Creating Art With Kids

hearts

2012-01-21T10:13:00.000-08:00

One of my pet peeves in children's art work is the use of cliches like hearts, rainbows, and suns in the corner, which have a bad habit of appearing in drawings willy-nilly, just because the student is falling back on known shapes rather than exploring new ones. Some will disagree with me, but that's where my thinking is. Anyway, that doesn't mean I dislike hearts, rainbows, or suns... I just want them to be necessary in the art work.

In this activity, the heart is the only subject matter. It is an easy, easy, easy activity that is practically foolproof. It requires no prep; all that's needed is white construction paper (we used 9x12, but a bit smaller would work, too) and crayons. To introduce the activity, I showed an example of a piece of art work by Jim Dines, who has done tons of art with hearts. I had students tell what they noticed and wrote their responses on the board next to the photograph (see photo at the end of this post). After this introduction, we reviewed warm and cool colors and I explained that students would need to draw a very large heart (I demonstrated) and that they would fill the heart with warm or cool colors (their choice) and the background with the opposite palette. I gave a short little demonstration to show how to color to make it look "markerish" .... that was one of the students' observations.... and then sent them off to go to work. I did wander around and show some of the students individually how to put color in smallish patches, but otherwise they were pretty much on their own.

When the color was done, most students outlined the heart with black crayon, then chose a mounting color that was from the same palette as the colors used in the heart. This took most students about an hour to complete, and some of them worked during lunch time. It turned out to the a perfect activity for a rainy, rainy Friday in a second grade classroom!

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be an artist

2012-01-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

One of the first things I do with students is introduce what I call "artist behaviors" -- Look, Think, Choose, Do. When I had my own art classroom, I had reference pictures on the wall:

Now that I'm doing art lessons in other teachers' classrooms, I almost always write the four words on the board before starting an art lesson, no matter what grade level I am working with. If I'm with students I've worked with before, I have them tell me what "the four artist behaviors" are while I write them; if I am with students who are new to me, I quickly introduce them and then refer to them during the lesson. I explain first that artists look everywhere, at everything, to get ideas, and that once they have an idea they look more, very carefully. While they are looking, they start to think about what they want to do. They need to choose materials and tools, and also, if they are painting or drawing, where something is going to go on the paper, how big it will be, what colors they will use, whether it will be realistic or abstract, etc. I emphasize that an artist will always look, think, and choose before they begin to do their art work, and that this helps them to be creative.

Making a big deal about looking and thinking has helped me teach children to slow down, take care with their art work, and make personal choices that may be different from the person sitting next to them or across from them. If I am reading a picture book to introduce the art activity, I make sure they have ample time to look at the illustrations, and I will point out details if they don't find them. If we are using a visual reference, such as photographs or a famous art work, we spend time really looking at the elements of art and think about the artists' choices of color, line, shape, and texture, and the use of space, When they are ready to begin an activity, even if everyone is working on the same thing, I make sure they have choices of color, or materials, or sizes, or background colors, or something that will be theirs, not mine. I always ask them to think first about what they are going to do, picture in their mind where they will start and what they will be using before they start.

And I usually point out that "look, think, choose, do" are good behaviors for ALL school work... and even out of school.... not just for art work!
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what can you do with a dot?

2011-12-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

Here's a lesson/activity I did the other day with a second grade class in which I had the luxury of plenty of time. Including the introduction, it probably took a couple of hours for those who worked the longest.

We started out by brainstorming a list of things that have or are circles. The brainstorming session, which took maybe ten minutes, was followed by a read-aloud of the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds. Then we looked at photos of two Kandinsky paintings which are composed almost entirely with dots: Farbstudie and Several Circles. I asked students to comment on these two paintings; they noticed that he had used many colors, that some dots or circles were inside others, and that some were overlapped.

While giving directions, I introduced the term mixed-media, which in this case included any combination of crayons, markers, colored pencils, and collage, and also the terms representational and non-representational. They were given very simple directions: to use mixed-media, and to see what they could do with a dot, either representationally or non-representationally. Then they went to work and I observed.

Some students started large, while others started very small. Some partitioned their papers, and some started with borders. Once they were started and getting involved with their compositions, I invited the students to get up and walk around to take a look at what other people were doing with their dots. I reminded them that getting ideas is ok, but copying is not. Watching the students work on these was a real treat. They loved the activity and everyone was completely concentrating on their own work, including the wiggliest of students. One of the best moments was watching one little boy with a marker in each hand, drawing circles with both hands simultaneously.

This lesson would be great anytime kids need a creative break. It was all successful. Here's what the white board looked like after the introduction:

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positive-negative designs

2011-04-03T09:18:00.001-07:00

These designs are great for introducing positive/negative space. I have done them with second graders and fifth graders, and by far they were much, much easier for the fifth graders, but the second graders held their own with them, too. The hard part for the younger ones was creating the "mirror image" and to be honest, it was a little hard for some fifth graders as well. Of course, a lot of it depended on how careful the students were being.

