• Subscribe to Blog via Email

    Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 4,527 other subscribers

Tag Archives: fourth grade

Class Project for Auction: Clay Mosaic Mirrors

By | | , , ,
40 Comments
Class Project for Auction: Clay Mosaic Mirrors

Every year my students and I create artworks for our school’s auction.  If you look here, you can see some of the auction artworks from previous years.  This year, each student in grades K-8 made textured clay circle tiles.  We glued them on to several mirrors. The process to make the clay circle tiles is quite simple, yet it teaches the kids several important skills for working with clay. First, roll out a flat piece of clay (called a “slab”). … Read more… →

Fairy Houses and Gnome Homes- Drawings & Sculptures

By | | , , , ,
2 Comments

What could be more fun than fairy houses and gnome homes?  I don’t know, but let me know if you find out!  I’ve discovered that kids love 1) Open-ended projects  2) Getting to choose from a huge pile of random, colorful materials  3) Miniature things   4) Using their imagination.   This project is a winner for all of these reasons. I saw a question on an art teacher Facebook group which reminded me of this project my 4th/5th grade students did … Read more… →

Egyptian Pyramid STEAM Lesson: Art Ed Blogger’s Network

By | | , , , , ,
2 Comments
Egyptian Pyramid STEAM Lesson: Art Ed Blogger’s Network

How does ART fit into STEM? STEAM:  Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math This month’s Art Ed Blogger’s Network topic is STEAM.  How do art teachers approach STEAM in the classroom?  Should art teachers embrace STEAM? There are many different opinions on STEAM.  Personally, I like to bring in different subjects to the art room.  I think it’s great that so many of our art projects involve other disciplines.  However, I also think art for arts sake is important too.  … Read more… →

Cooperation and Playground Rules Posters

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment

This year, our school has been focusing on kindness and cooperation.  In art class, my students created posters to display around the school about kindness, cooperation and playground etiquette. Students cooperated together to make posters about cooperation! Each group received a slip of paper with a cooperation “slogan”. The Power of Cooperation C – Care for each other – Be Kind O – Obey rules O – Offer to help others P – Participate together as a team E – … Read more… →

In Case You Missed It: Frank Stella Inspired Children’s Art Project

By | | , , , ,
2 Comments

Two and a half years ago I posted this lesson about using Frank Stella’s artwork as inspiration for children’s drawings.  I love Frank Stella’s work.  After visiting an art museum and seeing an exhibit of the progression of his style, I was hooked.  It is so fascinating and there is a lot to look at.  The sheer size of these prints are stunning. In case you haven’t figure out by now, my favorite style of art is BUSY, abstract, super … Read more… →

Fun and Easy Mandalas with Metallic Gel Pens

By | | , , , , ,
2 Comments
Fun and Easy Mandalas with Metallic Gel Pens

One day this summer, my daughter came home from camp with a circle design drawn using metallic gel pens.  I thought it looked so cool, I wanted to try it with my students in 3rd/4th grade.  I usually teach about mandalas and radial balance at this age level. Mandalas have religious and spiritual significance around the world.  They have been used for meditation and relaxation.  I showed the students mandalas including Tibetan and Navajo sand paintings, ancient Aztec and architecture.  … Read more… →

All About Me Foldable Squash Books

By | | , , , , ,
10 Comments

One of the first projects my 4th/5th grade students created this year were personal “About Me” folded squash books.  The kids were introduced to a simple foldable bookmaking technique and then they personalized them with drawings and collages about themselves.  Each section of the book had a prompt to get them started. I showed them a video demonstration of how to assemble the book and I provided square templates printed on card stock.  Both the video, templates and instructions are … Read more… →