May 24, 2012
PAPER MACHE BUGS!
...Well the technical terms is insects. Students in third grade got a lesson in science when we did extensive research about their favorite insects before constructing them out of paper mache. They were required to to a preliminary sketch and learn about its basic body parts, coloring and habitat. Here they are in progress.
April 13, 2012
Colorful Bamboo Place Matts
Students learned about using resisting media on a new surface, bamboo! This lesson was designed by my student teacher to encourage their exposure to mixed media and also allow them to work with complimentary colors.
March 19, 2012
Before Miss Flegal (our students teacher) takes over my third grade class for this second spring session, I did my previous monster lesson with them inspired by one of my favorite books If You're a Monster and You Know It.
Students learned valuable information in terms of color mixing, cropping, expression, creating large scale art and the addition of a literacy component! After creating a large and colorful monster, students had to use an adjective to describe their art piece and collage it onto their artwork. We looked at how adjectives describe nouns in terms of literacy just as the elements of art enhance an art piece in terms of visual creation. If you would like to see everything our students have made in an all encompassing art showcase, come to our student annual student art show, ART ROCKS on Friday, April 20th from 7-9 P.M.
February 27, 2012
LIVE! This past Friday students acted out original plays that demonstrated puppets with moveable parts! Great components in these plays were the collaborative effort put forth by all, the development of a problem and solution in their plot, establishing a beginning, middle and end and also creating changing backgrounds. My hope is to add video soon!
February 23, 2012
Paper Mache Puppets and Plays
I have absolutely loved this lesson created by my student teacher Miss Flegal. Read on below to find out more about it. Tomorrow the children will perform and so I hope to post more images/video soon! There has been such strong collaboration between the children and they have become so invested in the completion of this project!
February 16, 2012
Paper Mache Puppets!
February 1, 2012
Van Gogh Inspired Sunflowers
Recently students have been looking at the work of Vincent Van Gogh for inspiration for these glue line drawings. We learned about symmetry with the symmetrical vases that we cut out and traced around. In the stages ahead, students will learn to manipulate colored chalk which will resist the dried glue and reveal a raised black drawing.
This six week session I will be repeating the projects I just completed throughout the previous six weeks due in part to the fact that I want to keep all of my third grade students working in the same art media and walking away from my classroom with a similar experience and comparative art knowledge about artists and art styles. I feel this is advantageous to the art program I am fostering here at The Falcon Academy of Creative Arts. Please stay tuned for new projects in January at the start of the new semester. Until then please enjoy what my current students are creating! Thank you!
December 19, 2011
Wayne Thiebaud Cakes
Third session of Whingdingdillies!
December 2, 2011
November 10, 2011
Onto to coil pots! Look how great these are coming along...
November 4, 2011
Henri Matisse Inspired Collages
October 26, 2011
Wayne Thiebaud Inspired Cakes
October 24, 2011
Third Grade Whingdingdillies in progress...
October 5, 2011
City Prints
This rounds out a wonderful first six weeks of art in third grade. Students were able to dabble in permanent marker, tempera cakes, collage, watercolor paint, clay, glaze and printing.
October 1, 2011
After wrapping up our Matisse aquariums, we ventured into using clay this week, which always bring so much excitement at any level, but especially with third graders. Extensive learning took place in our classroom as we viewed coil pots and discussed their qualities. We discussed the Native Americans and their discovery of clay and pottery and what it has led to in our everyday lives. Soon students were building a pot through the use of layered coils, spirals, and spheres. Stay tuned to next week when we add glaze!
September 23, 2011
Students in third grade recently took an art "test" as I assessed their knowledge about warm and cool color palettes. As they rotated color diffusing paint that we applied onto specialty papers they were challenged to place the paint on the correct paper. These gorgeous creations will now lend themselves to the creation of Henri Matisse inspired collages. We chose an underwater theme based on his coral-like cut-outs that appear in his work. We also felt these bright pages would serve well as tropical fish. Ask your children how they are "drawing with scissors" in my class. This has also been a great unit to look at Eric Carle and how he accomplishes his uniquely collaged illustrations. Below are some of their starts.
September 16, 2011
For this two-dimensional painting project third grade students are combining two of my favorite things-- art and cake! What student wouldn't love this subject matter? Using youtube, students were able to watch an informative and engaging clip about the accomplished and humble cake artist, Thiebaud. Next, we tied in present day culture by looking at some clips from Cake Boss, and other TLC food-inspired shows. Soon students were brainstorming how art can be food also, with eggs, sugar and other ingredients as the medium! Sketching out a two-dimensional project that appears three-dimensional was the true challenge for these students. Lastly, students highly enjoyed using mixing trays and tempera biggie cakes to create their own unique colors to finalize these grand pieces.
September 6, 2011
We are back in session! :) Taking inspiration from one of my most favorite books as a child, we are starting our third grade year with a unit on surrealism. The Whingdingdilly, an adventurous book tells the story of Scamp, a dog, who would like to be something else. The journey is exciting, filled with marvelous illustrations that teach a great deal about surrealistic art in terms that are appropriate for third graders. Students are creating their own whingdingdillies composed of various animal parts. Below are some of our starts that we are creating on transparent paper with colored permanent markers. Once completed, students will project their images using an overhead projector, talk about their illustrations and tell the story of their very own Whingdingdilly.
