I'm BACK!!!! I needed a place to put my new HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT'S work, so here I am. Things got pretty overwhelming a few years ago, so I decided to make the move on up to high school. I don't regret it one bit. Check in soon for a new look, along with what we are doing in Jackson's Art Room.

Pretty Little Piggies

The kids finished these up this week and I just had to share. Aren't they adorable? We started with a step by step drawing on pink construction paper. They then let loose with the scrap paper bin. I read the story, When Pigasso Met Mootise, and they got to work. Honestly, that was the best book I had besides When Pig Met Pug, which I read earlier in the week. Maybe I need to get more books, lol.

Welcome to our Classroom!

Woohoo!!! It is a new year and we have a lot of creative things coming our way! The kiddos all seem excited to start off a new school year, and so am I! Join us on the blog for lots of new ideas and creations from the kids here at Learning Way! See you soon!

Food Art

The 5th graders loved creating their "fake cakes"! They used a template that I downloaded from the internet (just google cake slice template to find one you like). The first day of this project was spent with them cutting out the template and taping them together to form the slice form. Looking back, it would have been a good idea to cover the entire template with some good, thick masking tape to keep the cardstock from collapsing under the weight of the paper mache. The next class used ClayCrete to create the cake slice. They put them on styrofoam plates to let them dry. The next week, they finished them up by painting. They were thrilled, for the most part! There are a few that always hate their work, but most of the kids were very supportive of them and encouraged them with kind words. The cupcakes were made by the 4th graders using Model Magic by Crayola. I find that it is much cheaper to buy the large containers and give them a hunk at a time instead of an entire small package. I like to divide it into balls before class, that way it is kind of "measured out." Make sure that you leave the Model Magic in a sealed plastic bag with the air pushed out- or else it starts to dry out. I demonstrated how to make the cupcake, and the icing, and then let them go to it. Of course, once one kid makes a cherry on top, they all need one! I can honestly say I have never had a cherry on top of a cupcake, but who am I to judge? I thought they turned out super cute, don't you? The final project in our Wayned Theibaud unit was the cake/3D shape lesson. We talked about all kinds of 3D shapes first, reviewed how to draw them, and they began with the pastels. I used the Crayola oil pastels this time, because it seems like the thickness of them helps them last a bit longer. This is a fun, one day lesson most of the time. I have a few who didn't finish, but they are the ones who usually take longer on everything. I hope you enjoyed their artwork! Leave me a comment if you have any questions, and I'd be glad to help!

Thanks to the donation of several paper bags from Kroger, the 4th grade students created their Picasso Head bags/masks.  Some of the kids wanted them to go the other direction so they would sit up better, so I let them...it's their creation, right? Anyway, after studying Picasso, the kids got to work using pencil, and then Sharpie to outline their drawings.  They then used Crayola oil pastels (I like them because they are thick and harder to break) to color them in.  They were quite impressive to have sitting around at the county art show, I thought! The colors were so vibrant, and each one was so different. 

Stop Motion Animation at LWE

This year the kids used different media for their stop motion animation videos- You can check them out here!
https://youtu.be/AW5JhqLrmBY

We used the ipod app "Stop Motion" that is free in the app store.  They also have it in the google play store if you have an android device.  I went on and bought the $4.99 upgrade because this allows them to edit the video and add other things.  They love making these videos! This year, I tried to have the kids make a video that the younger students could learn from.  I had a few do Prey and Predators, and some did the life cycle of a butterfly. I think this year, we will try this again.  Any suggestions of movies they could create? I was thinking The Water Cycle would be a good one!

Onomatopoeia + Pop Art + Shrinky Dinks!

One of the student's  favorite things to do is make Shrinky Dinks.  I mean, who can resist them? I change up what we make with them every year, and this year we did a little Pop Art twist with them.  Ideally, they were making necklaces or keychains, but we never got that far.  The end of the year got crazy, and with all the special activities, we just couldn't get it together.  They did all get to take them home, so I am hoping that they were able to do something with them! I did a lesson on Onomatopoeia, and we looked at some Roy Lichenstein artwork, and they got to it.  We drew the words on paper first, then used sharpies to write on the slick side of the Shrinky Dinks.  Sharpies on Slick! On the rough side of the plastic, they used colored pencils.  That really is the best way to do it. Too much of the Sharpie and there is a major stink fest going on! The ooohs and ahhhs when you shrink the plastic makes me smile! I use a heat gun, and they are allowed to come back and watch the transformation.  I promise I offered more ideas than Boom and Crash, but those were the overwhelming choices.  Kids are funny little creatures, aren't they?

We heArt Art

Last week, we started on our "We heART art" unit.  Yeah, I know it's cheesy, but the kiddos love it.  We discussed Jim Dine and Romero Britto.  They were all shocked to know they are both still alive. In almost every class they were like, "Are they still alive, Mrs. Jackson?" When I answered yes, there was a collective "That's cool! Most of the artists we study are dead!" I guess I won't continue to go in any kind of order... time to mix it up a bit!  Anyway, these are done on some mat board that I found in my closet.  I actually found a lot of stuff when I cleaned that out!  They are about 4"x4", the perfect size for a one day lesson.  I really want to keep these and use them for the art show.  Some classes used watercolors, some tempera. I think they are great... I let them choose if they wanted to use a template or draw the heart themselves. These are from 2 classes (4th grade) that were based on Jim Dine-

5th grade

The last two are some of the 5th graders.  After we looked at some of Romero Britto's work, and Jim Dine's work, I gave each student a part of a heart drawn onto a large posterboard.  Each table got an entire heart, divided into pieces. After they were painted, they were put on the drying rack.  They haven't seen them yet- I think they will be pleased.  The plan was to have them hanging in the hallway for Valentine's Day Week, but since we are on SNOW DAY #2, that obviously hasn't happened.  I love them.  When I actually get the rest of them taped back together, I will share those too! Some were done with watercolors, some with tempera.  I like the tempera way better.  It's a bigger pain to distribute and clean up, but I'm finally getting the hand of finishing up early and making the kids responsible for the clean up. :)
I hope you all enjoy the rest of this lovey-dovey kind of week!

Printing with El dia de los Muertos designs

It's been a while since I have posted, so I decided to go through some photos and share some of the artwork the kids have created so far this year.  This project was the first foray into printing they have done.  It is  foam plate printing using Speedball ink and a brayer.  They loved it! We learned about El dia de los Muertos, and the kids drew the picture first and then went over the picture after placing it on top of the foam printing plate. We were excited with the way they turned out!

March of the Nutcrackers

Oh my goodness, are these not the cutest? I left them up for quite a while, because they made me happy every time I walked by.  It also worked well because the music teacher was showing them The Nutcracker in his class.  We talked about why in the world a kid would even want a nutcracker, and we discussed how a long time ago, kids didn't get all the stuff for Christmas that they do now.  Fruit, candy, and some nuts was a big deal! They just couldn't believe it.  I had a nutcracker to show them for an example and they all wanted to crack nuts with it...but it was just for decorative purposes ;).
I gave the students basic step by step instructions and then let them loose to give them their own personalities. They were allowed to use crayons, markers, and colored pencils to add the details.  Quite a successful project!

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?