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Lego Art Projects

Lego Art Projects

Our school is building an addition, so I thought projects related to “building” would be fun.  Legos are the perfect building blocks! So, we designed our own mini-figures with this template.  I originally saw this idea from The Art Teacher’s Closet. We also stamped with Legos (idea via Lego Stamping from Filth Wizardry).  Thanks to wonderful bloggers for these two ideas!  My students LOVED them!  They were so excited about these proejcts. Place your piece of paper on top of … Read more…

Colorful Mobile for Kids

Colorful Mobile for Kids

We recently finished a mobile that will soon hang in our window wells in the hallway. Third, fourth and fifth grade students created single strand mobiles using Twisteez wire, foam pieces, feathers, beads and other random materials.  They made these at the end of the year last year when they had a few extra minutes in class.  I got the idea from the Single Strand Mobile group kit on Nasco.  However, we did not purchase that kit, because I figured … Read more…

A Visit from an Editorial Cartoonist

A Visit from an Editorial Cartoonist

I still have some things to share with you from last school year.  Towards the end of the year we had an editorial cartoonist visit our school.  Every year our students draw editorial cartoons as part of the art curriculum.  You can see some of the cartoons my students drew in 2013. When teaching about editorial cartoons, it is very important to show cartoons from both sides (in the U.S.= Republican/Democrat).  It is also essential that you do not tell … Read more…

Silhouette Paper Cuttings for 3rd and 4th Graders

Did you know Hans Christian Andersen was an accomplished paper cutter?  He created some very intricate and amazing silhouettes. I used a chapter from the book The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen to teach about his paper cuttings. Perhaps if your students are reading fairy tales, this would be a great author/artist to incorporate. The third and fourth grade class drew silhouettes on black paper (using regular pencils) and cut them out.  (Some chose to create their picture … Read more…

Contour Line Shoe Drawings by 3rd and 4th Graders

Take off your shoes and make yourself comfortable. This fun lesson is perfect to teach observational drawing with minimal supplies and easy set up. 1.  Take off a shoe. 2.  Observe the lines, shapes and contours of the shoe. 3.  Concentrate and draw all of the lines you see on the shoe.  Don’t forget the little details, such as shoelaces, the tongue and any patterns you see on the shoe. *Optional Step*  Enlarge the shoe drawings on a photocopier. 4.  … Read more…

Landscape Scroll Displays

Landscape Scroll Displays

How is your year going?  Ours is rapidly coming to a close.  There is so much to do… grading, finishing projects, finishing the yearbook, planning a middle school dance, inventory and cleaning the room!  Yikes, I don’t know about you, but April is the craziest month. I think in the summer, I am going to blog about some tips for organizing Student Council events.  Not that I am an expert, but since I’ve done it for about 7 years now, … Read more…

American Landscape Paintings with 3rd and 4th Grade

  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.