Students projected their final creations onto the wall and told a story about the character they created to their classmates...
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June 1, 2011
Hundertwasser and Leger inspired neighborhoods!
One of our last projects of this school year is a mixed media piece. Students looked at the work of two artists, Leger and Hundertwasser, who both create abstract city pieces and applied these art principles to their own neighborhood creations. Students also learned a great deal about positive space and negative space. Students used oil pastels on positive spaces, while adding color through paint application in the negative spaces.
May 10, 2011
Here are our finished fish! Read down below to find out more!
April 29, 2011
Earth Awareness in honor of Earth Day!
Third grade students combined two pinch pots in this several step constructive art to make a clay sculpture. We integrated science into this lesson by discussing clean habitats and how we can do our part to help the Earth by keeping waterways clean. We also discussed the various fins of a fish as we constructed and attached them. Students will next go onto glaze them once they make it through the first firing stage.
April 20, 2011
Georgia O'Keeffe inspired Flowers
Previous to our Art Rocks show, students finalized these gorgeous spring flowers inspired by the female artist, Georgia O'Keeffe. O’Keeffe, a well-known female artist in 1920’s was known for her large scale paintings influenced by objects from nature. For this project, students learned about O’Keeffe’s precision in looking for fine details within the flowers she painted with flowing, organic lines. Students also were made aware that this Wisconsin born artist, who intended to have a career of her own at a very young age, was stifled by many prominent figures into believing that women should not have careers but rather, stay home. O’Keeffe, like many artists that we have learned about in third grade, proves that with determination, adversities can be overcome and success can be achieved.
Students did not draw out their flower designs before adding paint, but rather went right in with a large brush from the very beginning. For some students this approach can be very challenging because they must think their composition through before committing with the boldness of the black paint. I love their colorful outcomes, and the way the petals flow right off the pages.
March 18, 2011
Collaborative Project
When our students visited Kent State University last month to record their CD and practice dance in the black box theater, we were inspired by the BEAUTIFUL installation pieces seen below. Students were in awe of the gorgeous mounted sculptures and had so many questions for me about how they were constructed. Because their interest was so heightened I decided we should attempt a collaborative clay project in similar style of these dance figures. This week students learned about how texture can describe art in the same way that adjectives can describe nouns (integration) and then set out to make texture in tiny clay tiles with anything they could find in the room. I can't wait to see how this project progresses...
February 8, 2011
Henri Matisse Inspired Collages
Our collages are finally done and on display! Read on below...
Students in third grade recently took an art "test" as I assessed their knowledge about warm and cool color palettes. As they rotated color diffusing paint that we applied onto specialty papers they were challenged to place the paint on the correct paper. These gorgeous creations will now lend themselves to the creation of Henri Matisse inspired collages. We chose an underwater theme based on his coral-like cut-outs that appear in his work. We also felt these bright pages would serve well as tropical fish. Ask your children how they are "drawing with scissors" in my class. This has also been a great unit to look at Eric Carle and how he accomplishes his uniquely collaged illustrations. Below are some of their starts.
January 31, 2011
Third graders recently participated in an extensive study of multicultural masks and symmetry. Creating these masks through exact symmetry ties in with their math curriculum. By using charcoal and oil pastels, two mediums they have not yet experienced this year, they were able to smear and wrinkle their drawings to create the illusion of aging.
January 11, 2011
A new year... a new start...
Students in third grade took a break from creating two dimensional art and took a leap towards creating a three dimensional product using clay. Below are a variety of coiling techniques taught to third graders in order to create these amazing clay pieces!
Before Glaze Firing
After Glaze Firing.... Ta Da!
November 29, 2010
We rounded out our unit on artist George Rodrigue, by having students project their creations onto the wall to make them very large. Like Rodrgiue's work ours became very large in scale. To go along with projecting their art onto the wall for their classmates to see, students developed a creative story to tell about their unconventionally colored pet. From start to finish this artwork lent itself to lots of creativity and learning.
November 9, 2010
Why is Blue Dog Blue?
Students love looking at this book and learning about the artist George Rodrigue and his unrealistically painted pets. To create these works in progress students are using colored permanent markers and transparency film. At the close of this unit we will project their art to make their work larger than life, much like how Rodrigue creates his famous images.
October 31, 2010
At the close of our before and after self portrait unit students sat down for a critique and made some amazing observations. I love to not only create art, but hold my children responsible for discussing art and even writing about it. Art can evoke emotion and endless thought and we learn hoe to express that here at The Academy. Students felt that they had greatly improved from the beginning portrait to their final creation as they we presented side-by-side. I agree. The growth is tremendous! Check out our wonderful display in our school, as well as top pieces that are on exhibit in our Student Gallery.
Before and After Self Portraits
October 25, 2010
All students can create a picture of themselves, but with a little help from me they can become really great. We created these before and after self portraits to demonstrate that students can become better artists! One the second self portrait we learned about proportions, shapes, lines and size. What a success!
