Weeks of 9/30/24 and 10/7/24 - 2nd and 3rd grades

 2nd and 3rd graders returned to create Hojolata art! 

Hojalata is a Mexican folk art form that involves shaping, cutting and painting tin into decorative and functional objects. The word "Hojalata" translates to "tin art".

We looked at the below example and had a class discussion about what we saw - bumps on the work, bright colors and students guessed what material was used to create this. Some guessed plastic, metal, and some guessed clay. Once done, we looked at several other examples of Hojalata art. 

2nd graders cut slits into an 8" X 10" piece of cardboard. They used yarn to go inside the slits and taped the ends. They then pressed a piece of tin foil on top of the yarn to create an embossed effect, folded the sides and taped them to the back. They then used paint sticks to color between the embossed areas and created line patterns to complete their work. This took us 2 1 hour classes.

3rd graders each got a piece of white copy paper with a 5" square already drawn. On the blank side of their paper, they drew 2 squares and created a symmetrical design inside each using lines and shapes as a warm up. They then created their actual design inside the 5" square. They then taped their 5" foil with the silver side facing the back of their 5" square. They put their work on a piece of cardboard and pressed their pencil into their design to create an embossed effect. 

During the next class students peeled off the tape and used their pencil to again press into their foil to create a more embossed effect. They used Sharpie markers to fill in spaces. They centered their foil on a 12" cardboard, drew the outline with a pencil. They used paint sticks to create more lines and shapes incorporating symmetry. They used double sided tape to fix their foil inside the outline in the center of the cardboard and finish their work. This also took us 2 1 hour classes.

Week of 9/23/2024 - UTK, K and 1st Grade

 This week UTK, K and 1st grade students returned to works on creating patterns with lines.

UTK and kinder students looked at the book Fall leaves fall by Zoe Hall and we discussed how some trees have leaves change colors in the fall!

I gave UTK students a piece on poster board that already had a fall leaf traced on it. Students created patterns by combining lines to fill their leaf. They then traced all pencil lines with black Sharpie, erased pencil lines and used fall water colors to fill their leaves. I reminded students to wash their paint brushes and dry them before dipping it in another color.

I gave kinder students  the templates of leaves and acorns. They picked one of their choice and traced it using a pencil. They too added line patterns with pencil and traced them using a black Sharpie marker. After erasing pencil lines, I had them color on a piece of tin foil with washable markers in fall colors. I sprayed the foil with water after which students pressed it on to their leaf/ acorn and saw the beautiful colors get transferred!!! It was a big "wow" moment for all and I love this lesson every year!

1st graders looked at the works of artist Ben Eine and we noticed how he uses letters and changes them using patterns, bright colors and organic shapes. I had traced the first letter of every student's name on a large piece of poster board using a pencil. Each student  erased the base of their letter and added an organic shape in the style of the artist. Once done, they each added line patterns using Sharpie markers in various colors and used twistable color pencils to  color the background.

Week of 9/16/2024 - UTK, K and 1st Grade

 This week UTK, kinder and 1st grade students had their 1ts art rotation with me!

We talked about class expectations and created works with lines.

UTK students looked at the book "The Dot" by Peter H Reynolds we discussed how everybody is an artist and that the mark that you make on paper is unique and special because "you" made it!!

After helping them write their name and room # on their paper, we used a pencil to draw a vertical, horizontal, diagonal, zig-zag, wavy and broken line and traced them using a black Sharpie marker. We erased pencil lines and used circular sponge brushes to create dots in different colors by dipping them in tempera paint. I reminded students to press and lift the brushes and not drag them.

Kinder students also looked at the the book "The Dot". I had traced a large dot on a piece of 9" X 12" poster board for each student.  We used a pencil to draw a vertical, horizontal, diagonal, zig-zag, curved, wavy, dotted and broken line inside and outside the dot and traced the dot and lines with a black Sharpie marker. Once done students erased the pencil lines and used glitter water colors to paint inside their dot.

1st graders looked at the book "Lines that wiggle" by Candice Whitman and and drew lines similar to kinder students. We noticed how the different lines created spaces between them. We used different glitter water colors to paint these spaces to complete our work.