Kinder Pinch Pots

Little happy accident! Originally I was having my kinders use Cell-u-Clay to make pinch pots, a material I had never used. I expected the clay to be a bit smoother, and when the pots were dry they ended up looking like birds nests... So I figured I'd go with it!

Radial Symmetry for Kindergarten saved!

So last week I started a unit on radial symmetry with my little Ks. We made mixed up some plaster and I had out various goodies for them to lay down in a radial design. Some of them got it, some not so much. There was just something missing.

So, I decided to slap some hot glue on the back of them and attached them to some nice thick paper. They used a black crayon to make them even MORE radially symmetrical, and finished them off with paint. Below are the results!

Air Dry Clay

Here is my sloppy attempt at a coil pot using Crayola Model Magic. I have heard horror stories of clay cracking, breaking, and just plain not working, so I am nervous to try it with the whole third grade! It seemed to hold up okay.. Any advice on this stuff??

First Grade Dream Houses

Just a few photos of my first graders' dream homes! We are currently exploring form and making three dimensional artwork. We had made "roller coasters" with strips of paper the week before. This class, I started by reading the book "The Big Orange Splot" (highly recommended) about a man who lives on a street where all the houses are the same. He begins to add colors, and trees, and all sorts of things to his house to make it different, and eventually the whole street joins in on the fun! We also talked about architects and landscape designers.

 

Love the creativity!

Kinder Self Portraits

I just love kindergarten self portraits in the morning! Just too cute... We went through all the parts of the face together and colored in with oil pastel

 

Bulletin Boards

Here are a few bulletin boards I have up for the month of January! Since starting my second year, I have been trying to get better at changing them out more often-I am aiming for every month.

 

Above is a Pointillism Winter Landscape lesson I did with my third graders. We talked about the artist Seurat, and I introduced foreground, midground, and background. We used q-tips to make the "points." For some reason, I felt last year's group was a little more patient with the dots. Some of my kiddos got a little frustrated when their paper wasn't filling up as quickly opposed to just painting with a brush. Might just try painting next year...?

 

I  thought these kindergarten "Wild Things" where just too adorable to not hang up! We talked about texture, and used textured animal print paper - they loved this! They then added a horizon line, wild thing appendages, and a background. Too cute.

 

This is a new lesson I tried on symmetrical shapes with my 4th graders. I read sections of "Snowflake Bentley" (great book with stunning illustrations on the photographer Wilson Bentley, first to capture a snowflake), and then we talked about what exactly a symmetrical shape is. They started with a base, larger snowflake, and added more and more smaller ones to make it even more symmetrical. Some really got into this and made their own at home!

Arts Festival

Last weekend was the annual Arts Festival in our district. It was a fun day of crafts, artwork, and musical performances, and a great opportunity for the schools to get together and showcase some student work! Here are some photos of my fellow art teachers' work..

Middle school - love the colors on the Picasso portraits! Really neat origami dragon in front too..

Beautiful middle school drawings. The sign language names on the bottom are FIFTH GRADE...wow!

Egyptian display from my "sister" elementary school - she spends weeks and weeks on this and it shows!

And lastly, my small display of pumpkins and Day of the Dead skeletons  :)