The Bottom of the Big Blue Sea

Just finished a swimmingly, sweet project with my little 1st graders that was inspired by a song and the Blue-Green Chromis schooling fish in our aquarium

Day 1: Students started with a gradiated sea. I assigned each class a different color. We started with white paint and added a drop of our paint color, till we reached the true tone.

Day 2: We added fish, using different cool colors.  I wanted the students to practice perspective, changing the size of the fish as they got farther away. 

Day 3: We finished up with some overlapping silver fish and bubbles!

"I don't want to be alone, I want to be a stone

I wanna sink to the bottom of the ocean

And lie there with you til I'm gone

At the bottom of the big blue sea

Just you and me." -Bob Schneider

Happy Friday!

A Sky Full Of Stars

Vincent Van Gogh said "what is done in love is done well".

Well I love Van Gogh and on his birthday I decided to take a look at some of my favorite lessons inspried by that love, and that were done very well...

Every spring my 1st and 2nd graders take on Sunflowers.

In 1st they create a paper collage made out of different colors and shapes of paper.

Once in 2nd grade we revisit the Sunflowers, and create a painting more in the style of Van Gogh, I usually send these home for Mother's Day.

Starry Night, which is most dear to my heart, has become what I'm know for as a teacher because I doodle it everywhere.

I have taught it from Kindergartners in the art room,

 to adults at a ceramic studio...

Happy Birthday V.V.G! I love thee...

A Dog That's More Than Blue

Blue Dog is an art teacher staple. The wide eyed pup by Cajun artist George Rodrigue has traveled  all over the world and to many classrooms.  I find it's a fun lesson to pull out when classes are losing motivation after the holidays.

For one, it's a dog, and kids love dogs! And two, the students can really have some fun making Blue Dog tell a story. This gives me an idea of whats current in their minds, a great tool for developing future lesson plans to meet their interest.

Here are a few of my favorite examples from this year.

A new edition to this lesson was the creation of a MEGA blue dog, that accompanies the artwork in the hallway! Thank the art gods for butcher paper and the lamination machine!

Happy Friday!

A Little Something Sweet

In honor of President's Day, I though I'd share a look at 1st Grades finished clay treats!

Every year right after winter break in preparation of Valentines Day my 1st graders make cupcakes. It's a great way to practice proper pinching, flattening and attaching skills. 

Plus they're adorable!

Conversation Heart Pillows

So I've never tried a sewing project before...

Being domestically challenged, yet wanting to do something with the bags upon bags of poly filling in my supply closet, I decided this year to give it a whirl.

With Valentine's Day around the corner and  pleas from my 2nd graders to make a special gift for the occasion, the idea of a heart pillow seemed perfect!

Day 1: We started by practicing the rhythm of stitching on a piece of paper.

Day 2: Consisted of picking the perfect color, tracing their pre-made patterns, and drawing guiding dots.



Day 3: We stitched! Leaving the bottom of our heart open, and cutting away the remainder material.

Day 4: We got our STUFF ON!

Day 5: We closed up our hearts and scribed a special message for our Valentine!

With extra time we even created a pop-up convo heart card to go with our gift.

Happy Valentine's Day!

YAM 2016: Painted Deserts and Missions

Every year my school districts hosts an Art Show. We as teachers have the very hard task of choosing a dozen plus pieces to represent our whole campus, and this year, my 3rd graders earned that honor!

With one week left before the shows closes, I thought I would share a few pics, and give ya'll a closer look at the painted desert project that accompanied their clay missions.

I took 12 paintings, and six 3D pieces.

The day of set up was a bit crazy, since I had my two year old with me!

Before the pieces moved over to the show, they had been transforming our school's walkways into a mini Big Bend.

The 3rd graders worked on these while we waited for their clay missions to dry and be fired.

The final results were equally as impressive as their clay sculpture!