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. 

4th Grade- Circle Designs!

This was a quick and easy 2-day project that gave fourth grade practice with patterns. I had previously cut out different sizes of circles to be used as a stencil. The students started by tracing around the circles, starting with the largest and ending with the smallest one in the center. The next step was to decorate each section with a different pattern and color it in. I made sure that they understood that a pattern had to repeat over and over again. They cut them out to finish them. They were very successful!

4th Grade- Tints and Shades Cities!

This lesson focused on value and color. The students first learned about value and did a value scale with a colored pencil. The students then had a color theory lesson. We focused on tints and shades and I explained that tints and shades were how artists show value with paint.

On the first day of the lesson, the students drew 5 simple lines across their papers to represent the tops of city buildings. Then the students had to choose a color to paint their cities. They added black to make shades and white to make tints. They had to go from darkest at the bottom to lightest at the top. 

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!

4th Grade- Organic Shape Monsters!

To start out this lesson, the students viewed a PowerPoint of geometric and organic shapes. I included some interesting pictures (including Adventure Time) that demonstrated organic shapes and had the students come outline the shapes on the board with a marker. Then I handed out a small scrap sheet of notebook paper and told them to turn to their partners and describe the scariest monster they could imagine. Once they had time to share, I told them that they were going to come up with their own make believe monster. They had to answer these questions about it on their papers in complete sentences:

1. What does your monster look like?

2. How does it feel?

3. What does it do?

4. What is it called?

The next class they had to draw their monster with crayons on drawing paper. They could only outline (no coloring in) and the monster had to be made up entirely of organic shapes. 

The next class we learned how to do a watercolor resist and they painted their monsters. I loved the results so much that I had to post a lot of pics!

 

 

 

4th Grade- Still Life

The type of line that we focused on in 4th grade was contour lines. We learned that contour lines showed the outside edges of an object, or an outline. We talked about how when most people draw or sketch, they use contour lines. We practiced looking more at what we were drawing than our papers. I told them to go really really slow and to take their time. I also told them to pretend that the outside edge of the objects was a road and their eye and pencil were cars. They needed to stay on the road with their cars. This helped them look closer at how the objects were shaped.

The first step was to do a contour drawing of the objects on their table, going really slow and taking their time. I wanted to them to draw the objects as they saw them in real life and not what they thought the objects looked like in their head. Then they outlined with a thin, black marker.

The next day, they colored them in with colored pencil. I told them they could get creative and color them however they wanted to. I emphasized how cool colored pencils look when they blend different colors together.

I think overall they turned out pretty good! We haven't gone over proportion or value yet, so they are pretty good for beginners!