Outer Space 1 Pt Perspective - 3d Grade

 

A couple of my 3rd grades finished their One Point Perspective pictures on Thursday.  After playing around with how to finish them up I decided that I would have them do some Salt Water Color for their outer space backgrounds.  I introduced the students to this technique in 2nd grade and they were thrilled when they saw they were going to be doing it again!

 

The students spent one 30 minute class coloring in their perspective designs using construction paper crayons.

 

I gave each table white oil pastels, and two trays of blue, black and purple liquid watercolor.  They also got a couple of cups of salt.

 

After demonstrating and reviewing how to sprinkle their salt onto their wet watercolor, I let them get started.

 

I really like how this technique worked with the liquid watercolors!

 

I REALLY stress to the kids that less is more with this technique!  Some of the kids put way too much salt on and they don't get cool effects like in this close-up!  I have them use a small pinch at a time.

 

The students also used white oil pastel to draw some space details in the background before they painted if they wanted to.

 

 

 

 

 

I have four more classes to finish up next week.  My 4th and 5th graders are finishing up their perspective pieces as well.  Next week as they finish up, I will be grading, grading, and more grading until I see rubrics in my sleep as our marking quarter is coming to and end.  

Enjoy your long weekend if you have Martin Luther King Day off still!  Some districts in New Jersey lost it to make-up days for the days lost from Hurricane Sandy.  For the past two years the teachers in my district have also had the day off.  It used to be an in-service day for the teachers and we would be at school for professional development. 

Yeah!  Three day weekend!  :)

Heart Prints - K, 1st and 2nd Grades

My K-2 art room has been printing up a storm this week in anticipation of our school's yearly celebration of Kindness and Justice Week!  Every January during the week of Martin Luther King's birthday our school has what is called our "Kindness and Justice Week Celebration".

Each year a different book is chosen that shares a lesson in kindness and all of the school's activities during the week center around the book and it's message of kindness. This years book is...

 

 It was the perfect time to try out this idea for making heart stamps out of recycled cardboard I found on Pinterest.  

 

All of the classes started by painting a colorful background using watercolors.  

 

I spent an entire PLC meeting (multi-tasking people!) and evening rolling, folding and taping over 30 cardboard hearts!  I found that if you rolled the cardboard around a large glue stick or a marker it was much easier on your hands!  Although, I do think that if I had octopus arms it would have come in handy a few times when I was holding and taping! 

 

SUCCESS!

I made the hearts in various sizes and designs.  I made sure that on one side of the stamp all of the edges were as close to flush as possible so the kids could get a good print.  Even if it was slightly off, after they started stamping with the paint the edges mushed down slightly and they were all getting good print images.

 

 

Each stamp was 3-4 inches tall so they were chunky and easy to hold and stamp with.

 

Before the children made their prints, I gave them some materials (tissue paper circles I cut and cut up pieces of last years painting place mats) to cut into shapes and add a little bit of collage to their paintings first.

 

I poured purple and blue paint onto paper plates that our PTO donated to me last spring.  They were leftover from our school's Senior brunch.  It made for a very easy clean up when we were done stamping at the end of the day!  If the plate got a little soggy, I just put another one underneath it.  I started with two plates together for stability.  They actually held up really well.  I think they were more of a heavy weight plate, not the cheapo kind.

I demonstrated to the children how to stamp with our cool heart stamps to create their prints before I let them use them. 

Let the stamping begin!

 

The kids loved using the heart stamps!

 

They thought it was a very creative idea for recycling cardboard.

 

 Some said, "You come up with the coolest ideas Mrs.C!"

I told them "I found the idea on the computer."

 

When the kids were done printing, they carried their masterpieces to the drying rack. 

 

Next week I will be hanging them up around school and on our front hallway bulletin board.

I will post some of the finished pieces next week.  I meant to take some pictures before I left school today but I was busy looking for my desk...

 

It was buried under many projects I had taken off the drying rack and I spent some time organizing and putting them away after school!

Thus, I forgot that I wanted to photo some things...

There's always next week! 

Have a great weekend!

