Hi there! I have a bunch of old projects I want to post about and I will just post them with short descriptions. This lesson is a popular one for teaching about Pop Art and Andy Warhol. We read the book Andy Warhol (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists). The students drew a self-portrait by looking at themselves in a mirror, outlined them in black pen and then I photocopied the pictures four times. The students colored their portraits … Read more…
These lovely Pop Art portraits were created by our 2nd graders this week. We read a book about Andy Warhol and watched a video about Pop Art. We looked at and discussed Andy’s use of bright colors, repetition and popular subject matter. The artwork we focused on was his self portrait. To prepare, cut a 9×12″ piece of paper into 4 pieces. You will need one quarter piece for each child. The kids looked in a mirror to draw … Read more…
This year during Latinx Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) I will be teaching my 3rd graders about Frida Kahlo and her many pets. It is a good reminder to teach about diverse artists throughout the year and throughout your curriculum. Frida Kahlo’s had many pets including macaws, parakeets, a parrot, sparrows, a cat, a fawn, monkeys, an eagle, and hairless dogs with ancient Aztec lineage. Many of her self-portraits feature herself with animals. The animals are like children to her, … Read more…
Here is a really fun twist on self-portraits! I teach the grades K-4/5 at my school and the middle school art teacher is in charge of grades 5/6-8. We have a new art teacher at the middle school level this year and her name is Jayne Baitinger-Peterson. She comes to our school with over 30 years teaching experience at the elementary level and she has been enjoying the change with middle school youth. She gave me permission to share these … Read more…
We had our first week of school! Beth Carter posted wonderful pictures of her students drawings on the first day with the title “I had art today!” I borrowed the concept and made sheets for my kindergartners and first graders to take home on their first day of art class. Here is the PDF download of “I Had Art Today!” I had my students draw a picture of themselves as an artist or a picture of themselves in class with … Read more…
Are you nervous about starting the school year? Or are you excited to get things going? Even though this is my lucky 13th year teaching, I still get anxious to go back. It’s a combo of nerves, excitement and anxiety about getting back into a different routine. I still have dreams that the class is out of control, I forget that I am scheduled to teach or I oversleep. Recently, I asked readers to share their top tips for starting … Read more…
“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” Andy Warhol The 2nd graders learned about Andy Warhol. We read Getting to Know Andy Warhol, by Mike Venezia and we viewed a short video about the artist. The students drew themselves while looking in a mirror. Then, I photocopied each drawing so the students had multiple … Read more…
