Wayne Thiebaud Inspired 3-Dimensional Lollipops

I wanted the 3rd graders to learn about Wayne Thiebaud and learn how to turn a circle into a sphere with chalk pastel.
Usually to educate students about spheres and 3-d shapes, teachers do a space lesson, which they turn out great but I wanted to come up with a unique way of combining two "subjects" or "ideas".

We started out with black or dark blue paper, drew 3 circles (big or little) and used rulers to create the lollipops sticks. I printed out some grey scales and how to create a sphere. I did a demo. with chalk pastel and oil pastel. I left it up to the students to pick their mediums and colors. We talked about light sources and where the "white" and "black" would be placed.

Then added color to the background (walls and tabletop) with oil pastels. We drew circles or ovals to create shadow on the table top and filled in with black OIL pastel.

When I first showed my teacher example all the kids thought they couldn't do it. When they finished their projects, one student in particular said," Mrs. Schwien you really taught us how to do this, that now MINE looks better then yours!" I know it sounds boastful, however I took it as a compliment that he was so confident in his achievement and progression in creating art.

First picture is my Teacher Example. (I allowed the students to make ice cream cones if they wanted to, they turned out great)

1st Grade Picasso faces

Picasso is our Mascot in our Art classroom (both classrooms actually) He guards the Points that the students earn in class for making good behavior choices and participating.
They really wanted to learn more about Picasso, so I introduced him by showing them a brief slideshow on Picasso's work and life.

We talked about the difference of Profile and Portrait. I briely went over the definitions for abstract and cubism.  I did this project in October and now the students will say "oh that project is abstract" or "it doesn't look realistic, it MUST be abstract" what GREAT minds I am teaching. I learn so much from them every day.
ANYWAYS, we then created 3 WACKY FACES. One big and the other medium sizes. We did one together, allowing free choice along the way. When we were done with the first one, the students completed the last 2, outline with medium size markers, then colored in with GLITTER crayons. They LOVE glitter/metallic crayons. In my personal opinion the metallic crayons are way more consistent and you really can see a sheen. The glitter crayons get clogged and are really light when put on paper. But all in all they looked great.

With the crayons, I emphasized not touching same/like colors next to eachother.

4th Grade Woven Yarn Baskets

I know this is a common project with many art educators but I mixed it up by talking about contemporary versus traditional materials.My students learned how to do the traditional plain weave, warp/weft, shuttles, the Hopi Tribe, etc. We talked about different materials and I showed them photos of contemporary baskets made of jump ropes, phone wire (a picture of my own work), trash bags, etc.
I majored in textiles for my underground and I really love to include them in my lessons.

We did the traditional plain weave focusing on a color pattern with the yarn. When they were an 1" away from the top we started to include more contemporary/different items. I think they turned out great. We finished them right before the holidays and they said their families loved their baskets! Some of the students gave them as presents. I have one class working on them right now, to showcase them for the future spring art show!

The first picture/basket is made with pipe cleaners that spells the students brothers name, because he was making it for him for Christmas. What CREATIVITY! 

3rd Grade Oil Pastels/Watercolor Giraffes

We actually did this project with the 3rd graders in Sept/Oct. I finally got a camera that doesn't lose charge really quickly!

To start out I showed A Slide show on fun facts about Giraffes, their environment, size, what they eat, AND of course images of Giraffes.

We started out with step-by-step instructions on how to draw the giraffe with oil pastels. Then added whatever they thought would be suitable for the background; focusing on what we discussed in the beginning of class.
This lesson took about 2-3 classes to complete.

They look truly wonderful.

Kindergarten Van Gogh Styled Rudolphs

Now, I usually don't do Holiday Projects, however, I thought this would be a great project to help students learn how to draw basic shapes, Add texture to the Reindeers with the INfluence Of Van Gogh, review and work on coloring in nice and neatly, and start understanding outlining pencil lines to make drawings "pop" and clear.
I made a Slideshow with images of Van Gogh's work, a brief life bio, and pictures of real reindeers. We sang Rudolph the red nose reindeer.
We started out with basic shapes. I emphasized making the shapes and Reindeer as large as the page.
We did a step by step drawing.
Then we outlined the pencil lines with Black Sharpie Markers. We talked about erasing our pencil lines to make the project look clean and neat. They stood up to give a little more strength to erase. Some struggled with that, however, I used this as a teachable moment for them and for myself. I partnered them up and they helped eachother hold each others paper.
Then we added a "scratchy" texture like Van Gogh did in his paintings.
Then to top it off we add a red glitter nose. I am not a fan of glitter but around the season, a little looks wonderful!

4th Grade Pennsylvania Star Barns

The 4th graders studied the historic PA Star Barn, located near Harrisburg, PA. We studied the history, visited the Star Barn official website, and explored the architecture of this beautiful Barn.
We talked about how the barn is based off of a church style or Gothic Revival.
We started out with picture references and broke down the drawing into basic shapes. The students added the details they saw that would indicate the differences of a typical PA barn style compared to the Star Barn style.
We then painted over the pencil lines, to encourage and enforce hand eye coordination and review outlining. We talked about contour line and how we did not need to fill in the Star Barn with paint because it is already white. To keep it looking clean and neat.
THey used a mixture of black and white to make grey. We reviewed how to mix light and dark colors. They loved mixing it and seeing the paint swirl together.
In the background the students added different details/elements they felt would have been around the star ban in it's peak time. Now there is a highway, so they used their imagination. They chose either colored pencils or oil pastels for the color.

This project is done on 11" x 17" white construction paper, black and white tempura paint, oil pastels or colored pencils, pencils and erasers.

1st grade Glue Resist Snowmen

This project was a new process for the 1st graders. They absolutely enjoyed this project.
We started out talking about asymmetry and symmetry, off the page and up close. We drew our snowmen on 6" x 18" black paper with pencil. They were worried that the pencil lines wouldn't show, but so excited when they did.
After a teacher demonstration on how to use the glue bottle as a drawing tool, they all began to apply the glue to their already drawn pencils lines. I showed them a teacher example, so they could visualize what the glue line would turn into.
Next class we filled in each section with chalk pastel. They blended the chalk pastel with their fingers and paper towels. I tried to remind them not to touch their clothing or skin because it spreads very quickly. They did such a good job and not too much mess, which makes an art teachers job a little easier with the clean-up process.
At the very end we added white chalk pastel to create snowflakes. Some added dots, others added line stars to create "snowflakes".

2nd grade Wassily Kandinsky Inspired Concentric Circles

This project was done a couple of months ago, but it turned out wonderfully.
Each child had a 9" x 9" square, we folded it twice to make 4 squares and then we added rings of color with oil pastels. All different colors. We started with the biggest ring and then drew smaller ones until we couldn't anymore.
Then we filled in the "white rings" with chalk pastel all different colors.

When we were done we glued down each individual finished drawing on a large sheet of bulletin board construction paper.