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Category Archives: fourth grade

Mosaics in the Classroom

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Mosaics in the Classroom

Have you made mosaics with elementary students? We first learned about the mosaics in ancient Greece and Rome.  The student thoroughly enjoyed sifting through my box of mosaic tiles to find the perfect pieces. We used glass bits and bobs, shells, stones, square tiles and stained glass pieces. Some tips: Be sure to cut your pieces inside a plastic bag to avoid flying pieces. Use sanded grout (available at a hardware store) to minimize cracking. Tiles should be placed about … Read more… →

American Landscape Paintings with 3rd and 4th Grade

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  Just a few quick pictures of American landscape paintings that the third and fourth graders created.  A few summers ago I took a watercolor painting class which was very useful.  I used some of the techniques I learned in that class to teach them about how to use the fan brush and sponges to create texture.  The kids looked at photographs of landscapes from America and they learned about the Hudson River school of painters.       

Greek Vase Chalk Drawings– 4th and 5th Grade

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Greek Vase Chalk Drawings– 4th and 5th Grade

We are on Spring Break now, so I’m going to use this time to catch up on some blog posts!  I have a lot of projects that are finished that I have started writing posts about.  How about you?  How many blog posts do you currently have in your “draft” folder? Here is a lesson on drawing Greek vases that I teach to my 4th and 5th graders.  We start by reading the Scholastic Art issue about Greek pottery.  It … Read more… →

Perspective “Viewing Rooms” 3rd/4th grade

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I teach one-point perspective every year to the 3rd/4th grade class.  In the past couple of years I typically have taught city perspective drawings.  I saw this fantastic aquarium perspective lesson from Once upon an Art Room (grade 7), and I just had to try it with my little ones.  Some of the kids liked the aquarium idea and others changed them into viewing rooms for other animals.  We had wildlife sanctuaries, zoos and aquariums.  

Editorial Cartoons for 4th, 5th and 6th Grade

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Editorial Cartoons for 4th, 5th and 6th Grade

Teaching about editorial cartoons is a great way to bring current events into the classroom. Every year our students in grades 4th-8th participate in a local editorial cartoon contest.  The students watch a video about editorial cartoons and they discuss, analyze and interpret current editorial cartoons.  Cartoons for the Classroom is an excellent resource for lesson plans about editorial cartoons.  If you are going to teach about editorial cartoons, this website is a must-see.  The cartoon templates we used are … Read more… →

Cross Hatched Animal Drawings- 3rd and 4th grade

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These lovely cross-hatched animal drawings were made by my 3rd/4th grade class.  The students used pictures from Zoobooks magazine for reference and practiced hatching and crosshatching techniques. I love using illustrated books to connect with our curriculum.  For one, it gives a real life connection.  Second, it might spark their interest in reading more quality books. We  looked at the beautiful cross hatched drawings by Brian Selznick, author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck.  Those are both awesome … Read more… →

Papermache Masks– 3rd and 4th grade

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This is an art project that I repeat every year, because it is such a great process for the kids… starting with an initial sketched idea, building an armature, applying paper mache, painting and adding embellishments.  I tie this lesson to the Pacific Northwest Coast masks. You can see masks from previous years here and the process photos here. Thank you if you voted for me in the Art Ed blog of the year contest!  While I did not place … Read more… →