• Subscribe to Blog via Email

    Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Tag Archives: third grade

Reach for the Stars – Back to School Bulletin Board

By | | , , , , , ,
Leave a comment
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

By | | , ,
3 Comments
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

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment
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… →

Adventures in Shapes, Shading, Texture and Lines

By | | , ,
6 Comments
An abstract pencil drawing featuring various shapes, lines, and doodles scattered across the canvas with intriguing texture and shading in black and white.

First of all, thanks for being a loyal blog reader (or) welcome, if you are new!  I have a personal update to share with you… I went on medical leave this week and Monday was my last day of work for the time being.  My pregnancy is complicated and I could not work anymore.  The baby is healthy, but physically I need to lay down as much as possible and it is really hard to sit or stand without a … Read more… →

Paper Mache Masks — 3rd & 4th Grade

By | | , , , , ,
1 Comment
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?

By | | , , , , , , , , , , ,
1 Comment
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… →

15 Favorite Posts from 2013

By | | , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

  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… →

Mixed Media Self Portraits by 3rd Graders

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment
Mixed Media Self Portraits by 3rd Graders

A self portrait is one of those art projects that is always fun to do with kids.  Kids often struggle to portray an accurate likeness of themselves (at least in their opinion), but their personality always shines through. I did not come up with this lesson all on my own.  I saw something similar in an art ed. magazine years ago and adapted it and reused this one many times.  In my opinion, that’s a great way to collect a … Read more… →

Clay Flowers made by 3rd Grade

By | | ,
2 Comments
Clay Flowers made by 3rd Grade

I’m in love with these gorgeous clay flowers my 3rd graders made. This summer when I was on vacation in Michigan, I saw some lovely clay wall hangings in an artsy shop.  They were layered clay flowers and they were HUGE!  They were so awesome.  I thought my students could make something similar on a smaller scale. The kids learned how to roll out a clay slab.  Then, they cut out various flower templates, traced them and cut them from … Read more… →

See a Heart, Share a Heart: 3rd Grade Photography Unit on Hearts

By | | , ,
5 Comments
See a Heart, Share a Heart: 3rd Grade Photography Unit on Hearts

I was given a review copy of this new book See a Heart Share a Heart.  The author takes photographs of hearts he comes across in daily life, from a leaf to a sidewalk crack to a moth. After reading this book to my 3rd grade students, we worked as a team to find hearts or create heart artworks indoors and outdoors.  When I say we worked as a team, the kids collaborated and talked about how they could find … Read more… →

Lego Art Projects

By | | , , , , , ,
4 Comments
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

By | | , , , ,
3 Comments
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

By | | , ,
1 Comment
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

By | | , ,
2 Comments
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… →

Making Bookmarks with Kids

By | | , ,
Leave a comment
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.