All that's needed for this activity is 12x12 white construction paper, 6x6 black construction paper, scissors and glue. I like glue sticks better than white glue for this because some pieces are small, but either will work.

Directions are pretty simple. I explain them while modeling the process, making sure to point out to students the importance of making clean cuts, not trimming anything, staying away from the corners, and lining up the edges of the square.

Place the black square in the center of the white paper and mark the corners with a small pencil dot. Pick up the black square and cut a shape into one side. Lay the black square back onto the white paper, lining up the corners with the pencil dots. Take the cut out shape, lay it into its "hole" and then turn it out, like opening a door. Glue it down to create a mirror image, being careful to line up the straight edges to keep the square contour line straight and true. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.... as many times as possible, until there is no cutting space left. Big important rule: Don't cut off any corners! Finally, glue down the black square (which is not longer square), lining up all the pieces. Done!

The samples here were done by fifth graders, one of whom accidently cut into one of his cut out shapes. He asked what to do and I told him to find a creative solution, and he did. :-)
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torn paper face collages

2011-03-01T10:40:00.000-08:00

This lesson focuses on shape, color, and space, and deals with proportion and facial features without the stress of attempting to create a realistic face. Because the shapes are torn, not cut or drawn, the lesson automatically lends itself to what I call "ish-ness" (named after Ish, the wonderful little book by Peter Reynolds). The "rules" for the activity are simple: start with two predominant colors, include all face parts, don't overlap the shapes, and use no scissors or pencils. After listing these on the board, I ask students what they think "predominant" means. If no one gets close, I define it for them as main, as in "two main colors" ... and stress that it doesn't mean that they can't use other colors as well. Just before they start, I ask them to think about whether they want their piece to be symmetrical or asymmetrical, reviewing the meaning of the terms.

Students use a 12x12 sheet of black construction paper for their background, and each table has an assortment of colored construction paper to choose from. As they work, I encourage creatively-used shapes for different facial features, and remind them of the ongoing collage rule of putting glue on the back of the colored pieces, not on the background. I also remind them to tear any straight edges that may have made their way to the piece. Generally with collage work, I don't even get the glue out until after students have torn several shapes and started arranging them on the background. I encourage them to get all their shapes defined first before gluing anything down.

After a walk-around, where students can take their time looking at everyone's art work, I go through the pieces one by one and we identify as a whole group what the two predominant colors are, and whether the piece is symmetrical or asymmetrical. I also point out how lines have been created between the applied shapes, in the negative space.
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where's the art?

2010-11-20T08:36:00.000-08:00

Last spring, the elementary art program in my district met the chopping block.... and lost. When a few creative ideas for bringing the program back were shot down due to assorted legal and contractual technicalities (and, in my mind, also due to a lack of creative thinking coupled with a rigid mind-set), I found myself out of a job after twenty years in the classroom. It's taken me some time to adjust to this, and even though I eventually decided to retire, I have not given up advocating for more authentic art in the classroom. I hope that eventually I can get back in there to make art with students. In the meantime, I'll do what I can here....

what if?

2010-07-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

What if I just put out a bunch of art materials and don't do a lesson? What if I ask students to think about other art they've done? What if I tell them to do something similar to something they've already done, but to change it somehow or, if they want, to just explore?

One student might draw herself in a garden, surrounded by a rainbow, under a rainy-sunny-starry sky:

Another student might explore lines with watercolor and crayon:

Somebody might do a bird collage:

Somebody else might do a three-dimensional line collage:

Somebody might do a shape rubbing:

Somebody else might draw or trace a series of rectangles and fill them with colorful patterns:

And somebody else might make a collage of the sun:

sunflakes

2010-05-22T13:26:00.001-07:00

Frank Asch has a wonderful poem called Sunflakes that's the inspiration for this second grade activity that incorporates radial symmetry. I introduce the art activity by showing photographs of snowflakes from the book The Art of the Snowflake by Kenneth Libbrecht, giving students time to look carefully at the shapes and negative space, and pointing out how the shapes repeat on each ray of the snowflake. This introduces the concept of radial symmetry. We then do a shared read-aloud of the charted poem, and talk about what a sunflake might look like.

To make the sunflakes, students first cut three skinny lines from a 9x12 sheet of construction paper which are overlapped and glued onto white paper, arranged to create six equally-spaced radial lines.... not as easy as it sounds! They then cut and glue a variety of shapes onto and between the lines to build up a "sunflake" shape. Emphasis is on radial symmetry and color. Only red, yellow, and orange construction paper is used for the sunflakes, so a lesson in warm colors can also be thrown in. These sunflakes reinforce cutting skills and geometric shapes. Another possibility is to have them paint sunflakes, which could incorporate color mixing.

