From 2-d to 3-d: Bubble Letters

Students are moving along thinking about how shape comes from lines and form comes from shape. The students felt challenged by the idea that putting a bubble around a letter could create something new. We practiced first making bubble letters and then created form by the repetition of sides. We went through the ideas from the impulsive students that were like Ms. Johns I got this but rushed through missing some of the accuracy from paying attention to the construction of the shapes. We also talked about how value could elevate the complexity within their designs. 

Monster Collaborations! How would a Monster look if it were stuck in a hexagon?

Ah monsters! Second and third grade answered the art question of how would a monster look if it were stuck in a hexagon as class collaborations. They discussed different monsters and looked at a teacher example about how one could be created. They were super psyched to begin. Several students wanted to create several hexagons and also felt challenged by the size of the hexagons itself. The students had Micron pens available for them to use to bring out details and also used colored pencils. They created all kinds of monsters. We talked about using up all of the available space and trying to use colors other than white and blue to create the background for the monster.

Shape Collage: Cutting out Shapes like Matisse

So kindergarten and first grade geared up for their next challenge: Scissors and Shapes! They looked at a book about Matisse and how he used shape cut outs to create art. They worked one class to cut out shapes and then a second class period to put the shapes together into a collage. Many of the students created non-objective art and a few of the students created abstract works about people and robots referencing Matisse's Creole Dancer and the work about Icarus. Students were saying things like look at me, I'm cutting out shapes like Matisse. We practiced a reading strategy of any time they heard the word Matisse they would shout it. The students even seemed to remember his first name too.

LED Watercolor Paintings

My 8th grade students were asked how they could incorporate an LED light into a painting. The students brainstormed and got to work. I was glad to see that they came up with a wide range of results for this. I feel like making the brainstorming list on the board helped the students see that there were several answers to the question. I told them to draw out their idea then paint and after all that learn how to create a circuit for the light.

8th Grade Kaleidocycles and Thaumatropes

Part of the beginning of the year is reviewing key vocabulary. This year I decided to take a different approach. The students used kaleidocycles and thaumatropes as tools for using the elements of art. I was excited to try something different with the kaleidocycles because they are so versatile for the classroom. The students were experiencing building form after emphasizing each art element except space.

This is where the thaumatrope comes in because their whole reason for working is understanding the use of space. Many students struggled with the abstract concept of negative space but when it's changed into a math problem of a+b=c they seemed to understand it more. Most of the students wanted to take the route of reverse engineering as opposed to figuring it out from the step by step handout we went over so if you want to try it maybe you might want to look at quite a few built thaumatropes to come up with an idea.

We will be moving on soon to look LED painting next!

3-D Shape Drawings

Students in 4th and 5th grade are working on form with 3-D shape drawings. First they discussed with their tables ways to turn a square into a cube. Then, they created their own drawings to paint.

Monster Paintings

AHHHHHH!!!! Monsters! 2nd and 3rd grade students are starting off the year with a monster project! First we talked about how monsters looked and boy were there some surprising monster ideas from clowns and zombies to Five Nights of Freddy characters. I had no idea they knew so much about monsters. Their task was to draw a crazy eyed monster with some kind of story going on. They drew them for one class and then are paint them.

Lines that Wiggle: The Line Collage

Lines, Lines, and More Lines. Kindergarten and first grade students were working with the one of the elements of art:... You guessed it: LINE! We read Candace Whitman's book Lines that Wiggle and talked about the different lines in the book like wavy lines, swirly lines, curly lines, and zig-zags for me to draw on the board. The students were really excited over all the lines they could use. We set out to use crayons, precut paper strips, and glue. The students had the options to use of lots of colors. They were happy to create glittery lines, gold lines, textured lines. It was a fun experience.  Here are some pictures of the projects being worked on:

Some of the projects will be posted up in the hallway soon. You will be able to see them soon. I will update this blog post as soon as I put them up. 

Update:

Here is the hallway display: