouts of Romero Britto‘s artwork for pattern inspiration. I also used this as an option for students who finished their other art projects and wanted to help out. I saved them for the … Read more…
I have a bookshelf in my classroom that students can go to when they are done with their class assignments. I also have free choice days where students can select from a wide range of activities. Since students finish at all different times it is a good idea to have art enrichment activities for them to do. I like to have low mess activities with little extra guidance needed for those students that finish early. Here are some of the … Read more…
We had our first week of school! Beth Carter posted wonderful pictures of her students drawings on the first day with the title “I had art today!” I borrowed the concept and made sheets for my kindergartners and first graders to take home on their first day of art class. Here is the PDF download of “I Had Art Today!” I had my students draw a picture of themselves as an artist or a picture of themselves in class with … Read more…
I love organizing things, especially art materials. It makes it easier to find things you need when your room is organized! I am always revamping my organizational systems and I feel like my room now is arranged pretty well for my needs. I am sure I will find some things that need tweaking over the next few years. On each table I have a plastic drawer set labeled with pencils & eraser, glue sticks & scissors, and markers. On the … Read more…
After looking at the art of contemporary artist Nicolas Lampert, my students combined two or more different objects or creatures to create hybrid drawings. Here are the steps to this lesson: 1. Start by discussing the machine animal collages and the machine insect collages by Nicolas Lampert. Ask questions such as” How do you think Nicolas made these pictures? How do they make you feel? Why do you think he combined animals or insects with machines? How would these … Read more…
This summer I taught a one week art workshop called Artsy Animals. The camp had kids going in to grades 1-4 and it took place for 3 hours every day. Now camp was much more laid back than regular art class, so we did not accomplish *as much* as 3 hours of school time, but I think the kids had a really good time. We made Shrinky Dink necklaces! Each student got one sheet of Shrinky Dinks Crystal Clear paper. … Read more…
Near the end of the school year our 5th/6th grade students put on a Medieval Day for the entire school. They researched and planned activities including dancing, food sampling, jousting, catapulting, exhibits and displays and of course, ART! My 5th/6th grade classes made paper mache knight sculptures starting with a newspaper armature. They added Medieval clothes and weapons to accessorize. Some of the materials we used were cardboard, wood, cloth, leather, raffia, doll hair, yarn and felt. One of my … Read more…
In previous blog posts, I talked about contemporary artists you may not have heard about before and I put together a round-up of blog posts about contemporary art projects. Today I have some more ideas to share. Don Masse said, “hey marcia! the majority of my lessons are based on living artists. i just did a fun lesson with my kinders inspired by the mosaics of jim bachor http://www.shinebritezamorano.com/2015/05/street-sweets.html and followed that up with them creating a real mosaic. Another … Read more…
My students had a blast drawing Manga faces again this year. I tried this lesson previously with great enthusiasm and results. I printed off lots of handouts I found online of cartoon faces, eyes, noses, mouths, hairstyles and accessories. The kids used these sheets plus books to put together their Manga portrait. I encouraged the students to include background patterns or accessories (such as a basketball) or a pet (like the dog) to tell a little about the character they … Read more…
I came up with this lesson after browsing the internet looking for contemporary artists to study. I came across Fiona Curran’s‘s beautiful paintings with straight lines and geometric shapes. Here are some of her artworks: At the end of the year, my students were losing focus and were ready for summer to begin! I wanted a fun lesson that would involve experimentation and play. I love using colored and patterned tape so I showed the second grade students how you … Read more…
Everything in my shop is 20% off August 3-4, just in time for back to school! I have PowerPoints, Signs, Discussion Cards, Sketchbook Prompts, Art Journaling E-Zines and Getting to Know You Cards. I also have new Art Task Cards which I think will be really useful for kids that need an idea starter. This is a set of 240 (yes, 240!) Art Task cards. The cards contain a simple prompt that can be interpreted in a variety of ways. … Read more…
I have several art lessons that I did not post about yet from this past school year, so look forward to a few more art project ideas this summer. This lesson is fairly simple to prepare for and teach. “Notan” is the term used by the Japanese to mean “light/dark” space. We can also learn about positive/negative space through Notan designs. My third graders studied Asia this year in their Social Studies class, so this was a nice tie-in. To … Read more…
Are you looking for something fun to do on the first day of school with your kids? There is a huge list of ideas on this blog post of tips for the start of the school year. Another idea is to have your students fill out an “artist profile” about themselves. I have five new Getting to Know You sheets in my TPT shop. The first is a colorful 11″x17″ poster size the kids can draw, write and color on … Read more…
Today I have the pleasure of sharing with you an interview with Margaret Peot, author of the new book Stencil Craft. Earlier this week I wrote a book review, with the chance to win copies of this book (there is still time to enter). You can see that blog post here: Stencil Craft Book Review and Giveaway. Since I am an elementary art teacher, Margaret is also going to share a fun project to do with little children. 1. What … Read more…