The discussion at the end of the lesson focuses on a review of the concept of radial symmetry. A wall display includes the poem and an assortment of sunflakes.

cityscapes on watercolor background

2010-04-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

This second grade lesson combines a watercolor wash, drawing with construction paper crayons, symmetry, and a little color theory. In another version, students draw symmetrical cityscapes on black paper, but one day I came across sunset cityscapes at the TeachKidsArt blog which inspired me to combine the two ideas.

First, students use sponges and either warm or cool colors for the washes. They wet the whole paper first with the sponges using clean water, then fill the paper with color, either stroking or blotting the paint. If papers are not wet enough, I am right there with a spritzer bottle. :-). I have them use sponges for the wash because I don't have any large-sized watercolor brushes. The sponges have the additional benefit of adding some interesting texture. The washes are put aside for later (in our case, this is weeks later).

For the cityscape drawing lesson, I first have students observe and discuss several photographs and art examples of cityscapes. Then I ask them to tell me what they know symmetry. The most common responses usually refer to a line, so I use questioning to bring the discussion around to what it means to be symmetrical, and how we know something is symmetrical. I also introduce the word bilateral, explaining that "bi" means "2" and "lateral" means "side" -- this leads students to the idea that bilateral symmetry means that two sides are the same.

The cityscape is drawn on black construction paper using construction paper crayons (which they love!). I suggest that students first draw a horizontal base line, then start with the center building. They color in doors, windows, and roofs before adding two identical buildings on each side of the center one. They work out from the center two buildings at a time, coloring in all details. When the drawings are complete -- that is, they have drawn as many buildings as will fit -- they cut around the buildings and glue the silhouette onto their own watercolor wash.

After students have a chance to walk around and see everyone else's work, I have them discuss with a partner what they like most about their composition, and explain how they used bilateral symmetry.

mixing colors

2010-04-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

The whole point of this activity is to let my second grade students mess around with primary colors to make secondary colors. I also throw in a little mini-lesson on using the brush appropriately and encourage students to not only use equal amounts of two primary colors, but also to use UNequal amounts to create different shades.

Rather than have all students use all three colors, I set up each of three large tables with two primary colors of tempera paint in small containers: one table with red and yellow, one table with blue and yellow, and one table with blue and red. Students choose which table at which to paint. Each student gets a small paper plate on which to mix paint, and a medium-sized round watercolor brush.

My directions are pretty basic: I suggest that they use the paper plates to mix colors, and make sure they understand that they don't need to paint a picture of something but that they can just play around with lines, shapes, and patterns. I also ask that their finished painting have at least three different colors. This confuses some students, but I try not to say more than that.

The first time I did this activity I figured that, at the very least, students would use both primary colors and one mixed color. I found that some students used only mixed colors and figured out on their own that adding more of one of the primary colors would alter the color. Others needed a little creative questioning: "How much red did you use?" "What would happen if you used more yellow?" and the like.

For some students, color mixing is not new. For others, and a surprising number of them, they are surprised to get green or orange or purple. I find that kind of sad. Some students like to paint a picture of something, others are happy to play with lines, shapes, or patterns. I was surprised and curious to find some students spending an inordinate amount of time painting the paper plate itself and avoiding the paper altogether.

Discussion is pretty basic, relating to which primary colors create which secondary colors. It is during the discussion that I introduce the words primary and secondary, and show a color wheel.

shape people

2010-01-25T10:02:00.001-08:00

These crazy-colored shape people are done by first grade students. They are an outgrowth of the bubble people I do with Kindergarten students. The goal is simply to move children away from drawing stick people and toward drawing people with whole bodies.

I introduce the lesson by having students name the shape of the head (oval, not circle), and talking about the elbow and knee as joints that join the upper and lower parts of arms and legs. We move our arms and legs in different poses. I then demonstrate the light drawing of a bubble person on a chart paper, using a pencil. I show how to outline the outside of the entire body shape with a marker, as this is a tricky thing for some students.

Students draw bubble people in pencil, one bubble at a time: head, neck, body, two-part arms, and two-part legs. I talk them through the body parts so that they don't leave anything out. Then they outline with marker around the outside of the "bubbles" to create a stylized person shape. They erase the pencil lines and "crazy-color" the resulting shape. If there's still time, they do a second one, either smaller or larger than the first. For this activity, we skip doing faces or other additions to the people shapes, and concentrate on bright colors and/or patterns. Some children have a hard time outlining the entire outside of the shape and outline each bubble instead, or cross through joints. I try to stay close and help them with their second drawing.

