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Chinese Landscape Scroll Paintings for 3rd Grade

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A child's painting of two mountains, a river, trees, and a small hut, displayed on green-bordered cloth, evokes the charm of 3rd grade artistry and Chinese landscape scroll paintings.

This 3rd grade lesson was related to the Chinese scroll paintings.  I have taught this lovely project for several years and I know I saw a version of it online when I first started teaching it.  I did some internet digging and this awesome scroll project from Oodles of Art looks like it might have been where I saw it. The students studied Asia in their classroom and we learned a little about Chinese art through a video:  Oriental Art- … Read more… →

African Adinkra Carved Stamps & Art for AUCTION– 5th and 6th grade

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A pattern of hand-stamped yellow symbols, including eyes, paws, and triangles arranged on a white background using Carved Stamps.

My 5th and 6th grade students studied Africa and the African Adinkra stamped cloths.  I showed them a slide show of images. Examples of Adinkra symbols were shown for inspiration.  Check out my African Adinkra Pinterest board for handouts of symbols.  The kids could use these ideas and embellish upon them or come up with their own symbol based on some of these ideas. They used linoleum cutters to carve their own rubber stamps on the Dick Blick Art soft carving … Read more… →

Easter Bonnet Craft

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A decorated Easter bonnet with ribbons, pink flowers, eggs, and a stuffed bunny on top. Text reads "Easter Hats.

Every year my sister-in-law hosts an Easter bonnet party.  All of the guest come with Easter bonnets that were homemade and there is a contest for the wildest or most artistic hat.  The crazier, the better! This would be fun to do for other holidays.  Maybe you could create a 4th of July hat or a Christmas hat! Start with a base hat.  The pink hat we bought from Target and my hat we bought from Michael’s craft store. Tie … Read more… →

Greek Vase Chalk Drawings– 4th and 5th Grade

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Greek Vase Chalk Drawings– 4th and 5th Grade

We are on Spring Break now, so I’m going to use this time to catch up on some blog posts!  I have a lot of projects that are finished that I have started writing posts about.  How about you?  How many blog posts do you currently have in your “draft” folder? Here is a lesson on drawing Greek vases that I teach to my 4th and 5th graders.  We start by reading the Scholastic Art issue about Greek pottery.  It … 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… →

On Teaching Art #2: Organizing Curriculum

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On Teaching Art #2: Organizing Curriculum

Welcome to the second post in my series On Teaching Art. The first post and the background behind this series is On Teaching Art:  Art vs. Craft. The question posed for this installment is: How can we organize planning for art instruction? Carrie Birmingham said, “For instance, I can imagine planning around art elements like line and color, or planning based on great artists, or planning based on curricular connections, or planning based on children’s development. There are probably a … Read more… →

On Teaching Art: Art vs. Craft

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On Teaching Art: Art vs. Craft

I received an email from Carrie Birmingham of Pepperdine University about teaching art.  She teaches a general education course.  She proposed a number of questions about teaching art that she would like to share with her university students.  Here is what she writes: “The students I have will be general ed classroom teachers, mostly K-5. They may or may not end up at a school which has an art teacher, and I want them to have a starting place if … Read more… →

Google Reader ENDING! Try Feedly as an alternative

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Google Reader ENDING! Try Feedly as an alternative

Did you hear the news? My heart sunk. Tears were (almost) cried. Google is ending GOOGLE READER! On July 1st, Google is discontinuing the reader because of diminishing use.  Say what? What to do with the hundreds of blogs that I follow?  Yes, hundreds.  (I do a lot of skimming.)  I flip through blogs on my Google Reader app on my phone.  I know many of you also probably use Google Reader and Friend Connect. Well, after doing a bit … Read more… →

5 Fabulous Things an Art Teacher is Loving Right Now

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The image has text "5 Fabulous Things I am loving right now" with a vibrant background featuring stars and paint strokes.

Before I start with 5 Fabulous Things let me just tell you how jealous I am of any of you who went to Texas this week for the National Art Education Association conference.  I love love love going to these conferences.  Unfortunately it’s not possible for me to go every year, but I’m living vicariously through blog posts and facebook posts of other art teachers… like Mr. E  and the Art of Ed. 5 Fabulous Things– a round up of … Read more… →

Daria’s in my art journal

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Daria's drawing on paper next to a colorful sketchbook on a table with markers and a red jacket in the background.

This is what happens every time I try to take out my art journal when Daria is awake!  LOL. She never wants to color in her own sketchbook, just mine! We are both LOVING these new RoseArt Neon Gel Crayons, 6-Count, Assorted Colors that I ordered from Amazon.  Cheap, and perfect for both adults and kids.  They are like very smooth oil pastels.  I like the brightness of the colors.  There is neon orange, yellow, green, pink and purple.. There … Read more… →

A Day in the Life of an Elementary Art Teacher

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A Day in the Life of an Elementary Art Teacher

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be an elementary art teacher? Maybe you are interested in becoming an art teacher.  Maybe you are curious how my day compares to yours’.  I know I would love to walk a day in another art teacher’s shoes to see what it is like at different schools or in different locations.  Through words and pictures, I am going to walk you through my day.  Out of privacy of the students, … Read more… →

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