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Category Archives: fifth grade

Keith Haring Inspired Figures– 4th grade

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Inspired Figures in a colorful abstract image of humanoid shapes, one with a question mark over its head, surrounded by arrows. Keith Haring's influence is evident in the lively and playful design.

These are drawings by 4th/5th graders.  Who was Keith Haring?  What is gesture drawing?  The 4/5s learned about the artwork of Keith Haring and practiced figural drawing.  In pairs, the students posed for each other and practiced gesture drawing and longer posed drawings.  Then they drew stylized people, kind of in a cartoon-like way.  We read pages from this book about Keith Haring and analyzed the meanings of his artwork.  The kids were encouraged to add their own symbols to … Read more… →

Medieval Coat of Arms– 5th grade

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Medieval Coat of Arms featuring a hand-drawn shield with various symbols including a crescent moon, lightning bolt, and scales on a blue background.

Our 5/6 class is going to host a Madrigal Dinner, complete with musical acts.  The music teacher asked us to make decorations for the dinner.  The kids each made their own Coat of Arms.  We read a little bit about the significance of Coat of Arms and the symbols used.  The children then drew their own Coat of Arms with symbols and designs that represented themselves and their family.  Then, we assembled them all on to long banners of blue … Read more… →

Abstract Trees Inspired by Piet Mondrian

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Painting of an abstract tree against a colorful sky, with a white swing hanging from one of its branches.

Fourth and Fifth Grade The 4/5s drew trees to complement their studies in Science class. How can line be used creatively to make a stylized picture?  How can oil pastels be used effectively?   The students aimed to use line creatively and made stylized art.  A focus of the lesson was color mixing, blending and layering of the oil pastel. 1.  Show images of Piet Mondrian’s abstract trees.  Discuss how he started out with realistic trees, then they became more and … Read more… →

Sumerian statues– Fourth/Fifth grades

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Three hand-painted clay figurines, each holding an object, with simple facial features and bright colors, evoke the charm of Sumerian statues.

We learned about Sumerian art.  The students drew Sumerian statuettes and we also made some figures out of clay!  These statuettes are characterized by large, staring eyes, clasped hands, cylindrical bodies, expressionless faces and bodies devoid of gender differentiation. They have religious and cultural meaning and we will investigate this in class.

Patterned Still Life– 5/6s

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Abstract artwork featuring various geometric patterns in colors like pink, blue, green, yellow, and brown.

The 5/6s were developing their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination through observational drawing of a still-life.  Their goal for this unit was to use proportion, overlap and pattern to create a unified composition of a still-life.  They viewed a slide show presentation of a variety of still life artworks.   Step One: Arrange a still life set up.  Kids should work collaboratively at their table to do so.Step Two:  Draw your picture with pencil first.  The objects must touch at … Read more… →

Graphic Design– 5th/6th gra

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Bold, colorful artwork featuring abstract typography with letters B, R, D, and A in separate rectangular frames, ideal for introducing graphic design concepts to 5th and 6th grade students.

@font-face { font-family: “Cambria”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } GRAPHIC DESIGN By the 5/6s How is design used in daily life?  What do graphic designers create?  How can we investigate a variety of symbols and fonts?   How can we use appropriate symbols, colors and fonts to represent ourselves visually?   The 5/6s read Scholastic Art magazine about Robert Indiana and his designs. Careers in art were … Read more… →

Faux Stained Glass

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Three colorful mosaic pieces depicting flowers with faux stained glass effects are displayed on a white background.

The 5th/6th graders have been studying Medieval art and we viewed a powerpoint about stained glass windows in cathedrals.  The students use glass stain on pieces of plexiglass to make their own picture.  We first drew the lines on a piece of paper.  Then, we placed the plexiglass on top of the paper.  They painted their black lines first and let them dry.  Then they use the glass paint to color in the areas. 

Paper Pulp Pictures

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Colorful abstract art piece with layered, textured patches in blue, red, pink, green, and yellow on a white background.

This lesson plan is an idea I tried at one of the National Art Education Conferences.  This is such a fun project because it gives you the experience of paper pulp painting, but without the blenders or mess.  One thing I will be sure to remind the kids of next time is to be sure to tear the paper into really small pieces.  The larger pieces fell apart.  We coated these with a modge podge after to secure them completely.  … Read more… →

Graphic Design Magazine Cover

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Magazine cover of "Hamster Monthly" with a graphic design featuring an illustration of a brown hamster and various article titles.

I wanted to introduce graphic design to my 4th graders and I thought a magazine cover would be super fun.  I was able to check out the mobile lab computers for one of my classes, but for the other unit, the cart was already checked out, so those kids are doing something else completely hand drawn.  I showed them a short powerpoint about graphic design elements, quickly showed them my example and set them off to create their own magazine … Read more… →

Week Update

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A figurine in a metallic outfit holding a flag and shield, standing on a base labeled "DARWIN OF OTFORD." Week Update included.

Well, I haven’t updated since this past Sunday, so I will briefly tell you what I’ve been up to..  parent-teacher conferences were on Tuesday.  We are in the middle of various projects… monochromatic rhythm paintings (which are awesome and I will share with you later)…  Rainbow Fish paintings, bird paintings, American landscape paintings.. wow, I guess we are doing a lot of paintings now.  The 4/5s are doing a mosaic/fresco project which I will show you when we are further … Read more… →

Artist Trading Cards

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Multiple colorful drawings of snowmen arranged on a table, showcasing various artistic styles and decorations, resembling a collection of Artist Trading Cards.

My 5th/6th graders made these artist trading cards using the African Adinkra carved stamps they made.  Each kid made one or two cards and decorated them with markers.  We are sending them to a school in Minnesota, art teacher Nicole Hahn.  These are the amazing artist trading cards we have already received!!  I love the shading and coloring on the snowmen prints.  The kids are going to be so excited.  🙂  Thanks Nicole!!

Carved Stamps– 5th/6th grade

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Abstract painting with black flower patterns on a background of alternating pink and purple squares, using carved stamps for unique texture.

My 5th and 6th grade class carved stamps from E-Z Cut and then we printed them many times.  They looked at African Adinkra stamps and then used those designs for inspiration.  We printed them on artist trading cards, a design on paper and then on two large group artworks.  The ones pictured here are our large group artworks.  We are going to put this artwork in the school raffle fundraiser at the end of the year.  I’m also going to … Read more… →

  • Banner with colorful artwork promoting an art shop featuring kindness coloring pages, artist activities, and resources for teachers.