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Tag Archives: fourth grade

Reach for the Stars – Back to School Bulletin Board

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Reach for the Stars – Back to School Bulletin Board

I hope you are enjoying your first few weeks back to school!   Here is a Reach for the Stars bulletin board my students made as their first art projects. The tape letters were made by 1st graders.  I don’t know how people use painter’s tape for this technique, because it just caused my paper to rip.  I discovered the Post-it Label Roll which worked great to block out the letters. The kids painted over the label tape with a crayon … Read more… →

Secret City Drawings: 3rd & 4th Grade

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Four abstract pencil sketches composed of various geometric shapes and interconnected structures within frames.

Learn shading!  Practice drawing cubes, spheres and more.  Add dimension and depth to your drawings!  All this can be achieved with SECRET CITY DRAWINGS.  Check out this awesome video.  GUYS, LOOK AT HIS CLOTHES!  amazing. Once in awhile I will show the kids this goofy video and have them draw along for kicks and giggles. If I’m running low on time, we’ll skip the video and just use handouts from his book  (affiliate link to Amazon). The kids practice drawing … Read more… →

Foreign Language Art Postcard Contest

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Foreign Language Art Postcard Contest

Last fall, we participated in the Wisconsin Association for Language Teachers postcard contest. The theme was Languages:  Literacy for Life.  The students created postcards to fit this theme and one winning card was chosen to be reproduced in a pack of postcards that was given to all of the association members.  The members were encouraged to use the postcards in correspondence to parents or administration.  This would be a wonderful idea for arts advocacy! This is the card that was … Read more… →

Art and the Brain: How do kids imagine their brains?

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Art and the Brain: How do kids imagine their brains?

[cryout-pullquote align=”left|center|right” textalign=”left|center|right” width=”100%”] How do you experience your brain? What does your brain do for you? How can you express the feelings of your brain? [/cryout-pullquote] Students at our school connected with a scientific researcher to create diverse and artistic representations of their brains.   I teach art at a school for gifted and talented children.  Our students are highly interested and curious about science, so when I was contacted by Ayla Kruis to work with her on a project … Read more… →

Paper Mache Masks — 3rd & 4th Grade

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Paper Mache Masks — 3rd & 4th Grade

These paper mache masks by the 3rd/4th grade received lots of compliments when they were hanging in the hallway. The class was studying Native American history in their Social Studies and we looked at some Pacific Northwest Coast masks and we discussed the functions of masks in general throughout the world. We started with a mask form (made of paper mache) that I ordered in a class pack from Nasco.  From this starting point, the students built up and embellished … Read more… →

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… →

Egyptian Clay Sarcophagus Art Project for 4th and 5th Graders

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Egyptian Clay Sarcophagus Art Project for 4th and 5th Graders

This is a clay lesson that has been a big hit with my students.  You can see my previous posts about this project here and here.  The 4th/5th grade class studies ancient Egypt in their social studies class and they are excited to learn more about the art and architecture in my class.  I show them a Powerpoint with an overview of Egyptian art and then they work on drawing a sarcophagus design of their own.  I encourage them to … Read more… →

15 Favorite Posts from 2013

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  Another year is rapidly coming to a close, so I thought I would spend some time reviewing my favorite projects and blog posts from this year.  Here are my favorite posts, in no particular order! 15.  How to Paint Gorgeous Clouds with Watercolor 14.  Clay Castles 13.  Postage Stamp Art Project 12.  Heart Photography Project with 3rd Grade 11.  25 Amazing Books for Teaching About Art 10.  Editorial cartoons are a unit I teach every year.  We even were … Read more… →

Postage Stamp Art Project

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Postage Stamp Art Project

Here are two templates to use for postage stamps:  one full stamp or a sheet of nine. You could also just draw them in boxes and then cut them out with those craft scissors that have the funky edges. My 4th/5th grade class designed their own postage stamps.  I brought in a box of stamps for them to look through and see up close.  I also showed them a short Powerpoint about stamps throughout history. There is information on the … Read more… →

Lego Art Projects

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Lego Art Projects

Our school is building an addition, so I thought projects related to “building” would be fun.  Legos are the perfect building blocks! So, we designed our own mini-figures with this template.  I originally saw this idea from The Art Teacher’s Closet. We also stamped with Legos (idea via Lego Stamping from Filth Wizardry).  Thanks to wonderful bloggers for these two ideas!  My students LOVED them!  They were so excited about these proejcts. Place your piece of paper on top of … Read more… →

A Visit from an Editorial Cartoonist

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A Visit from an Editorial Cartoonist

I still have some things to share with you from last school year.  Towards the end of the year we had an editorial cartoonist visit our school.  Every year our students draw editorial cartoons as part of the art curriculum.  You can see some of the cartoons my students drew in 2013. When teaching about editorial cartoons, it is very important to show cartoons from both sides (in the U.S.= Republican/Democrat).  It is also essential that you do not tell … Read more… →

Silhouette Paper Cuttings for 3rd and 4th Graders

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Silhouette paper cuttings depict a bird flying near a castle with two towers and a central, tall structure against a white background.

Did you know Hans Christian Andersen was an accomplished paper cutter?  He created some very intricate and amazing silhouettes. I used a chapter from the book The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen to teach about his paper cuttings. Perhaps if your students are reading fairy tales, this would be a great author/artist to incorporate. The third and fourth grade class drew silhouettes on black paper (using regular pencils) and cut them out.  (Some chose to create their picture … Read more… →

Contour Line Shoe Drawings by 3rd and 4th Graders

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A child's drawing of a large boot features tiny buildings and people around it, including a castle, cafe, and shops. The scene bursts with the creativity you might find in 4th Graders' artwork.

Take off your shoes and make yourself comfortable. This fun lesson is perfect to teach observational drawing with minimal supplies and easy set up. 1.  Take off a shoe. 2.  Observe the lines, shapes and contours of the shoe. 3.  Concentrate and draw all of the lines you see on the shoe.  Don’t forget the little details, such as shoelaces, the tongue and any patterns you see on the shoe. *Optional Step*  Enlarge the shoe drawings on a photocopier. 4.  … Read more… →

Mosaics in the Classroom

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Mosaics in the Classroom

Have you made mosaics with elementary students? We first learned about the mosaics in ancient Greece and Rome.  The student thoroughly enjoyed sifting through my box of mosaic tiles to find the perfect pieces. We used glass bits and bobs, shells, stones, square tiles and stained glass pieces. Some tips: Be sure to cut your pieces inside a plastic bag to avoid flying pieces. Use sanded grout (available at a hardware store) to minimize cracking. Tiles should be placed about … Read more… →

Making Bookmarks with Kids

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Making Bookmarks with Kids

Our local public library partnered with us to have a bookmark contest.  The kids in grades K-5 each designed a bookmark based on a favorite book.  We provided a template for them to compose their drawing. The library will pick a number of winners to print as bookmarks for distribution at the library.  We’ve done this before at school and when the designs were returned to us, we chose other designs and copied them at an office store on card … Read more… →

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