Other lessons in this activity are how to use and care for the markers (cap on the end while drawing, cap snapped shut when finished to preserve ink), how to use your empty hand to hold the paper still while outlining, and how to erase (just the line, not all over the paper), When there is fifteen minutes left (classes are one hour), I tell students that whatever they are doing right now, it is the last thing they will do: If drawing bubbles, they will outline and erase and stop. If they are outlining, they will finish and stop. If they are coloring, they will finish and stop. Some student work, then will have one or two "colored-in" shape people and one "blank" one. After putting away materials, students walk around the room looking at everyone's work. I ask them to look for something that is completely different from everyone else's. After they've seen everyone's work, they share what they've noticed.

Sometimes I display these in a long line across the top of the white board or over a window. Looks great!

observation drawing: people

2010-01-18T16:51:00.000-08:00

I am not a fan of stick people. Children, I think, draw stick people because adults have taught them to do so. As a primary classroom teacher for ten years, I expected my students to always draw people with body parts, clothing, and details.

Now that I am teaching Art to young children, I have a mission to eradicate classrooms of stick people. This lesson with second graders asks them to closely look at another student and to draw a person using that student's clothing for inspiration. It is done with colored pencils on white drawing paper.

This lesson is partly a directed-draw lesson and partly an observation drawing lesson. I introduce the term "contour drawing" and define it as the outline shape of something. I have students look closely at shapes and contours in clothing, shapes of heads, arms, bodies and legs, direction of contour lines, and proportion of body parts to each other.

I talk students through the drawing of the person across from them at their table: an oval near the top of their paper for the head, the neck lines, shoulders, the shape of the shirt or blouse, short or long sleeves, pant legs or skirt and legs, then arms, fingers, and shoes. Finally, we look at different hair styles, and I emphasize that hair grows down, not up, and that it is drawn with lines, not shapes.

During the drawing process, I use my own clothes and body for reference; I do some modeling on the white board, but make sure to have them always refer to the person they are drawing for shapes, sizes, and details.

Once the contour drawing is done, I have students color in their drawing using the colors of and details on their partner's clothing. I ask students not to add faces because I want them to have time to draw another person and we will have a face drawing lesson another day. When this first drawing is finished, students then choose a different model and draw that person next to the first drawing.

This lesson ends with a reminder to students that they never need to draw stick people again, because now they know how easy it is to draw a person with a body and clothes. :-)
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elmer

2009-11-30T10:08:00.001-08:00

Who doesn't love Elmer?

After a lesson on looking carefully at patterns which included drawing random patterns all over a large sheet of drawing paper, My Kindergarten students did an Elmer drawing. First I read the story and then I went through the book again with a picture walk. We talked about the patterns in Elmer's friends, and also discussed the interesting scenery in the story. This was followed by a kind of "direct drawing" activity, in which I had students follow along with my directions:

- Draw a large oval for the body.
- Add a circle for the head.
- Put on a trunk. See how it looks like a J?
- We'll need some legs. How many? What shape? How big?
- Let's add an ear and an eye and a mouth.

This drawing was done with pencil. After the drawing was complete, students were asked to trace over their lines with a dark colored marker or crayon, and then to fill Elmer's friend with a colorful pattern. Some students had time to add trees or other fanciful backgrounds.

For display, I lined them up above the white board.

The students loved this activity, and even though it was a direct draw, every drawing had its own personality. Students had to think about and draw shapes, and also to work with patterns, all of which is in both their Art and Math standards. Two birds with one stone!

harold and the purple crayon, revisited

2009-11-08T13:25:00.000-08:00

Last year, I had my Kindergarten students draw "purple pictures" after reading aloud Harold and the Purple Crayon. It was fun, but this year I decided to focus more on imagination and have the students do purple collages. I started by asking students if anyone knew what it meant to use your imagination. A few students had ideas like having an imaginary friend, or pretending. I then asked a second question: If I asked you to use your imagination, what part of your body would you use? Most students pointed to their heads, which told me that they knew what it meant to use their imaginations although most were unable to articulate what it meant. So far so good. After this little introduction, I read the story aloud, letting the students make comments about Harold's use of his imagination on his little purple excursion.

After the story, I explained to students that they were going to use their imaginations to create purple collages. I demonstrated cutting long strips from a 6x9 piece of purple construction paper, which I placed onto a piece of drawing paper taped to the white board. (The students were intrigued by the fact that my pieces of paper were sticking to this paper, so I explained that I had made it sticky with some spray glue.) I showed students that there were cardboard squares, rectangles, triangles, and circles out on the tables, and modeled tracing a circle on the corner of the purple paper. I put all the cut pieces on the sticky paper and proceeded to move them around, letting students comment on what they thought my pictures looked like.

Students were able to choose either regular purple or magenta for their collages, and white or black paper for the background. I asked them to cut some long skinny purple lines first, then to trace and cut some purple shapes. I encouraged them to place all their pieces on the background and move them around to see what they could make before doing any gluing. As students finished their collages, I had them get white drawing paper and a purple crayon and asked them to draw the pictures they had just made.

