Works in Progress: Fifth grade masks

The fifth grade mask project is well under way.  It is so much fun for me to see the excitement build as the students begin sculpting the facial features.  Today, one of the students said, "Mrs. Wells, I can't wait until the next art class when I can work on my mask some more!"  After all of the facial features are sculpted, the students can begin to add attachments and then the painting begins.  The sculpting process is very important for helping to develop their imaginations and confidence in exploring the plaster medium.

Line Drawings by Second Grade Students

The second grade students were given sharpie markers to create animals with simple shapes.  After the basic shapes were drawn, they created line patterns.  This lesson was taken from an art teacher's blog:  www.deepspacesparkle.com. 

Abstract art created by fourth grade students

Students viewed abstract artwork by various artists and discussed some of the different elements of design used in the work.  When beginning ideas for their own artwork, students were encouraged to explore different mediums such as chalk pastel, oil pastels, paint, and colored pencil.  They were instructed to convey an idea or emotion through geometric or organic shape, line, or color. One example of an idea by one fourth grade student included representing fire, water, earth, and air by using organic line and pastels.  Another idea developed was conveying happiness through bright color and repeating line.  After the projects are complete, students will do some self reflection in art notebooks and view and discuss the artwork in small groups.

More dinosaur pictures by first grade students

Chalk pastel dinosaurs

This art lesson was taken from another art teacher's blog called Deep Space Sparkle.  I thought it worked really well with the first grade students.  Their eyes lit up when I told them they would be using a material they had never used before in art class.  They really loved blending and rubbing in the colors. 

Beautiful spider web

A friend spotted this dew covered spider web on the way into work.  I could not pass up taking a photo.

Creating painted paper for future projects....

The kindergarten students were encouraged to paint with three different colors (warm or cool), and later used different painting tools: brushes, sponges, paint rollers, and scrapers.  The really got excited about painting and observing how the colors mixed and how the tools affected the design on the paper.  I got the idea of "painted paper" from a wonderful art teacher's blog called Deep Space Sparkle found at www.deepspacesparkle.com.  Later, when I introduce other projects to the children, they can incorporate this colorful paper into the art projects. 

Mixing with primary colors!

"Look, Mrs. Wells! I made purple!"
"Wow! If you mix all of the primary colors you can make brown!" 
Students discovered some of the exciting aspects of color and color mixing after discussing the color wheel.  Once they started painting, they didn't want to stop!  The kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students will begin the year with paint and color exploration. 

Welcome back to art class!

A peak inside my art room before the first day of school.  The posters were hung with care, and the new supplies were prepared and organized.