Mrs.C :)

Working on Perspective in the New Year

Happy New Year and welcome back to school!  This is what the chalk board at my 3rd-5th school looks like at the moment.  I have my 3rd-5th grades starting out the New Year with Perspective/3D lessons.  After teaching these lessons for two days now, I must say that the students are doing really well and they are very impressed with themselves.

 

My 5th grades are working on these One Point Perspective scenes that I found on Pinterest originally, but found that the lesson links back to our blogging friend Phyl!  I changed it up a bit.  They are only making the floor and ceiling blocks and the walls are stripes.  Time wise this will work better for us since we have 30 minute classes and I want this project to move along and not drag out.  When it drags out they lose interest, fast!

This project will serve several purposes, not only will they be working on One Point Perspective, but this will help them reinforce their ruler skills (which I'm sorry to say, for many of them is atrocious!)  I find that its not that they can't use the ruler correctly, they just can't be bothered!  The students are in a rush and are looking for a quicker way.  Well folks, we are not rushing through this one!  I am determined that by the time we are done my 5th grades will understand the need to use their ruler to draw their lines for this project and not rush through it!

 

These pictures are all my teacher examples since we are just starting them.  The kids love the floating action people!  I usually do a Keith Haring project with my 5ths to work on action people but I am going to forgo that project this year since I can get the action figure element in this project. 

First two steps for the One Point Perspective hallways

I taught this lesson step-by-step with my 5th grades.  I drew up these two big step-by-step tutorials and hung them up on my Smartboard so the kids could see them as we work.  It gave me the opportunity to go back to a step and point things out if necessary.

Steps 3 and 4 of the One Point Perspective hallways

The example has been hanging up on my chalk board since before Christmas break and the students have been excited to start working on it.  I expressed to them that their success with this piece has nothing to do with how well they can draw and everything to do with how well they listen, follow directions and use the tools I give them!  (I think that speech worked because they were all so on task during each step you could hear a pin drop!)

Our tools for this lesson. Simple but very important.

18" mat board strips, 12" rulers and 3" squares

Since our rulers were not long enough to be able to draw a continuous line from corner to corner, I cut up some mat board into 18" strips.  The kids found it interesting that even though the paper is a 12" square it was not in fact 12" from corner to corner.

– "Why is that Mrs.C?"

– "I do not know boys and girls because as I have told you many times before, I am mathematically challenged.  Maybe one of you can research this and let us know next week"

This is how math seems to me! Ha!

I ended up cutting up some 3" squares for the center square after trying to get one class to measure it out in the center.  After explaining and demonstrating and showing them in small groups how to measure this 3" square this is how I felt...

 

...And that was my gifted and talented class!  Mind you, some had no problem with it but enough did that it sent me into a silent panic that if this class had trouble measuring a 3" square to fit inside the center I was doomed trying to explain it to my other 5th grade classes!  So, I cut up a bunch of 3" squares and simply showed them how to wiggle and fit the piece until it matched up to their lines as close as possible.  It worked!  I did show them how to measure it with the ruler also and gave them the option of doing it either way.  Some measured and some traced the square.

So far all the classes are pretty pleased with the results and they are ready to start coloring them next week in class!

 

My 4th grades have started working on these 3-D cities. I had pinned this idea, I think last year, and decided to give it a try.  When I checked my pin to see where the original link came from, lo and behold I found that the original source was again, Phyl, from There's a Dragon in my Art Room!  (Ok, so now I am starting to think we could start playing 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon but with Phyl and art lessons! All lessons will somehow link back to Phyl! Ha! Ha!)

The 4th graders are doing really well with the lesson and are loving their results so far!  The kids didn't think they could do it, but when I broke it down step-by-step they saw that it was possible.  I told them that yes, some of it might be a challenge but that I would not have them do it if I didn't think they could succeed.  Again, I made a couple of really big charts with the steps so they were on display during the lesson.

Third grade is working on these simple One Point Perspective shape designs.  I do these every year with my 3rd grades and the kids love them!  This year we are going to give them an outer space theme.

