4th Grade - Burlap Pouches, Pillows and Purses

I had a huge box of burlap sitting in my room for the past five years.  I am not sure why it took me so long to use it, but I'm really glad I did!  I had some PTO volunteers (thank you, thank you, thank you!) cut the burlap into 8 inch squares so I had two pieces for each of my 4th graders... that was about 230 squares!  The students had their choice of what they made with their two pieces, but they all needed to show me they could stitch a picture or words on at least one piece, and show me they could sew the two pieces together.  They didn't necessarily need to be sewed on all 4 sides - it just depended on what their final product was.  

The very first lesson, however, was learning how to tie a knot!  With all the yarn and color changes, I just knew I couldn't be the sole knot-tier in the room.  Therefore, we practiced and practiced again before we began!  It was definitely worth the time.  

Here are some of the in-progress and final textile masterpieces:

4th grade - Tallest Tower Contest

My 4th grade students are very energetic, enthusiastic and competitive so they loved this sculpture contest.  I have a big tub of index cards that I save from year to year for it.  The rules are that they can work by themselves or with a partner.  They don't get glue, tape or staples; just the index cards and scissors if needed (but not to be used in the sculpture).  They have 20 minutes to build the tallest tower and it can't be leaning against anything.  At the end of the 20 minutes, I measure them all (i also won't measure any before time is up, it has to endure that long)!  It's entertaining to watch the towers that get immediately tall and then usually end up falling over before time is up.  It's a good time to talk about structure, balance and also "slow and steady wins the race."

4th Grade - Pop Art Food Sculptures

These paper mache sculptures were a huge hit this year!  Students learned about Claes Oldenburg and his pop art food sculptures.  They each came up with their own food sculpture ideas and made it happen with just newspaper, masking tape, aluminum foil and paper mache.  Some students also brought in some "props" from home to go with their sculptures. 

The sculptures looked great on display and I'll be sad to take them down!

4th Grade - Picasso Portrait Paintings

I decided to change up a lesson I did last year with the 4th graders.  This year, they still learned about Picasso's abstract portraits, but instead of coloring the portrait with tissue paper, they painted it.  Also, instead of painting a full background, they drew a patterned border with markers.  They're just about done, and I love how they came out!

Art Portfolios

I must say, it's great to be back at school!

I started all my classes out with a portfolio design lesson.  Each grade had a separate design, but all included their name or initials.  Here's an example from each grade:

1st Grade; Made a patterned "frame" around their painted first initial

2nd Grade; They first wrote their initials, then filled in the spaces the letters created with various patterns, using marker and/or colorsticks (and using only warm or cool colors).  When finished, they painted over their initials.

3rd Grade; Students started by writing their name in block or bubble letters.  They filled in each letter with a different pattern or design.  The backgrounds were colored with colorsticks.

4th Grade; Students learned about the "layering" style of Jasper Johns by looking at the painting "0 through 9."  They layered their initials, outlined in oil pastel, colored some of the spaces in with crayon and watercolor painted the rest. 

5th Grade; They created radial designs around their names using sharpie and watercolor painted it in.

 6th Grade; They had their first lesson in one point perspective drawing to write their names.  They used white colored pencils to outline and metallic crayons to color them in.

Kindergartners will be making their portfolios in the next couple weeks.  Stay tuned!  :)

4th Grade - Giacometti Figure Sculptures

Students learned about the artist, Alberto Giacometti.  We found various examples of his artwork on the internet, and talked about the elongated nature of the figures.  Students then made a person or animal out of pipe cleaners, then "bulked" it up with aluminum foil.  The last layer was plaster gauze strips.  They could then choose one color to paint their sculpture before sponge painting metallic gold or silver on top.  They loved it!

4th Grade - Animal Pots

4th graders had 3 requirements for their animal pot; it had to be a pot/container, have a lid that fits, and had to somehow be transformed into an animal.  They did a sketch before beginning.  The pots all started as a pinch pot, and animal parts were added on by slipping and scoring.  Lids were made from either slabs or pinch pots.  Fired pieces were painted and clear glazed.  They were all so fantastic I couldn't just choose a few pictures!