Beyond the Shore

Somewhere beyond the sea, in a small elementary school, the students on my campus have been enchanted by the underwater ecosystem in our saltwater aquarium. This inspired an even larger aquatic unit than usual, with second grade taking on close up paintings of our new fishy friends. Here is a look at the our finished products.

Day One: was all about drawing and painting the water.

Day Two: was detailing our fish. Each class voted on a different one.

Day Three: was creating the environment. Classes painted coral, seaweed and topped it off with some bubbles!

We are slowly transforming the entire art wing in to an enormous aquarium!

Just Keep Swimming,



Just Keep Swimming,

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...

What do we do?

We Swim!

Swim!

Swim!

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...

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!

Evolving Plans: Roboto!

So I was walking down the hall this week and thinking about how that Robot Party began as a sub plan and has evolved into much more.

This year it became a full on paper party!!!

The students first cut out the shapes to form the robots, then uses multiple colors to create the whole scheme. I was quiet pleased, and the school is filled with fun energy! And we listened to Mr. Roboto by the Styx while we were working!

Batty about Art

Throw Back Thursday: A look at last year's bat oriented projects. 1st grade created symmetrical cut outs, while 2nd grade was inspired by our city's famous bat bridge.

Bats by themselves...

Bridges close up....

Bats All Folks...

Moving Lines

I wanted my students to have a better understanding of how to use rhythm and movement to enhance their artwork. To start I had them wash a paper with water and layer water colors one at a time. After applying each color, the students would lift their papers and let the colors drip and blend. The 2nd graders LOVED this.

The next class, to continue the theme, we talked about the use of Lines in our artwork and how different types of lines give the feel of movement. The student then used black paper to cut of a variety of straight, dotted, wavy and zig-zag lines to create a composition. The results were gorgeous, and very striking when displayed with their classmates.