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! 

2nd Grade- Expression Prints!

2nd grade has been learning about Expressionism for their art history unit. We began this unit by looking at a bunch of fun images from Expressionists and talked about what feelings and emotions were felt in each piece. For this project we focused on Edvard Munch's Scream. We talked about how different your face looks with different emotions. I then gave each student a piece of styrofoam and had them use a dull pencil or white colored pencil to draw a face with an emotion. They had fun with this and got really creative!

Next, I handed each student a white sheet of paper that would be their background. They had to fill up the paper with shapes, lines, and colors that represented the emotion they drew on their face. 

The next class I introduced them to printmaking and showed them the process. Then I let them loose to make their prints! I loved how they turned out! The expressive backgrounds made such a nice touch! 

2nd Grade- Matisse Vases!

We practiced pattern by looking at Matisse's work and making flowers and vases inspired by his. The first step was to draw a shape for the vase. The students then used markers to add patterns to the vases. The next day they added flowers by tearing peices of tissue paper and gluing a dot in the middle and glueing them down. They then glued them down and scrunched them up to be 3D. I love you colorful and unique every one of them are!

They also looked very great in the hallway for Spring! 

2nd Grade- Abstract Circle Painting!

For our color unit, second grade focused on secondary colors. The students began the unit by viewing a PowerPoint on color and filling out a color wheel. The next day the students got a large sheet of heavy drawing paper and were instructed to draw 5 circles of any size. They then had to draw 5 more circles around each if the circles they had just drawn, overlapping sometimes. The rest of the classes they painted in the shapes made by the circles with the secondary colors. I only gave them the primary colors so they had to mix their own secondary colors to use. 

2nd Grade- Fossils!

One of the second grade science standards deals with fossils. We started this lesson by learning about fossils through a PowerPoint and reading a book.

After discussing fossils, the students drew a fossil on a small price of cardboard. The next day they went over their lines with glue. 

After the glue dried, the students covered the cardboard with earth colored tissue paper. They were encouraged to press the tissue down into all the low areas to make the glue line stand out. 

The last step was to rub over the glue line with a brown crayon. They looked like stone in the end. They turned out great! 

2nd Grade- Shapes and Patterns!

2nd grade finally got to start their next project after spending such a long time on their line weavings! I got this project idea from a mentor teacher from my internship: Adventures in Elementary Art . We began the lesson by learning about geomentric shapes and drawing them on the board. I had the students choose 5 shapes to use for their project. They had to draw all 5 shapes overlapping each other. I pointed out that when the shapes overlapped, a new shape was made. They had to make sure the shapes were big enough to draw in later.

Then, we talked about patterns. The students told me about different types of patterns and examples of where they see patterns in real life. I told the students to fill in each shape (even the new ones created by overlapping) with the coolest and most creative patterns they could come up with. They used colored pencils and had to make it as colorful as possible and fill in all the white space.

The last step was to cut the entire shape out and glue it on a piece of colored construction paper. I was impressed with the amount of detail and color in the patterns!