For discussion and sharing, I held up the collages one at a time and had each student tell, in a complete sentence, what he or she had made. This gave me the opportunity to introduce the word "design" for those who had not attempted to create a picture of an object. Some students had very simple responses, like "I made a house," or "I made a bird," while others included many details in their sentences: "I made a person in a sleeping bag, camping." Whether their collages showed objects they could name or designs with no subject matter, I congratulated them for using their imaginations... just like Harold.
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fall leaf overlay with watercolor

2009-10-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

This simple first grade lesson can be used to introduce students to the use of watercolor with a little wax resist. It also can introduce the concept of overlapping and the use of visual movement through the placement of shapes on a page. Students choose from a variety of precut leaf-shaped templates in different sizes for their composition, trace them with a dark colored crayon, and then paint in the resulting spaces with their choice of colors.

I introduce the lesson by talking about how artists get ideas from looking around and also from looking at other peoples' art work. I then show pictures of leaf overlay watercolors by Caroline Duffield, having students look closely at the way the artist has leaf shapes overlapping each other, and how she has painted different areas different colors. I then model tracing leaf shapes with a dark colored crayon, overlapping the shapes and extending at least once beyond the edge of the paper. During the modeling, I talk about different ways to arrange the leaf shapes on the paper, and "think aloud" while I choose where to trace my shapes. I quickly demonstrate painting one or two individual resulting shapes with watercolors, showing how to hold the paintbrush -- like a pencil -- and giving directions for cleanup.

As students are working, I give help where help is needed, especially on the amount of water to use to help the paint flow easily without making a puddle on the paper, and giving advice about not painting over paint, because we are using regular white construction paper, not watercolor paper, and it has a tendency to break up with too much work. As students finish, I have them use crayons to draw and color a variety of leaves on a separate paper, using the templates for reference but not tracing this time. When everyone is finished painting, students do a gallery walk to look at everyone’s work and we talk about what they have observed about other peoples' art work.

leaf observation drawing with watercolor

2009-10-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

With second graders, I like to emphasize that artists do four things: look.... think.... choose.... do. This lesson is a nice introduction to that four step process. It begins with a whole-group "picture walk" of about five or six close ups of fall leaves (thank you, google image search!). Students are asked to look at the outside shape of each leaf and to trace that contour as big as they can in the air. I then point out the colors and how they blend together in different ways. Using an actual leaf for reference and a dark-colored crayon, I then do a short demonstration of how to draw a leaf, talking out loud as I concentrate on the shape, the direction of the contour, angles and curves, etc. I draw the leaf very large, extending it "off the page" in one place and talk about how artists like to place their subject matter in an interesting way on the page. I refer to the veins on the leaf and add them to the drawing. Then I introduce or review how to care for the watercolors. Finally, I do a quick demonstration of painting in the leaf shape, showing how to paint next to the color before to allow the colors to blend.

Before students begin their drawings, they spend two to three minutes at their tables just looking at real leaves that I have distributed beforehand. I make sure that each table has an ample variety of sizes and shapes of leaves. Color doesn't matter at this point. After this silent observation time, students are asked to think about which leaf they want to draw and how they will place it on the paper, then to choose a crayon and start drawing.

Students show me their drawings before they begin painting. If their leaf uses up less than half the area of the paper, I ask them to draw another one so they will have less empty space. This results in a wider variety of finished work, since some students may have as many as four leaves in their work, while others may have only one. As they paint, I give suggestions to use more or less water, remind them not to paint "backward" with the brush (it's like petting a cat or brushing your hair), and make sure they are holding their paintbrushes "like a pencil" so that they have better control.

When all work is finished and all watercolors and brushes are cleaned up and water containers emptied, students do a "gallery walk" around the room to look carefully at everyone's leaf drawings/paintings. I ask them to look for interesting shapes and colors, and to look for leaves that are similar to theirs. We then come back to a whole group and students are given time to share their observations. I also have them share what they learned about drawing and/or about using watercolors. To finish the lesson and bring in the analysis standard, I pose a question: "What would you change if you did this again?"

fall leaf tissue paper collage

2009-10-17T09:39:00.000-07:00

This Kindergarten lesson can be adapted to any time of year, any season, any subject matter. Last year, I had my students do a tissue paper collage in the shape of a heart during February. The real purpose of the lesson, rather than the finished product, is to help students learn to use a paintbrush. I teach them to hold it vertically like a pencil, use just a little glue-water, and to brush in one direction.

I start the lesson with a little song that I learned from a colleague when I was teaching Kindergarten:

Fall is here! Fall is here!
How do you think I know?
The leaves are turning
..... orange and brown....
.... yellow and red....
And so it must be so!

I have the words written out on a chart with the color words written in those colors and everything else written in dark green. It is posted on the wall surrounded by several pictures of fall leaves and trees. We talk about how we know it is fall, and look carefully at the colors of the leaves.

