1st grade elves!!

The first graders painted these elves right before winter break. They turned out great! I think these could be framed and hung year round!

4th grade clay tiles

The 4th graders learned about the life and work of the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh. We drew both Sunflowers and Starry Night, two of his most famous works of art. Van Gogh used a lot of paint which created rich colors and immense texture. To recreate this kind of texture, the students worked with clay. Clay is an easy medium to use when teaching about how to create texture. The students rolled out slabs if clay and used a paper square template to cut out a square. Using the painting as well as their drawing, they drew either Starry Night or Sunflowers into the clay When fired we glazed them and then they were fired again. The results were fantastic and the kids learned how clay can be used to recreate Van Gogh's use if texture.

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.

1st grade pumpkins

The first graders painted paper using warm colors- red, orange and yellow. This was fun and messy! When our painted papers were dry, we cut out pumpkins and glued them to black paper. Stems, vines and leaves were added from cut construction paper. We even used painted paper scraps for leaves as well. These were very fun to do and the perfect fall project!

5th grade Statue of Liberty

The 5th graders have worked hard on these projects! We did a step by step drawing of the statue and then talked about form and perspective when drawing the pedestal. Even though the real background of the statue is not a cityscape we combined a city view with our statue. We discussed overlapping and the creative use of size and shape to make buildings of interest. We used black Sharpie marker to outline our drawing, watercolor for the statue's green patina and for the water, then marker for the buildings. Students were encouraged to think about what time of day it was in their picture. Crayon or oil pastel was used for the sky.
The use if my classroom iPad and projector made showing multiple pictures of the statue very easy! We also were able to discuss the statue's history and importance.