4th Grade Jellyfish

I just love these jellies!!!

I taught and posted this lesson 3 years ago and originally found the project from the blog "Create Art with ME".  the only main difference this time around was that I made the paper 16x20 instead of 12x18".

Generally speaking, one of my main goals as an art teacher isn't to have my students create artwork that is "pretty".  For me, the process is just as, if not more, important than the product. But I'd also be lying if I said it wasn't important that teachers have artwork the want to display in their rooms, that parents want to hang in their homes (besides on the fridge), and that students are proud to show off.  Essentially, this boils down to having the conventional "pretty" or better yet, "beautiful" art. This project is one of those...sort of.

 It's fairly light on content and doesn't require a lot of higher order thinking, but does teach certain art vital art concepts such as value, tints, shades, opacity and transparency, and also although simple in nature, gives the kids the chance to work with two of the most fun materials in art: paint and chalk pastels.

It's the type of project where everyone ends up happy, and quite frankly, it's good to have a few projects like these in your repertoire, especially now that we're coming up of Spring Open house nights!

Here's how the project went down (each period is 40 minutes)
Day 1-Drawing the background by separating the white paper into about 7 shapes using either wavy , curving,  or straight lines and/or concentric circles. The paper can be held horizontal or vertical. After a demonstartion, the kids start painting tints of blue.
Day 2- Demonstrate mixing shades of blue and have the students complete the painting portion of the lesson.
Day 3- Practice day-Demonstrate how to draw jellyfish and color, keeping them semi-transparent, and then have the kids practice drawing and coloring with the chalks.
Day 4-5 Work on the good copy, drawing sand/rock for the bottom of the ocean  adding details like coral, seaweed, other types of underwater creatures, and at least 4 jellyfish.

The project could also tie in with something science based as it makes for a great jumping off point to learn about underwater sea life and jellyfish.  It sparked a few questions from my students I had to google to find the answer to!

Kinder Texture Burgers

I was looking for a lesson that would introduce texture to my kindergarten students and be simple, open ended, and fun. After looking around awhile I came across a few sites that had projects where imaginary burgers were stuffed with all sorts of uniquely textured  and interesting items. The humor and whimsy of the projects really appealed to me, so I figured I'd give it a try. 

 

 I used the food sculptures of Clase Oldenberg as inspiration and the kiddos examined some examples and discussed the similarities and differences of the various textures they observed.  I always feel like viewing and discussing art with kindergartners is like pulling teeth, but they seemed to get a big kick out of Oldenburg's work.  Does anyone else feel like it's unusually hard to get kinders focused, observing and critically thinking about art? Do any of you have any good tips or strategies you use with the little ones for art appreciation? If so, I 'd love you to share em'!

 

The project took 3-40 minute art periods. Day 1 was viewing the work and discussing texture. I also passed out some objects with texture for the kids to feel to help them understand the concept. Then we spent the rest of the period making the table (which was pre-cut to fit the paper), the plate, and the bun, which the children drew, cut and glued themselves.
On day 2 I demonstrated how to collage on about half the items. It's important to show the kids how to glue the items in a vertical manner one on top of the other, otherwise they have the tendency to start scattering everything all over the page which takes away from the humor of the burger. 
Day 3 was the same as day 2 , with new items and the additional step of going back and checking the previously glued pieces to make sure that everything was stuck down thoroughly. It also allows the students that were absent on previous days time to catch up. 

Here are some of the items that we either added, or that I had brainstormed for adding to the burgers:

Ketchup-red felt, thick red string, red fabric 
Mustard-yellow pipe cleaner, yellow felt
Onion-purple, pink or white ribbon, or paper pre-cut into small swirls
Buns/Meat -corrugated cardboard
Olives-yellow and green foam shapes
Lettuce-green colored crumpled or twisted tissue paper
Seads, pasta
Shredded Lettuce/ Onion/Coleslaw-different colored raffia

Bon apetit! 

2nd Grade Wayne Thiebaud Unit Part 2-2D Mile High Value Ice Cream Cones

The second project based on Wayne Thiebaud was created by giving the kids a white piece of 12 x 24" paper and showing them a few options for how to draw an ice cream scoop. I use the drawing portion as an opportunity for some differentiation by showing the children some options that included a simple half circle shape all the way to a more complicated melt,y drippy type of ice cream scoop. The differentiation was really helpful as my second graders are really diverse group.

After they drew their scoops we discussed value and I showed them how to create tints and shades by using black, white, and color of their choosing. The second whole period of art was used to paint the scoops.

 During the third day, I gave out a large piece of white paper for the background. The students were told to divide the paper at least three times and fill in the three shapes with at least three different designs in oil pastel. While this was happening I set up a center in the back of the room where students used cardboard and metallic paints to print patterns on brown paper which would later become their cones. On the fourth day of the project, the students cut and assembled all their pieces onto their background and filled any large empty white spaces leftover on their background. On the last day, the students used watercolor paints over the oil pastels to complete the work

Underwater Jellyfish-4th Grade

I got this lesson from the website Create Art With Me. I can't take any credit for the lesson, I pretty much followed it as it was written on the website.  It's a great website and a great lesson, I highly recommend it!  This Michelle!