Weeks of 10/27/25 and 11/3/25 - Second rotation with UTK, Kinders and 1st grade

 UTK, kinders and 1st graders returned for their 2nd 2-week rotation! It is always lovely to see the UTK students and some of the kinders getting more familiar with the classroom, asking me questions and engaging more readily by this time if they are new to Zamorano! It is also lovely to see kinder students and 1st grade students that have been in the school the previous year start taking more responsibility of the classroom and guiding the new students.

UTK students and 1st graders created art with clay. 

I read the story "The Big Orange Splot" by Daniel Manus Pinkwater to UTK students - this is one of my favorite books! I gave each student a clay slab and showed them how to slice the top corners off like a triangle using a plastic knife. Once done, they drew a horizontal line to create the roof and door. They used the slip and score technique to add the triangles they cut off to create windows and added a variety of textures to complete their work.

1st graders created owls after we read the story "Little Owl's night" by Divya Srinivasan. Each table received 2 owl templates, and each student received a clay slab. They used the template to cut an outline of an owl. They then used a wooden pencil tool to draw curved lines for wings, added textures and a slip and score technique to add large eyes and a nose to complete their work.

Kinder students created a printmaking artwork! Each student received a 9"X12 " watercolor paper. They used a variety of objects such as legos, forks and cups and that they dipped in black acrylic paint to create prints and then used glitter watercolors to paint the areas between the prints. 

The following week, all grades engaged in a color mixing lesson. I gave each student plastic shapes in primary colors that we held two at a time to see how they change into a secondary color! I love how excited students get when we do this :)

I read the story "Mouse paint" by Ellen Stoll Walsh to UTK students after which I gave each student a 9" X 12" watercolor paper. We drew five curved lines, numbered the areas using a pencil and after which we started adding painting the 3 primary colors in. I then gave students additional primary colors they could mix to create secondary colors and add them into the remaining areas to finish their rainbows.

Kinder students created a variety of horizontal and vertical lines on their paper along with circles, outlined them with a black Sharpie marker and painted primary colors first. They followed the same steps as the UTK students mixing 2 primary colors to create secondary colors and painted them in the spaces on their paper.

I read the story "The Cat and the Bird - A children's book inspired by Paul Klee" by Geraldine Elschner to first grade students. I love this book for its sweet story and how shapes are stacked up to create the buildings. Once finished, students used the plastic shapes to stack them up, draw the outline with pencil and create buildings in three different sizes - tall, medium and short. Students traced the shapes using a black oil pastel and painted primary colors in some of the shapes. They then mixed them to create secondary colors and painted them in the remaining shapes to complete their work.

Weeks of 10/13/25 and 10/20/25 - Second rotation with 4th and 5th grades

 4th graders returned to create prints. Students used warm and cool color neon oil pastels on a 12" square white cardstock with cool and warm color neon oil pastels. during the first one hour 20-minute class incorporating symmetry.

During the next class, they created a design using self-adhesive form on cardboard and incorporated rotational symmetry for the print!

Fifth graders started designing their Chess piece on Tinkercad. I gave each student their class code and student code, we practiced how to log on to the website and used several tools together. Students created a sketch using up to four geometric shapes on their paper and created their piece using forms on Tinkercad. 

During the next class, we created buildings using one point perspective. Students first created a vanishing point on a 11" X 14" card stock and drew six shapes using a pencil. We then used a ruler to connect the corners to the vanishing point to make it appear three dimensional. Students used color pencils to color their buildings, add line patterns to the top and also add streets if they wished to.

5th grade students also created a marigold artwork for Zamorano's Dia De Los Muertos display at Old Town! Students used neon oil pastels for their works, and 40 student works have been on display for two weeks with a black light so they could "glow"!

Our school was featured in the Sunday newspaper as well :)

Here is the link - https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/10/25/san-diego-unified-student-artists-honor-the-dead-grandparents-pets-and-freddie-mercury/

Weeks of 9/29/25 and 10/6/25 - Second rotation with 2nd and 3rd grades

 2nd and 3rd graders returned for 2 weeks of rotation with me.

2nd graders worked on a tint-shade lesson inspired by the book Monochromatic Dan. I wanted students to use a ruler for this lesson. They first wrote their name and room # on a 11" X 14" posterboard using a pencil. They then used a ruler to create 6 lines. I showed them how the lines needed to go from one side of the paper to the other and how they needed to hold the paper so the ruler wouldn't move while they drew lines. 

Students then created an organic or geometric shape of their choice on the blank side of the paper and also created 6-7 lines using a pencil such that it divided their space into smaller shapes. Students traced all pencil lines using a black Sharpie.

Each student selected a cool color of their choice in tempera paint a few shapes inside their organic/ geometric shape. I gave them white paint to mix in to create their first tint, paint a few more shapes and then finally white paint once more to paint the remaining shapes.

Students returned next class and selected a warm color of their choice to paint the shapes outside. I gave them black paint two times to create two different shades to finish painting their shapes to complete their work. This lesson took two classes to complete.

Students also worked on a castle lesson. We looked at castles from around the world to see how they were similar/ different. Students practiced drawing and combining a variety of lines and shapes that they could use in their final work. 

During the next class, students cut, arranged and organize sparkly scrapbooking paper (that I received as donation) to create their castle inspired by the one they saw and chose from the previous week. They used metallic markers to add details and complete their work!

3rd graders returned to create postage stamps. Each student selected a country, currency and value for their stamp. They searched on Google for famous landmarks from the country of their choice and created 4 sketches on their planning sheet. They selected one sketch to use in their final artwork. They used color pencils to color their landmark and the colors of the flag of that country for the background using watercolors. This took us three one-hour classes to complete.

Students also painted their donuts that I fired! We used acrylic paint in a variety of colors in the style of the artist Jae Young Kim. I love how these turned out!!!