I use a variety of pre-printed leaf shapes so that no two leaves will be alike at any one work table. I create these on the copy machine on white construction paper. In the future, I might try these on light green, light blue, and yellow.

I use regular white glue, watered down to about a 50/50 proportion. The tissue paper I have is the "bleeding" kind so it can get pretty messy, but most students do understand not to paint glue all over the shape, just in the space they want to lay the small piece of tissue. I demonstrate for the students how to hold the brush, how much glue to use, how to tear the tissue paper, and how to paint over the color to make it stick to the paper, then I send them off to the tables to choose a leaf they like and to get started. As they work, I work with individual students who need help holding the brush, calculating how much glue to use, and/or how to tear the paper into smaller pieces.

When everyone is finished, we take some time to share all the work so that all students can see what everyone else did. I don't have space to hang them all so I choose a few that are different colors and shapes to hang on the wall along with the song chart.

first day exploration

2009-10-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

A new school year has finally started for me, and I've completed my first round of Art lessons (at three different schools) for Kindergarten, First, and Second graders. To start the year, I decided to do rotations at which students could just explore different common media and art tools. The lesson part varied, obviously, according to grade level, with very explicit directions about scissors and glue sticks for the Kindergartners, simple reminders for the same tools for first graders, and a demonstration on how to use watercolors for second graders. I also used read alouds for all three grade levels, to spark discussion about certain elements of design and ways of thinking.

Kindergarten students did two rotations using one sheet of 12x18 drawing paper:

-- construction paper cutting and gluing
-- stencil shape tracing with crayons

I started by reading The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater. We talked about the concepts of same and different, and I asked them to make sure that their art work was not the same as anyone else at their table. We gathered into a circle to practice holding scissors and opening and closing glue sticks, then they then chose a table to start at. Students had about ten minutes at the first table, then they took their papers to the other table to add to their art work.

First grade students had three rotations using one sheet of 9x12 construction paper:

-- crayon drawing
-- construction paper collage
-- eyedropper painting

I started this group by reading The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. After the story, I demonstrated how to create large and small dots by using circular strokes. I showed them how to use the eyedropper to make small dots of paint and how to blow on the paint drips to make interesting shapes and lines. I also reviewed the use of construction paper scraps, asking them to cut new shapes rather than just use whatever they found in the basket. I asked them to make at least some dots at each rotation. Students had about seven minutes at each table.

Second grade students had four rotations using two sheets of 9x12 construction paper:

-- crayon drawing
-- construction paper collage
-- stencil tracing with colored pencils
-- watercolor painting

I started by reading Ish, by Peter H. Reynolds, and we talked about how it isn't important to draw things perfectly, and that we should think -ishly. After a quick reminder of how to use small dots of white glue and how to distinguish between "trash" and "usable scraps" they chose a table at which to start. Each rotation only lasted about five minutes and students got a second sheet of paper after the first two rotations, so each art work was composed of two different media/techniques. Depending on where they started, their papers had watercolor plus collage, collage plus stencils, stencils plus coloring, or crayon plus watercolor.

With all three grade levels, I purposely gave no suggestions about content; instead, I focused on proper and careful use of the tools. At the end of each lesson I gave students a little time to walk around and look at everyone else's creations, emphasizing that the number one big rule in art class is to not touch anyone else's work without their permission.

And of course, several pieces went immediately up on the wall for display. Since I have almost 200 students at each school, I can't display everything, so I explain to the students that I just choose a few from each class that are different from each other, to remind us about the lesson.

crayon faces with watercolor overlay

2009-04-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

To introduce this lesson to second grade students, I first showed students two art works: Head of Dora Maar by Pablo Picasso and Senecio by Paul Klee. I wanted them to see these two very different treatments of the human face, and used them as references for contour drawing and use of shape and color. I then had them identify the qualities of portraits and self-portraits, then I modeled contour drawing using a black crayon on white paper, starting with an oval for the face shape. I pointed out to the students how hair grows down, not up, and emphasized that i was drawing the hair using only lines, and that nothing would be colored in with the crayons, since they would watercolor over the whole drawing.

Then I did something which really caught the students' attention: I drew the same exact face using a white crayon on white paper, pretending to ignore comments such as, "I can't see it!" and "Oh! I can see it just a little!"

I painted over the white face with watercolors using large blocks of color rather than following any of the contour lines. The students were surprised and excited about the way the white crayon resisted the watercolor paints, allowing the drawing of the face to show through. I explained to students that they would use only lines to draw their own face and then paint over their drawing with watercolor. I invited them to choose whether they would like to use black or white crayon, and talked about the use of the paints, explaining that they would need to use lots of water and avoid painting over painted areas. Since we were only using construction paper, rather than good watercolor paper, I knew it would be very easy for the paints to get muddy.

