Figure Drawing

So I wanted to have my fourth and fifth grade students to take a different kind of approach to looking at human form. They used a paper doll person template and had to assemble the body parts to show a person in some kind of motion. I told them they could pose the person anyway they wanted to and even trade to incorporate multiple figures. 

Kandinsky inspired Art

8th grade looked at Kandinsky's artwork and created their own style after analyzing him. We created a list of what should be included in the picture. 

Origami Frog

I challenged 4th and 5th grade students to create form not just the what we have been studying which is the illusion of form. The creativity in this challenge was designing the character for the frog. Some students took their frog to the next level by adding personal touchs. 

Mashup Monsters

If you tell a student they can mix things up a bit boy do they get shocked. I was surprised when my  2nd and 3rd grade students who normally come up with super off the wall creative ideas struggled 
to come up with something completely brand new. I said to them come up with a person plus an animal and if you wanted to be even more creative something extra. So many of them wanted to create mermaids or fairies. After plenty of discussion in both small group and whole group we came up with more ideas. 

Kinetic Carousels!

Kinetic Carousels have to be one of favorite my newer STEAM projects. I recently presented about this at the Maryland Art Education Association conference but realized I have not made a blog post about it! I stumbled across them while looking for more ways my students could utilize the milk caps we have been collecting. I thought they were cool but need to let the students have a voice in the design some how so I started making prototypes and came up with a blank one that could allow the students to add their own idea. The example is from one of my 8th grade students that was given the challenge to design one.

Practicing Trees

Kindergarten and first grade were working on the concepts of landscapes and talked about how some trees can be structured. The students looked at a few paintings of landscapes. We connected back to the book we read a few weeks ago called Lines that Wiggle and talked about how lines can be seen in the environment. Here is a kindergarten example for the first day of practicing landscapes. 

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.