Week of 10/16/2023 - 2nd and 3rd grade Castle creating and Motif making - Part 2

 2nd and 3rd grade students returned to complete their castles and weaving respectively!

2nd graders used paper of different colors to draw shapes on, cut, glue and assemble on black card stock. They used metallic markers to add lines and details when done. I had a gallery walk with all classes so they could see what other students had created. It was great to see the influences from the examples they saw the previous week.

Here are examples of student works!

 3rd graders created their woven artwork using 2" paper strips on a 12"x18" paper with lines spaced 2" apart that I had pre-drawn. I had them fold their paper, cut the vertical lines (warp), add horizontal strips (weft), and glue the ends so the strips would be in place.. I demonstrated rows 1 and 2 after which I had them work independently. I reminded them that if their current row looked the same as their previous row, they had to fix it.

Once done students added motif #1 on one color and motif #2 on the other color to complete their works. There was so much variety in their works!

 

Week of 10/9/2023 - 2nd and 3rd grade Castle creating and Motif making

 2nd and 3rd graders returned for their 2nd rotation.

2nd grade students engaged in a turn and talk while looking at the photo below of St.Basil's cathedral in Moscow to discuss what they notice and wonder. We followed up with a class discussion.

 

 We also looked at castle and palace examples from different parts of the world and noticed similarities and differences.

 

 I gave students a worksheet they they used to practice drawing 10 different lines and shapes (8 geometric and 2 organic). We then combined shapes to create a sketch of castle #1 and students created castle #2 using their own shapes. I let students know they will use paper to "build" their castle on black card stock next class and add details using metallic markers.

 

3rd grade students also engaged in a turn and talk while looking at the photo below of a piece of fabric to discuss what they notice and wonder. We followed up with a class discussion. Students shared the lines they noticed, shapes, repetition and pattern.

 We also looked at sarees I brought from home and introduced the words motif, loom, weaving, warp and weft. We also looked at a video of a weaver from south India weaving a saree. Students looked at pieces of fabric samples to see how yarn is criss-crossed to create fabric. A great way fro them to know how fabric is made!!

 I gave students a worksheet they they used to practice drawing 10 different lines and shapes (8 geometric and 2 organic). We then combined shapes to create 4 motifs and they picked 2 to use on their paper weaving the following class.

 

Week of 10/2/2023 - Colorful City Centerpieces

 We had a request for creating centerpieces for the upcoming Council of the Great City School's Fall conference to be held in San Diego end of October. I volunteered to have this made by the youngest population at zamorano - UTK, kinders and 1st graders. Our theme was Colorful cities and we were inspired by several buildings from around the world - here are some examples we looked at.

Houses on the island of Burano, Italy

Houses on Haight Street, San Francisco

Happy Rizzi House, Germany

We used cardboard boxes of different sizes to create our works. I had a group of students from East Lake High School that volunteered to put together close to 300 cardboard boxes and tape the sides for students to use. Students covered the sides that had tape using construction paper that I had pre-cut. I showed them how to use the glue stick and take it for a walk 3 times along the sides before gluing the paper.  Once done, students had the option to cut and glue construction paper or use paint stix to add doors, windows and shapes to create their building using contrasting colors. We talked about this artwork being a sculpture and that it needed to look finished from ALL sides not just one side.

Once finished, I combined and glued 4-5 buildings to a cake board to complete each centerpiece. We made 46 centerpieces incorporating approximately 6 buildings in each.

 Here are photos of student work :)

Week of 9/25/2023 - UTK, K and 1st grade

 It was so great to finally see UTK, kinder and 1st grade students this week!!  

UTK created mixed media owls incorporating lines. We looked at the artwork of an owl and notices how they have BIG eyes, colorful wings and feet. It is so nice to get them speaking about art right from the get go - some students even shared how owls stay awake at night! practiced drawing 11 different lines on  watercolor paper - I was a bit worried about how well they would follow along but they rocked it!! We looked at examples around the classroom as we drew lines and this encouraged engagement!

I had traced the outline of an owl using a template with pencil for each student on the other side of the watercolor paper beforehand. Students traced the outline using a black Sharpie marker, added eyes, nose, wings and lines from the ones we had created, colored in using crayons and finally used black watercolors for the background!

I played the story "Little Owl's night" by Divya Srinivasan - a great story to go with our owl topic.

Kinders had a class discussion of a photo of fall leaves - we discussed what we noticed!

They also practiced drawing lines and used templates to trace leaves or an acorn. It was tricky for them to hold the item with one hand and trace with the other but they did it!! Students traced the outline using a black Sharpie marker and added lines from the ones we had created. They used washable markers in fall colors on tin foil. I sprayed water on it and students pressed their art on it. They peeled it to reveal beautiful colors that were transferred on their art!! So much excitement.

1st graders has a class discussion of a photo of pumpkins of different colors and sizes. They also practiced drawing lines. I had 3 pumpkins for us to look at - we drew them using overlapping! Students added black Sharpie lines and used paint stix to color each in using a variety of colors like the pumpkin example I had for them! Students also added details in the background using black Sharpie markers to complete works.