Most students chose to use black crayon, but a few brave souls opted for the white. The hardest part for many students was using large blocks of color rather than trying to "paint in" the face features or following the contour lines. I did encourage them to paint the background as well as the face itself, and in a few cases showed students how to paint across the lines rather than with the lines of their drawings.

Students enjoyed this activity very much, and they were very successful... and very, very quick! My classes are only an hour, but many students had time to do two self-portraits. I had those students try the second one using black if they had used white on the first, or vice-versa. I gave them time at the end of the hour to walk around to look at everyone else's self-portraits and to talk about other students' work... in positive ways, of course!

self-portraits with landscape backgrounds

2009-04-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

This first grade lesson began with group observations of the Mona Lisa. I asked students to look carefully and talk among their group about things they could see in the painting. After a couple of minutes of "talk time" I had students tell me what they could see. I did this with seven different first grade classes over three different days and the lists were pretty much the same, which I expected, although specific language was a little different, such as "it looks like sunset" and "there's light in the sky" and "the sky looks yellow." I charted students' responses and one class's example is shown here. I particularly wanted students to notice all the detail in the landscapes in the background, and was not disappointed. In fact, most groups paid more attention to the background than they did to the portrait itself.

After the discussion and chart-making, we talked about the difference between a portrait and a self-portrait, and I explained that they were going to use construction paper crayons on black paper to draw a self-portrait with a landscape in the background. I did point out to them that they could make these pretty fanciful by using interesting colors for their faces.

The first day I taught this lesson, I found that students were drawing the faces pretty small, so the next two days I provided the rest of the classes with oval templates which they could trace for the face shape if they chose. Most students chose this option and, although I really prefer not to have students trace things they could draw themselves, I also wanted them to have faces large enough to work with and proportionally right for the size of paper. I did whisk away all the pencils as soon as the ovals were traced so that they had to use the crayons for the drawing.

When all students were finished with their drawings, I had them walk around the room to look at everyone's work. We then finished up with a short "analysis" of individual work in which students were asked to tell what they particularly liked about their self-portraits, and then what they particularly liked about others' work.

marshmallow sculptures

2009-04-11T16:24:00.000-07:00

I cannot claim any part of this activity; in fact, I found it on the Internet somewhere, and unfortunately don't remember where, or I'd give credit where credit is due. Basically, I had students "build something" using mini-marshmallows and toothpicks, then draw their construction using circles for the marshmallows and lines for the toothpicks. The drawings were done with pencil, and then traced with colored markers. Very easy directions for what turned out to be not so easy of a task.

I quickly modeled the whole process, not only the building part but especially the drawing part. I did a lot of "thinking aloud" to give students an idea how I decided to draw my structure. I talked about the toothpicks going in different directions, for example; "hmm... this one sticks out on this side, and this one over here goes the opposite direction and kind of down, making kind of a triangle shape...." so they would take the time to try to replicate their structures as best as they could.

I had each student count out twenty marshmallows and provided a paper plate full of toothpicks for each table. I asked them to use as many of their marshmallows as they could, because I didn't want the sculptures to be too small. As they worked, I made some interesting observations. The building with marshmallows and toothpicks part was pretty easy for most, although there was some problem-solving for students whose structures were getting a little tall. Some students finally just laid their sculptures down sideways on the table because they had a hard time getting them to stand up. But what was really interesting was watching students translate their three-dimensional sculptures to two-dimensional drawings. Getting the depth was very, very tricky.

After they drew and traced their structures, students were allowed to eat their marshmallows, including the ones that made up their sculptures. Lucky for me, one little girl did not like marshmallows so I put her sculpture, a very complicated, organic-looking thing, on a table off to the side. In the following class an hour later, her twin sister built a very similar sculpture; her drawing looked remarkable like her twin's sculpture. Interesting.....
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kindergarten face collages

2009-04-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

Kindergartners can never have enough cutting practice. This activity gives them lots of that, and more, plus it is a great way to use up some construction paper scraps. For these face collages, I purposely took all the pink construction paper out of my scrap bin, because I wanted students to use wild colors that have nothing to do with real faces. I'm sure the one little girl who asked for pink thought I was just being ornery when I told her we weren't using any pink this time. All we needed was an assortment of colors of 9x12 construction paper for the background, 6x9 pieces for the faces, and a lot of construction paper scraps. I did provide tagboard ovals for students to trace for the head shape, but other than that they were on their own.

I gave students simple directions, emphasizing that they needed to choose two different colors for the face and background. I spread the construction paper scraps across the floor and invited them to take any colors they needed.

As students finished tracing their head shapes, I took pencils away so that they would have to "free cut" the shapes for their faces without drawing them first. Most students got right into it and started immediately cutting shapes. For those who insisted that they didn't know how to cut something, I had them look at my face while I traced the contour of the part they were trying to make and then asked them what shape they might use and to give it a try. If they were still hesitant, I would model cutting a shape for them, and then have them cut their own. For the most part, students were happy to have unorthodox shapes for their facial features.

