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Category Archives: science

Have You Ever Drawn Flowers with Watercolor Pencils?

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Have You Ever Drawn Flowers with Watercolor Pencils?

The week after winter break was up in the air.  Due to construction, we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to use our art room and we didn’t know if we would have easy access to supplies.  I planned for most of my classes to complete observational drawings during that week period, since they all could use the same supplies and learning to observe the edges and shapes of objects is great training for the eye. It … Read more… →

Watercolor Bird Paintings by First Graders

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Watercolor Bird Paintings by First Graders

I love these charming birds by the 1st graders!  So colorful and a beautiful experience with watercolors. We read the lovely book The Boy Who Drew Birds, which is about the naturalist/artist John James Audubon.  It is a great book that tells the story of how he loved to study birds and spent his free time as a child drawing and observing nature.  Audubon banded birds to see if the same birds returned each year.  It is a great book … Read more… →

On Teaching Art #3: Integrating Art with Other Subjects

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On Teaching Art #3: Integrating Art with Other Subjects

Welcome to the 3rd post in my series On Teaching Art. The first post and the background behind this series is On Teaching Art:  Art vs. Craft. The second post was On Teaching Art #2: Organizing Curriculum. The question posed for this installment is: How can art be integrated into math, science, social science, and literacy? That is a great question and I very often connect art lessons with their units of study in the classrooms.  Integrating art with other … Read more… →

How to Paint Gorgeous Clouds with Watercolor Paints – 5th and 6th Grade

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White, fluffy clouds float against a serene backdrop.

Clouds.  Aren’t they amazing? Two years ago I took a very helpful watercolor painting class.  One of our assignments was to paint clouds. Connecting Art with Science I love to make connections with other subjects.  This one is perfect for my 5th/6th grade because in Science class they study cloud identification.  They come into my class with a broad understanding of clouds which makes my lesson richer. Clouds and Art Resource The Clouds in Art Gallery is amazing.  This gallery … Read more… →

Frogs in a Pond (with Monet) 1st Grade

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An abstract painting of a frog with colorful shapes in the background, inspired by Monet.

I love lessons where I can tie in different areas of study, art history and art techniques!  This is a project I developed that incorporates study of frogs, Monet and watercolor painting. To start this project, we learn about the artist Claude Monet and his paintings of ponds and lilypads.  We read a book about Monet from the Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists series. (This series is awesome for read-alouds in class.  I love the picture books about … Read more… →

Insect Habitat– Lesson Plan– 3rd Grade

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Colorful caterpillar craft made from painted egg cartons and cardboard wings, set against a paper flower background, designed as an engaging 3rd Grade lesson plan.

Third graders worked together to make an insect habitat on large butcher paper.  They had been studying habitats in their Science class. We used Model Magic, beads, pipe cleaners and corrugated paper to make the insects and oil pastels to color them.  The kids did a great job, but I’m not sure how I feel about Model Magic… we’ve been having a tough time getting the pieces to stay together.  Some of the heads and body parts had to be … Read more… →

Abstract Oil Pastel Trees– 4th/5th grade

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Abstract Oil Pastel Trees with a black trunk and branches, surrounded by vibrant, multicolored background segments.

This is a lesson I teach every year because the results are so beautiful!  Each of the kid’s drawings just turns out wonderful. 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. Steps: Day … Read more… →

Robots and Chicks

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Several fluffy baby chicks standing and resting on a blue surface indoors near a corner

I just wanted to show you one more very cool picture.. it was another parody of American Gothic.  This student was absent and had to catch up on this project.  Here are the baby chicks our school hatched, which are now growing into chickens!  They grow so fast! I realized that I did not show you the pictures of the chicks when they were first hatched:

First Grade Bird Paintings– Audubon

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Child's drawing of an owl and a small bird on a tree branch with a colorful sky background and green leaves.

These beautiful bird paintings were drawn and painted by first graders.  The students learned about the artist John James Audubon and we read a book about his life. I love this book about Audubon, because it has beautiful pictures and ties science and art together nicely. The students looked at pictures of birds and drew them with crayons.  Then we painted the background with tempera cakes.  This is a lovely picture.. too bad we didn’t use thicker paper, it wrinkled … Read more… →

Frogs on a Lilypad with Monet– 1st grade

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Child’s watercolor painting of a vibrant green frog on a blue background with red spots, saying "smak" in a speech bubble. It could be leaping off a lilypad in the whimsical style of Monet.

        In Art class, the 1st graders looked at Claude Monet’s artwork, especially his paintings of ponds.  Using a variety of painting techniques the 1st graders painted a pond with watercolors.  Frogs were drawn with crayons and markers. Lilypads were added with construction paper and tissue paper.  The children were studying frogs and toads in their Science class and read about them in LA/SS/D.  

Clouds Watercolor Painting

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A watercolor painting features green hills under a vibrant blue sky with clouds in shades of white and purple.

  I am taking a watercolor class this summer at the local recreation and parks department.  Our first real painting assignment was to paint a picture of clouds.  No, it couldn’t be just a white cloud on white paper.  This was a great assignment, because it is actually one that I do with my 5th and 6th grade students.  Now I will know some new tips and techniques to share with them.  You can see their beautiful pictures at this … Read more… →

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