Art Is In Full Swing

For the second post I just want to say that I am so proud of ALL my students. They are all creative. I am lucky to spend each day watching their excitement and discovery. The past 2 weeks proved to me how important ART is in my students learning.  One class asked to create a play about their shadow puppets they did in third grade. They did not just want to learn about shadows, they wanted to apply that knowledge and prove how shadows work.

Kindergarden

The Kindergardener's learned about creating collections. We focused on leaves from trees and how we can collect them. If we collected a lot of leaves we could make a pile of similar leaves and know that they came from the same type of tree. I read Leaves Fall Down and we learned that all leaves have the color green and yellow in them.

The following is an example of a crayon resist of fall trees inspired by our reading.

Next, students made leaf prints using green and yellow & red and orange. We looked at the color wheel and discussed the different color combinations. Each child was able to tell me the answer to what color would be made by mixing red and blue, yellow and blue, or yellow and red.

With Kindergardeners I try to explore all the different shapes and lines. I explain to my students that everything is made up of shapes and lines. We explored lines in this project inspired by the book Lines That Wiggle.

Also, the Kindergardeners created a family portrait through drawing a collection of objects that where their family members. I did not take photos of these because students took them home but they were great. They had family of apples in an apple tree, families of balloons and bunnies and to name just a few. The inspiration can from the book All Kinds of Families.

The last project we did this week was based on Jackson Pollack's work. I read Action Jackson which is about the artist and his technique of painting. Instead of splattering paint we used cars to create our paintings. The students love this project.

1st Grade

For 1st Grade we focussed on birds since the students will be going to Kensington Park soon. I read the book Feather's For Lunch which included the following birds: Northern Cardinal, Northern Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird, Blue Jay, American Robin, Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow, House Wren, Northern Flicker, and Red-headed Woodpecker.

Students created a collage. See below.

Another project in the works is a kite in honor of the Korean Kite festival that just happened in the Arb in Ann Arbor sponsored by the University of Michigan. My students used crayon to color their kites in either warm or cool colors. Crayons are used to make the kite waterproof and help them fly better. Students will finish their kites next week and we will fly them. We hope to have a windy day.

2nd Grade

In 2nd Grade my students made African Tribal Hands. Each student traced their hand 3 times and created a traditional African design on one hand and created 2 other designs/ patterns on the other hands. Students were able to learn that different cultures share common art styles. Students will be adding another handprint on their work at the end of the school year to document how much they have grown in one year.

As a practice to the Aboriginal Sea Serpent lesson students created a simple snake design. Next week they will begin their Serpent's which will use different symbols to create a map and a story in their art.

Second Graders made Fall pictures this week. We discussed how plants and animals change in the different seasons. Below are the examples.

3rd Grade

My 3rd Graders will continue to learn about Michigan throughout the year. For this project we discussed the different types of landscapes in Michigan. Students learned that when drawing a landscape there is a foreground, middle ground and background. Some of the postcards students made are below.

3rd Graders are doing a unit on Egypt. We have done shadow puppets and learned the hieroglyphs. As a culmination of the unit we will be making a mummy case. Students created a 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 and a couple of the plays they created.

Here is a play by the students. 

4th Grade

Both the 4th and 5th Graders are doing a project based on Hundertwasser's work. Here are some examples of their work in progress. Photos will be added Monday.

5th Grade

The Insect Robots are AWESOME! Here are just a few of the amazing work my 5th Graders have finished.

Both the 4th and 5th Graders are doing a project based on Hundertwasser's work. Here are some examples from the 5th Grade. Photos will be posted Monday.