Kandinsky Inspired Artwork

And the 5th grade-

Yay!!! We get to PAINT!

Well, I must say that Laura Lohman at Painted Paper in the Art Room has it going on with her idea about not using water to paint with tempera! I have always loved to let the kids paint, but the spilled water and ruined paintings have hindered me from painting as much as I would have liked. This was great! The students did a fab-o job painting their warm and cool colors. We went over the color wheel as a review (quickly!) then moved on to more important things...ie. PAINTING! We did discuss warm and cool colors, and the friends we call analogous. They ARE neighbors you know... I had students in grades 2,3,4 & 5 do this. I put down big sheets of paper, so they wouldn't make tooooo big of a mess, and filled up those egg cartons I have been collecting for YEARS. Then I just split the classes up where some did warm, some did cool. We are going to be making collages of something...stayed tuned for what!

Back to School!

Lots of Ish love going on the first week of school! Many times my students get so upset when they can't draw something "just right" the very first time. That is where Ish comes in.

This is such a cute book. I didn't have the actual book, so we watched the one that was on youtube. I had to download it first, and take it to school on a jump drive, just in case you were wondering. I am not able to access youtube at school.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpICaczeQ9o
I went with it from the emotional standpoint. We talked about feelings, and how Ramon's brother hurt his feelings when he made fun of his artwork. We discussed how important it is for us to build one another up instead of pulling each other down. Then we talked about the Golden Rule, and everyone now knows that they should treat others the way they want to be treated. I wrote several emotions from the book on the board, and they picked one to illustrate. They then held up the pics and their friends guessed which emotion that had chosen. I feel like this was a successful lesson. The kids really seemed to enjoy it!

First Graders reviewed the colors of the rainbow and showed what they know by creating these beautiful rainbow drawings!

 

The boy that drew the last one handed me his paper and then said, "Wait! I need to label this!" I told him he didn't have to do that, but he was adamant!

Kids, what 'ya gonna do? ;)

Have you done any exciting lessons on the color spectrum? I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

Hope you guys are having a great time back at school!  We have been at it for a while now, but soon we will have another week long break!

Hundertwasser

Behavior in the Art Room

This has been pretty useful in the art room for behavior. My kids really have to be told quite often to check the noise level (not a surprise, is it?) and work more quietly. When I flip the colors on board to the next color, sighs and gasps ensue. I have a huge magnet clip that holds the pallets on the board. Of course, when they come in, it should be blue. Believe me, if it isn't, they let me know. "How'd we already get to GREEN?" I usually give a warning, then move the color. I even give them the opportunity to get moved back if they redeem themselves before the end of class. This only works if the classroom teacher works with you- so keep that in mind. When they pick them up, I can say, "Your class was awesome and on BLUE today!" or, "Unfortunately, Mrs. X, I had to move them all the way to RED." I used to keep up with it on a tally chart, but that has gone by the wayside. My new plan is to keep up with it by printing out a sheet and marking the color as they leave the room. The reward is that they get to do a special activity, such as using materials I don't have enough of for an entire grade level, or they can choose from a few predetermined activities. If you try it out, let me know how it works! I decided to create a printable version of this for you to try- check it out at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Art-Behavior-Tag-Charts-1720287

Our Take on Klee

The 4th graders recently completed their versions of Paul Klee's Castle and Sun.

Here are a few of the Paul Klee Castle and Sun inspired paintings,  done on recycled book pages.

I had some old book pages, and thought it would be fun to do some of these on them. I had some old books donated to the classroom, and since they weren't something I thought the kids would ever read, I thought why not?! (That's what happens when you are low on paper!) If these were by my kids, I would totally frame them, wouldn't you?

Paul Klee's Fish Magic

The kids had a ball working on this project! We made our own scratch art paper, and then they scratched out their very own version of Paul Klee's Fish Magic. It took 3 weeks but it was worth it! First, the children covered the posterboard with crayons. Then the next week, they covered the entire paper with black tempera paint. The next week, they used wooden sticks to scratch the designs into the paper. I think they turned out great!

Paul Klee Castle and Sun

The 4th grade kids really enjoyed working on these. We used old book pages from an interior design book the public library gave me. The students drew the castle of their own and then outlined them with Sharpies. Then the next week they painted them with watercolors. They just make me happy!

Crazy for Cats (Klee cats, that is)

The kids have had a ball making a chalky mess this week!

We had chalk everywhere! The kids thought this was a great project...One of my first graders said, "This was the best day ever! We got to make art and get really messy at the same time! I love it!" They crack me up. :)

Rudolph, Elves, and the Grinch

Weaving with Recycled Materials

Native American Parfleche