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.

2nd grade Repeated Line Candy Canes

 The second graders did such a great job with these beautiful candy canes. We started out talking about candy canes, varieties, history,etc. They followed verbal and visual directions to draw two (medium to large) candy canes. After teacher demo, the students learned to draw repeated lines, following the overall shape of the two candy canes. 

When explaining this lesson, I described it by taking a "leap" instead of a step when creating all of the lines. With making the space a little larger, there will be plenty of space to color in a pattern of colors. 

You can use 8 1/2" x 11" white construction paper or 12" x 18" white construction paper. If I do say so myself they, this project looks fabulous large. It takes more time, but it's worth the students effort.

More second work, Self-portraits inspired by the book "The Bad case of the Stripes"

Lots of Fall lessons

Hello! I am back. I just recently got married, so I haven't had time to update as much. But here are a few projects I have been working on with the students.

3rd Barn Scapes

We talked about Barns that we see around our Area of PA. We focused on foreground, middle ground, background, and focal point. The students really enjoyed this and were able to use their imagination and creativity to fill in their foreground, middle grounds and back grounds.

4th Grade Observational Squash Drawings

FOr this project, I went to a local farm and got different small squash and gourds. I set one gourd on each table. The students drew to different squash by analyzing, observing, and viewing the squash. We talked about making the squash look 3-Dimensional. They had a choice between oil pastel, chalk pastel or colored pencils to fill their shape to create a colorful form.
They look marvelous. At first I wasn't sure of their response to an "observational" drawing and the feedback I got was very positive. The finish composition look very well done.

I have a lot more to update for our kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders. More updates this week. 

Right now we are working on: Kindergarten: Van Gogh Styled Reindeer, 1st grade- self-portraits/ginger bread people, 2nd- "Bad Case of the Stripes Holiday Self-Portrait/Poinsettia Echo-line, 3rd grade- Marc Chagall Dream Drawings/ Collage Holiday Wreathes, 4th grade- Star Barn Landscape Drawings/Draw Snowglobes- lesson by www.oodlesofart.blogspot.com.