In the thick of it: Mid-way through "simply green" art projects

Happy Sunday!

This week we were busy, busy, BUSY! I have a feeling this will be the case the rest of the semester. I had an Art Ed In-service Tuesday afternoon, faculty meetings both Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, AND our first Yearbook meeting Friday afternoon. At the end of the week, I can faithfully say all classes accomplished so much in the little time we had together (especially on Friday's early-release schedule, I only saw them for 30 minutes!)

Here is our progress so far:

Kindergarten:

Kindergarten are making Dot paintings in honor of DOT DAY on September 15! This is based on a book by Peter H. Reynolds called "The Dot", and how a student named Vashti needed a little encouragement to make that first mark on her blank white paper. It's a story about taking risks and trusting your gut. It's a fantastic message for artists of all ages. I loved reading it to Kindergarten, especially at the beginning of the year as sort of an introduction to art :). To start, we made several dot prints using black tempera and solo cups to cover our paper. Next, we used the tempera cakes to paint inside our dots, and around our dots. Students learned introductory watercolor painting techniques. We discovered primary colors and then mixed them to create our secondary colors!

1st Grade:

We read "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss in 1st and 2nd Grade. Here is 1st Grade working on their mixed media assignment. We painted our background paper a variety of colors with watercolor paints, except no black (lots of color!) and part two is cutting and gluing NEATLY our truffula trees! This upcoming week we will complete part 2.

2nd Grade:

2nd Grade also read 'The Lorax", and here they are making 12x18" watercolor paintings inspired by the truffula trees. First drew in black oil pastel recalling our 5 different line types from last year. Next we started painting using watercolors and recalling techniques. Optionally, I encouraged students to add tissue paper tufts to their truffula trees and talked about mixed media art.

3rd Grade:

 

In 3rd Grade we read the book "You Be You" by Linda Kranz, a story about a fish named Adri who, in his swimming travels, discovers that so many of us are different, and how that fact should be celebrated! Students discussed in groups what they thought the phrase "you be you" meant, and we all came to the consensus that it was better to be yourself than to be something you are not. Each of us have talents and skills that only we can share! (What a revolutionary thought, huh?!) :)

Students first started making a plan for painting a rock fish. Last year I started this project off by giving students rocks and paint and saying "go for it!", and several hesitated. Some painted and painted and painted their rock until it was just covered in browns. In reflection, I devised a template and instead we worked on a plan for our rocks the first rotation, being careful to not get too tiny detailed knowing that our rocks would be smaller than our design. This week we covered our rocks with color. Next week we will add all our lovely line designs in black! 

4th Grade:

4th Graders watched a YouTube clip of an environmental artist by the name of John Dahlsen (check out here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfVi01FZD5I) 3rd and 5th watched it too. It was a great intro to making beautiful art out of recyclable materials. In 4th we are making stained glass flowers out of plastic water bottles and tissue paper (or for the boys: ninja stars lol) Students cut their own bottle and are making their own choices on tissue paper color, cut and placement. Our focus is on being purposeful with our choices, considering art elements such as color, shape and even texture.

5th Grade:

Same as 3rd and 4th, 5th Grade watched the John Dahlsen clip. Here they are making collages out of recyclable materials: cardboard and magazine papers. I showed them a technique for cutting paper, and using a marker or sharpie to help us mark how to fit our papers inside our outlines. Once again, our goal is to be purposeful in our paper cut, color and placement. And our "simply green" theme shines through in our stencil choices! I gave them the option of choosing a recycle symbol, flower pot, tree, or truffula trees. 

And somewhere along the way, Mr. Dragon and Ms. Kitty managed to paint a bulletin board without our knowing:

:):):)

Until next week!