Mondrian

1st Graders learned about Primary Colors, Shapes and Lines. Along with artist Mondrian, they started by drawing an animal, any animal real or fantasy. Then they drew vertical and horizontal lines inside just like Mondrian. Then came the color, only Primary Colors were used in this project, which is easier said then done for some, the temptation to mix paint is a strong one. :)

Rainy Day Cityscapes

5th Graders learned about Value and Symmetry while creating these cityscapes. I found this lesson on incredibleart.org, one of my favorite sites to find great lesson plan ideas!! But I tweaked it a bit, the original lesson can be found at this link: http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/elem/elem41.html.

First students designed a cityscape on half their papers, then selected one color with all of its different values, from water soluble oil pastels. Then selected its complementary color and that was used for the sky. They reflected their cityscape simply on the bottom and with a wet brush blurred the image so it looks as though the city is being reflected in the water. Or as if the color washed from the buildings onto the sidewalk after a rainy day. Enjoy!

BUGS!!!

Well... I must have gotten a bad batch of clay or something, because more students then usual had blow-outs with their clay fish. But I didn't want any student to miss out of having a sculpture to take home. So we created insects from things we found outside. The next thing I know the room is infested with these creepy crawlies!!

Tropical Fish

These 2nd Grade students learned about Form and the clay process by creating Tropical Fish. This is a great lesson to introduce students to the 3 S's, Score, Slip and Smooth. First student wedged 2 pieces of clay then flattened them into a slab. I don't have enough rolling pins for everyone, but I learned a great technique from an art workshop, where student press the clay with their palm and flip as they press. I tell them to make it a "cookie" thickness but someone mentioned  it looked like a "crabby patty" from the cartoon Sponge Bob :)
After they have 2 "cookies" they draw, then cut a surfboard shape from the larger one. The surfboard is the body and the two crescents you have left are the fins and tail. After they were fired they painted them with acrylic paints. Here are a few examples of our fishes!