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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

3rd Grade

My Third Grade classes come to the Art Room for one hour a week. As often as possible I try to teach their Science and Social Studies through Art. Below are their creations from September to February.

Fall
Third Graders created fall trees and sunsets after looking at the work of Gustav Klimt an Austrian Artist who I was lucky enough to see his work in Austria. We discussed how trees cast different shadows during the day and that the also vary on the time of the year it is.





Michigan Animals
The Third Grade students learn a lot about the State of Michigan. I was inspired by the work of a native Michigan and native American artist Lois Beardslee. I saw her work in the Traverse City. Her are a few of her pieces I photographed.







Here is the work the Third Grade students made.




Egypt
Third Grader students did a unit on Egypt. Students made shadow puppets, learned the hieroglyphs, created mummy cases and created an Egyptian self portrait. Students created shadow puppets to help them understand how and why shadows exist. While students created their puppets they wanted to do a play with them. Below you will see some puppets, self portraits and mummy cases.










Family Tiles
Third Grade students studied the work of Frank Llyod Wright and saw his work in both Architecture as well as Art. We focused on his tiles which had great meaning to him. Students followed his thought process and created individual Family Tiles that meant something to them. I encouraged them to included family members, pets and other aspects of their life they thought were important. Students choose warm or cool colors. Below are some of their tiles.







Cat's Eye
I thought it would be important to include Art of Mexico to the Third Graders as they started taking Spanish this year. Students made tradition Huicholi Indian Cat's Eye weavings. The traditional art form was created by the Huicholi Indians to ward off evil spirits on children for the first five years of their lives. It is said that the center of the eye is woven by the father the first year of the child's life, the remaining four years are done by the child's mother or other females in their family. Each years has its on color. Below is the work of my Third Grade students.


Year of the Snake
The symbol for the Chinese New Year this year is the Snake. STudents in Third Grade made their own snakes, They were able to make them either poisonous or non-poisonous. They heads that are sharp or like a V are the non-poisonous (although please note that water snakes which can be poisonous have this shape and do not fit this category) while the poisonous snakes have a rounder head with cheeks that hold the poison.


African Moon and Sun Masks
Second Graders were allowed to choose to do either a Moon or Sun masks based on the work of the African Artist Salihu Ibrahim. He recreated the design from the Baule people of Côte d'Ivoire. "Such masks are used on the first day the moon appears, in celebration and gratitude." the artisan explains on the moon mask.




2nd Grade

My Second Grade classes come to the Art Room for one hour a week. As often as possible I try to teach their Science and Social Studies through Art. Below are their creations from September to December.

Hunderwasser

Second Graders created their lollipop trees after looking at the work of Hundertwasser. We discussed the importance of trees and how we should reduce, reuse and recycle. We also discussed how important it is to make sure while doing art we know what a landscape is. We discussed foreground, middle ground and background. Each student was responsible to make these sections of a landscape look different.



Mehndi Hands

Second Graders learned about the art form of Mehndi that is an art form across India as well as Africa. The reason they trace their own hands is that at the end of the year they will trace their hand again in red marker to see how much they have grown. This is part of their Science Curriculum.



Teaching Garden Predictions

This Fall all classes were able to plant bulbs in the Teaching Garden. My Second Graders were able to draw a bulb and label the parts. My students were also able to predict what their bulbs will look like when they bloom. The Second Graders have Alpine Bells, Tulips and Daffodils.



Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back by Joseph Bruchac

Second Graders learned about the Native American tale the Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back by Joseph Bruchac. Students created their own Turtle Calendar with the thirteen full moons of the year represented in the middle with the 28 days between the moons as the segments surrounding the center. We will be creating the turtle rattles in March. 



Dream Catchers

Second Graders chose an animal symbol that they connected to after we read some information on Native Americans and their belief system on Dream Catchers. Students did a traditional weaving and added beads to complete their work.





Fall Landscapes with Shadows

Second Graders learned about landscapes- foreground, middle ground and background. They created their Fall landscape to reflect common themes during that timw of the year as well as added shadows.

Andy Warhol Inspired Self Portraits

Second Graders looked at the work of Andy Warhol and made self portrait prints like the artists. Students learned that making a printing block produced an inverse or flipped print of their drawing. Students added colors to help express emotions.


Seahorse Landscape

I read the book Mr. Seahorse by Eric Carle. Students created three seahorses to show size and depth. 


Lois Mailou African Masks

Second Graders created African Masks inspired by the African American Artist Lois Mailou. We did this during February for Black History Month.