So that's what going on in my 3rd-5th grade art room right now!  I will show you some of the finished pieces when they are complete! 

I'm off to do some crocheting! (It was either that or cleaning and crocheting won hands down!)  Happy Weekend eveyrbody!  :)

          

I'm feeling the love!

    

The Premio Dardos Award!

Over the past couple of weeks I have been feeling the love from several of our Art Teacher bloggers out there!  Sorry I have not gotten to my thanking everyone until now but it has been very busy around here!

Thank you to Gretchen from Gretchen's Art Blog, Mr.R at My messy Art Room and Mrs.Impey from Art Room 104!!! Thank you all for your kind words and support!  Please go visit their blogs by clicking on the links I provided (click the names) and take a look at what they are doing in their art rooms!  There is a lot of awesome inspiration and great lessons going on out there people!  I will post this weekend about what is going on in my art rooms since we are back to school this week!

Happy Friday Everyone!  :)

Happy New Year -2013

 

May you all have a Happy, Healthy and Creative New Year!

I'm back to school tomorrow!  Lots of new lessons and creative ideas in the works! 

Mrs."C"  :)

Merry Christmas! (and a restful holiday break!)

Merry Christmas and a peaceful and happy New Year!!! 

I'm taking a break this week to finish getting ready for Christmas and re-charge my batteries for the New Year!  Back to blogging projects from my art room in the new year!

Be happy and healthy! :)

In One of the Stars...

            

With heartfelt sympathy to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary , Newtown, CT.

May they somehow find peace.

                

Handcrafted Christmas Cards - 2012

 

I spent this weekend designing and creating our family Christmas cards.  I have had the materials:  Blank cards, red scrap booking paper, ink pads, butcher twine type string, assorted stamps, since September.  Stumbling across a 50% off sale at Michael's Arts & Crafts and stocked up ahead of time.  I had all intentions of having the cards done and ready by Thanksgiving but Hurricane Sandy and numerous other life detours delayed my creating them until now.

Some of of what kept me from starting the cards was my ever changing ideas for what they would ultimately look like!  Enter inspiration!  I recently purchased this book by Genine Zlatkis.  She is an illustrator and blogger that lives in Mexico.  Beautiful drawings of birds and nature!

 

   I found this kit on another trip to Michael's Arts and Crafts.

 

Here's what was inside!

A soft eraser like material to carve into stamps and a linoleum type cutter with two size blades, one thin and one thick.

 

I sketched several ideas before I came up with this tree.

I like how it ended up looking like a wood block carving.

 

  I was recently gifted some beautiful handmade paper that I stamped the trees onto.

 

I stamped the trees onto sheet after sheet of beautiful handcrafted paper!

Enough to make 50 cards.

 

I cut them out and glued them to some red scrap booking paper that has a great tree bark like texture.

 

  I had furry company the whole afternoon!

 

My "Studio" was the large hassock in front of the chair which I sat.

Worked away while watching "It's a Wonderful Life" and various other Christmas movies with my daughter.

 

Here's the finished product outside and inside.

You can't see it in the picture but there are also three snowflakes stamped on the front of the cards in superfine white glitter.

 

  I tried out different sayings for the inside until I came up with this...

 

The inside of each card is lined with green tissue paper with the saying:

"Joy to the World"

Don't you just love the little Gnome guy in the corner?!

 

The little Gnome dude is a stamp I picked up last year!  Just couldn't resist him!  He graced the front of our cards last year with an evergreen branch and red berries.  I had to use him again!  I will also stamp him in the bottom corner of the envelopes.

 

This is picture of our fireplace mantle all decked out for the holidays!  The wreath I constructed from grapevines that grow in the woods on our property.  I was able to make two large and one small wreath with what I pulled out of the woods this year.

 

I used these hexagon blocks I made in July to make a garland.  They had been sitting in my stash of projects in progress.  These were much inspired by all the beautiful handmade garlands I have seen on the web.

 

Our tree is filled with these cute little critters (all different animals) that are made of natural materials along with candy canes, pine cones and handmade ornaments this year. 

Enjoy the Holidays!