1st Grade- Nighttime City Paintings!

This was the second project in 1st grade's Impressionism unit. We began by looking at Camille Pissaros city paintings of both daytime and nighttime and compared the two different times of day. Then the students drew their own city buildings with crayon, coloring in hard and dark. We chose to do nighttime cities and the students were encouraged to add stars and lights and the moon. The next day we painted over out cities with black watercolor. 

2nd Grade- Jackson Pollock Collages!

This was the second project in their Expressionism unit. We began by looked at a PowerPoint of Jackson Pollock images. Then each student was given a sheet if colored paper. They then used puff fabric paint to squirt onto their papers in the style of Jackson Pollock. 

The puff paint dried thick and shiny, which added a nice touch. The next day I gave each table a bowl with odds and ends to use to add collage touches to the pieces. They turned out super fun and colorful! 

3rd Grade- Solar System Watercolor Resist Paintings!

I did this project to reinforce the solar system with 3rd grade. We started by reviewing the planets in order and also talked about what they looked like. Then, the students drew the planets in order with crayon. I told them to bear down really hard with their crayons so it would be waxy. They could also add spaceships and stars in the background if they wanted to. The next day they painted over the whole drawing with black liquid watercolor. I LOVE the result! Fun project!!

Kindergarten- Drawing Weavings!

For this project, I began by giving Each student a white sheet of drawing paper and a colored sheet. My instructions were to fill up both sheets of paper however they wanted to using just lines, colors, and shapes.

Befor the next class I took each students white sheet of paper, and used my ruler to make a line on both ends. I then folded the paper in half. When the students got their papers back, the were instructed to hold the paper with the marker line up and cut even strips, stopping at the marker line. This was the base of the weaving. They then cut their colored paper in strips that went all the way through. All the students were successful at this. 

The next step was the weaving. I demonstrated the process of weaving and then we did 3 strips together. Some students caught on real quick and didn't need any help. Other students had a had time and needed a lot of assistance. This is still a difficult concept to teach and I'm sure it will get better with practice. But the weavings looked great in the long tin! 

4th Grade- Warhol inspired Pop Object paintings!

4th grade learned about Pop Art for their art history unit. We began the lesson by viewing a PowerPoint on Pop Art and having small group discussion about things that are popular today.

The next class the students browsed through magazines and looked for pictures of brand name products. Once they found their product, they drew it really large onto a sheet if drawing paper and outlined it with Sharpie. 

I told them to try their best with all of the labels and bubble letters. The next class they painted them with bright unrealistic colors in the style of Andy Warhol. 

*Note for future: it would have been easier to bring in objects or pick my own images to bring in. Some students chose images that were not brand name or had trouble finding interesting ones in the magazines. 

5th Grade- Mona Lisa Mayhem!

5th grade learned about the Renaissance during their art history unit. We looked at work from each of the 4 main artists. They loved that the artists inspired the names for the Ninja Turtles. As part of their packet of worksheets, I included a handout of the Mona Lisa that just included the face and hands. We had looked at some appropriated Mona Lisa's in our PowerPoint. The students used the worksheet to create their own parody!

For our big project, I bought a 24x36 print of the Mona Lisa and cut it up into 4x4 inch squares. Each student got 1-2 squares randomly. They used crayons to copy their squares as best as they could. In the end, I put the squares back together for the finished picture!