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!!

3rd Grade- Surrealism!

For each grade this year, I focused on one period of art history. I chose Surrealism for third grade. We began the unit by viewing a PowerPoint about Surrealism. I made a packet to go along with the presentation that made the information more fun for the students. For instance, the had to write about a dream or nightmare and share it with their partners at their table. They loved looking at the crazy surreal images! 

I chose 2 projects to go along with our Surrealism unit. The first one was a dream collage. The students began this collage by looking at the artwork of Salvador Dali and talking about how wacky his art was. Then, they drew a background on a sheet of paper for the setting of their dream collage. 

The next class the students cut up images out magazines and combined them to make a crazy dream-like picture. When the projects were complete, I had students write 4 sentences about their work in the back. 

The second project I chose for the Surrealism unit was just a fun one-day project. Students began by folding their paper into thirds to create 3 different sections. In the top section they drew the head of a make believe creature, ending the neck at the folded line. 

Then they all passed their papers to the student to their right. That student then added the body. 

They passed their papers to the right again and that student finished the creature by drawing it's legs. 

The papers were then handed back to the original artist for them to finish as they wanted. 

3rd grade- Harlem Renaissance Jazz Collages!

Third grade focused on the Harlem Renaissance and the collages of Romare Bearden during February for Black a History Month. We learned first about Black History and focused on the Harlem Renaissance. We then looked at the collages of Romare Bearden and talked about how he was greatly influenced by the Harlem Renaissance. We looked at his collages of jazz bands and talked about how popular jazz was during the Harlem Renaissance.

After that I passed out a large sheet of drawing paper. I played jazz music for the class and had them make lines on their papers with crayon that went along with the music. Like their crayons were dancing to the music. I changed the music every two minutes and had them change their crayon color to get a good variety of lines. The next class we did a watercolor resist over the lines to create our backgrounds for the collage. 

Next, I handed out a handout with clip art images of jazz instruments. The students used the images to choose an instrument to draw. They drew each part of the instrument out on tissue paper and cut it out and made a collage on their backgrounds. They added detail with marker. This is one of my favorite projects so far. 

3rd Grade- Aboriginal Art!

I chose to do a project on aboriginal art with the students as a way to practice pattern. We began the lesson by looking at images of aboriginal art and discussing the use of patterns and dots. Then I had the students think of an animal that best represented their personalities. They drew the animal with black and white colored pencils and filled it in with patterns.

The next day, students used q-tips and paint to add patterns of dots around their animals just like the Aborigines did! They turned out great!

3rd Grade- Warm and Cool Hand Designs!

I am way behind on posting projects! I have been so busy, but I plan on getting caught up with the posting this week!

This project was for 3rd grade, who were learning about color at the time. We started the color unit out by viewing a PowerPoint on color and filling out a color wheel. We foucused on warm and cool colors in third grade. For the first step of this drawing, the students traced their hands on their papers. They then were instructed to draw a small circle somewhere on their paper and then draw more circles, going off the paper when they reached the edges. I told them to work as neatly as possible so the circles wouldn't look sloppy.

The next step was painting. We reviewed the warm and cool colors and wrote them on the board before beginning. The students were allowed to choose which part of their drawing would be warm colors and which would be cool colors. They were instructed to paint neatly in the lines and rotate the colors in a pattern for the warm/cool parts. They turned out pretty neat and colorful!

3rd and 4th Grade- Fall Foil Reliefs!

So, I was having a difficult time making up my mind on a texture related project for 3rd and 4th grade. It was also smack dab in the middle of my favorite season- Fall! So I eventually decided to let 3rd grade to a glue print of something fall, and 4th grade make these foil reliefs. Both grades started out the same way. I had them make a list of things that related to fall, and I wrote them on the board. I then instructed them to make a simple drawing (large and not many details) of their favorite thing about fall on a small peice of cardboard. I got a lot of pumpkins and candy corn! The next step was adding glue to the plate. The students used squeeze glue to cover their lines. They had to make sure the line was thick so that when it dried their would still be texture. Some students had drawn to small and detailed and their glue made a big messy blob. :( But we fixed it!

Now here is where my first lesson was learned. I attempted to teach my first class of 3rd graders how to print their glue plates. My example turned out fine, but the students had trouble understanding how much ink to use and they all turned out where you were unable to tell what they were. They were pretty discouraged. I then decided to let all of the other 3rd grade classes make the foil relief like 4th grade was. We can always try printing again later! 

The next step of the project was to cover the whole plate with aluminum foil. Then the students pressed down with the side of their thumbs or with their knuckles to make their glue lines noticeable through the foil. I told them to press hard around the edges of the glue and get in all of the small areas really well so everything would stand out. 

Here is where my next lesson was learned. I had a few of the fourth grade classes cover their plates with just a smudge of black paint and then wipe it away till they could see the image good. I emphasized only putting a tiny dab of paint on it and showed them several times. However, almost all of the students put way too much paint on theirs and other wiped too much off. So, for the classes I left, I decided to use a black crayon to rub over the image. They turned out way better and you can see their images very well! I guess you really do learn as you go!