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.

Week of 9/18/2023 - 4ths and 5ths finish rotation 1

 This week 4th and 5th graders returned to finish work started in week 1.

4th graders finished writing words from their mind map using a variety of fonts, traced their self portrait and words using black Sharpie of different thicknesses - Chisel tip, fine point and ultra fine point depending upon how big or small their letters were. They added water color to a few areas of their work to complete their typography self portraits.

 

 

5th graders wrote words from their mind map in a variety of fonts using different Sharpies like the 4th graders, colored this side with crayons of different colors and added line patterns with a black sharpie on the other side. We used foam strips and glue dots to first assemble and then fix the letters to a cardboard base. Students explored how many strips were needed and figured out how to balance the letters so it would remain standing.

 

 5th graders used iPads to take at least 4-5 photos/ letter  of their positive quote and make movements gradual. They transferred files onto iMovie and added music to complete works.

Click on the below link to watch a few works!

 

Week of 9/11/2023 - 4th and 5th graders

 4th and 5th graders started their rotation this week!

4th graders started work on their Typography self portraits and looked at the work of illustrator Lorenzo Petrantoni. We had a Turn and Talk followed by a class discussion about things we observed - artwork rich in text, use of a variety of fonts and minimal color. Students created a mind map of words based on prompts I provided - adjectives to describe yourself, favorite people, favorite color, holiday, place and favorite hobbies.

We create a pencil self portrait - we took our time drawing the different parts. We ended the class by students looking at the words in their mind map and adding them using different fonts in the different areas in their self portrait. I encouraged students to fit their words in the spaces they chose by changing the size of the letters.

 5th graders started work on their Name Sculpture and looked at the work of sculptor Jaume Plensa - one of his works is located in downtown San Diego! We had a class discussion about what we noticed and wondered. I encouraged students to use the sentence starters I added in the classroom. We noticed that the artist used letters from different languages, with symbols and shapes in his sculptures. We created a mind map like the 4th graders did. Students used poster board to draw letters of their name using block letters and cut them out. They stored their letters in an envelope I created using construction paper - a different color for each of the 4 different classes.

 

Since 5th graders also receive an additional 45 minutes each week during their rotation, I decided this was a good time to start our stop motion animation videos. Students formed pairs, cut out letters of a positive quote using block letters and stored them in envelopes to use the following class.

Week of 9/4/2023 - Finishing Self-Portraits

 This week 2nd and 3rd graders returned to complete their self portraits. Students from each grade outlined their drawing with a chisel tip black Sharpie marker and wrote their adjectives (for 2nd grade) and sentences (for 3rd grade) using a fine tip Sharpie marker. They erased pencil lines and matched their skin color from the crayon set by looking at the mirror. I explained that some may find a perfect match while others will find a color that is closest. I also had students get feedback from their partner if they were having trouble finding a color. They also added a color for their hair, eyebrows, eyeball, lips (from the same skin color set, how awesome that they have lip colors too!), neck, ears and shirt. We added watercolors for the background to complete works. 

I had several ready made black frames that I cut the edges of so! I took photo copies of the self portraits with frames to display them in the local library.and will laminate the original and display them for Celebration of art.