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Category Archives: fourth grade
Greek Vase Chalk Drawings– 4th/5th Grade

The fourth/fifth graders have been working on some lovely Greek vase chalk drawings. We learned about overlap, proportion and shadows, as well as how to use and blend chalk pastels. This class studies Greek history in their social studies class. The students also had the chance to make little pots out of clay or sculpey. Sculpey does not work so well for coiled pots. Have you found that?
Third and Fourth grade collaborative circle paintings

I was so excited to see this idea of Circle Painting!! I first learned about it at Barbara’s Thought of the Day and then at We Heart Art. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. for this wonderful idea. We are making several collaborative canvases with this technique and they are going to be raffled off at our end of the year school FUNdraiser. The kids had a blast creating these paintings. This is the first video I have edited … Read more…
American Landscape Paintings–3rd/4th Grade

American Landscapes The 3/4s learned about Colonial times and Westward Expansion. The students watched a video about American landscape artists during the 19th century and they painted their own landscapes. One of the goals was to use inspiration from the environment to create a painting. The students chose a landscape scene from pictures of America. Painting lessons include how to add texture with a fan brush, how to mix colors and how to add shadows on a mountain. I showed … Read more…
Egyptian Profile Pictures– 4th/5th grade

Egyptian Profile Paintings:The 4/5s have studied ancient Egypt in their social studies class. In Art class, they are using the standard proportions of the human face to draw each other in profile. Then, they are adding typical ancient Egyptian headdresses, clothes and jewelry to their portraits. Finally, they are drawing some hieroglyphics to finish the picture.
Editorial Cartoons

Every year, students in grades 5-8 participate in a local contest called the Yahara River Writers Contest. There are categories in poetry, editorials and editorial cartoons. In art class, we study editorial cartoons. We analyze cartoons for their use of exaggeration, symbolism, irony and point of view. Cartoons for the Classroom has an amazing selection of lesson plans for studying editorial cartoons. There are over 200 printable cartoons with questions and explanations about them. We also watch this video The … Read more…
Name Designs– Inspired by Islamic Art– 5th/6th grade

In this project, we studied the repeating patterns found in Islamic art. These students have studied about Islam in their Social Studies class. This project also ties into geometry and math. I have been doing this project for a few years now, and the results have always been stunning! I originally found this lesson in an old School Arts magazine from the 90’s. Last year, I posted a tutorial with steps to achieve the designs.
Keith Haring Inspired Figures– 4th grade

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…
Pacific Northwest Coast Masks– third/fourth grades

The third/fourth grade classes made paper mache masks. We used inspiration from the Pacific Northwest Coast masks and viewed a video about their culture. Here are the steps we used. Start with a papermache mask form (we used some from Nasco). Then, add appendages with newspapers, LOTS of masking tape, pieces of cardboard, yogurt containers, etc. So much fun to build up a mask! After all the parts are very secured with tape (and I mean lots of tape, MORE … Read more…
Pointillist Trees- third/fourth grade

We learned about the artist Georges Seurat by reading Scholastic Art magazine. Students identified and described Pointillist paintings. They created a Pointillist painting of trees showing dimension and form by color mixing. Step 1: Introduce the work of Georges Seurat.Step 2: Choose a smaller sized piece of paper. We used 9 x 12″. Lightly sketch a landscape with pencil. Step 3: Using a paintbrush, Q-tip or pencil eraser, dip the end into paint and dab dots of color on your picture. … Read more…
Abstract Trees Inspired by Piet Mondrian

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

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.
Nonobjective Line Drawing– 3/4s

Third/Fourth Grade: The students learned how to identify realistic, abstract and non-objective art. The 3/4s worked on a non-objective graphite drawing. Using only shapes, lines, texture and value the students drew an interesting non-objective design. Non-objective art is art that has no recognizable objects. Value in art is the degree of lightness or darkness. The students completed a value scale using pencil. They learned how to create contrast by placing dark shades next to light shades, rough texture next to … Read more…
The Longest Line
Radial Design– 3rd/4th Grade

What is balance? What is radial symmetry? How is a compass used in art making? How can we use lines and patterns effectively in a design? The 3rd/4th grade class made RADIAL DESIGNS. They drew concentric circles using compasses. Inside the circles, they drew patterns and designs. Can you tell this class is really into Pac Man?