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.