3rd grade clay leaves

The third graders rolled out a slab of clay and then used a leaf template to carve out their leaf. They drew details on to the clay leaf using a pencil, then placed the leaf in a styrofoam bowl lined with a damp paper towel. We let the leaf dry for a few days and then I took them out of the bowl to fire in the kiln. The clay leaf took on the shape of the styrofoam bowl as they dried. Once fired we glazed them, applied clear glaze and fired them again.
A special thanks goes out to our principal Mr. Hoffman who fixed the kiln. It broke in the middle of this project leaving some half fired leaves. Thank goodness he is Mr.Fix- it!! These leaves are gorgeous!

1st grade Matisse paintings

The First graders are learning about the artist Henri Matisse. We learned about still life paintings and the use of pattern in his work. The students drew a vase with a pattern on it sitting on a table. They added a bowl of fruit and then added a striped background. We discussed how to draw the stripes so it looks like they are behind the vase and bowl.
The entire drawing was outlined in black Sharpie marker and then we used watercolors to paint our picture. We discussed the proper way to use watercolors in small and large spaces. We also used patterns with colors. They turned out great!!!

1st grade Mondrian

The first graders learned about the artist Piet Mondrian. We glued black strips of paper down on white paper to make vertical and horizontal lines. These overlapping lines created squares and rectangles. Like Mondrian, we used the primary colors to color in some if the squares. This project was a review on line direction and an introduction to Primary Colors.