As students finished their faces, we lined them up on the white board tray and I had them look at their own work and then look to see if they could see anyone else's that had something the same as theirs. Then we compared two at a time, looking for similarities. Most students found same colors or shapes, but an occasional student notice that "they both have wiggly hair" or another quality that was more sophisticated than color or shape.

pop art hearts

2009-03-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

These Pop Art heart paintings by first and second grade students, painted in mid-February in honor of Valentine's Day, were inspired by the art of Jim Dine and Wayne Thiebaud. I introduced the lesson by showing students copies of several works by these two artists. I asked them to describe what they saw and to make any comments they wanted about their observations. I pointed out how the repeated shapes in these works were painted with slightly different colors or patterns and explained that they were going to do a Pop Art painting of hearts. It seemed appropriate to do something with hearts since it was February, and this activity took the hearts out of the cliche realm.

>To lay out their designs, students were able to cut and trace their own hearts or to trace hearts that I provided. First grade students used larger hearts and were asked to trace four on the page; second grade students were asked to trace six. I initially wanted all the students to cut out their own hearts so they would be really different, but I discovered that this was more problematic than I expected with some of the students and turned out taking more time than I thought it would. Since my classes are only an hour, I was glad that I had thought to cut some of my own hearts "just in case." After a couple of classes, I offered the hearts for tracing as a first choice, and anyone who wanted to cut their own was invited to do so.

Because I wanted students to focus on subtle differences in color and patterns or brush treatments, and because this was the first painting they had done this year, I had them use just two primary colors and white to create as many different variations in color as possible. I modeled for them how to outline each heart first with a narrow brush, and then challenged them to paint each of their hearts a different way or with a different color or pattern. I teach at three schools, for a total of six first grade classes and eight second grade classes with approximately twenty students each, so after two weeks of heart painting, I was pretty much on heart overload, but I am pleased to report that collectively we ended up with approximately 1200 differently-painted hearts!

stamp, stamp, stamp

2009-03-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

There's nothing new or particularly innovative about using found objects dipped in paint to stamp designs on paper. The trick is in getting students to actually think about what they are doing rather than just stamping paint willy-nilly all over the paper. I'd like to think I'm successful in leading them toward more planning and less chaos, but that would be a lie. All I can do is gather up objects with different shapes, model the procedure, and let them have a go at it. The objects I used for stamping in this activity were cut up sponges, pieces of corrugated cardboard, several wine bottle corks, clothespins, and some assorted bottle and other tops, including several tops to glue sticks that I had saved when we trashed the used up glue sticks themselves.

My Kindergarten students did enjoy this, and some of them got very into it, to the extent that I had to be right there with a wet cloth to wipe hands before the table, their faces, and their neighbor's clothes were paint-spotted. Amazingly, the faucet in my art room doesn't work.... well, it works but it makes a huge grinding noise that sounds like the pipes are going to explode... so I have to be innovative in the hand-washing department. But I digress....

What I tried to do with the stamping activity was encourage students to create patterns. At three of each tables, there were different combinations of two primary colors, and students used white paper at first, but then I got the idea to have the paper be the third primary color (red & yellow paint on blue paper, etc.). Some students really did work on patterns of some type, others worked on stamping out shapes of actual objects (cars, boats, houses, etc.), but for the most part, students basically explored stamping with different objects without really worrying about trying to create some kind of identifiable design. And that's ok...... it just tells me that they need to do more of it, not less. :-)

symmetrical cityscapes

2009-03-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

I regularly cruise the Internet looking for new ideas to use with my students. On one of my surfing trips, I found a cityscape idea on the Art Projects for Kids blog (link is in the "on the web" list on the right side of this page). It was done on dark paper with oil pastels. The California 2nd Grade Art Standards say that students should create an artwork with bilateral symmetry, so I decided to have my second grade students draw a symmetrical cityscape. And since I didn't have any oil pastels, and since there had recently been a freeze on ordering new materials, I decided to have them use construction paper crayons on black paper. To prepare, I found several pictures of cityscapes, some photographs and some art work by various artists (thank you, Google image search), which I printed out.

First I had students look at the pictures to identify what they saw and how they were all the same. Then I introduced the term "bilateral symmetry" to them. They had already been doing some work with symmetry in math, but I found that they had a hard time describing what it means to have symmetry. Most who responded referred to a "line down the middle" but were unable to go far beyond that in their definitions so I drew a butterfly and talked about it being the same on both sides. Then we looked at the prefix "bi" which they eventually realized meant "two" when I had them compare the number of wheels on tricycles and bicycles. l didn't spend too much time on this introduction, but I wanted them to understand that they were going to start this drawing in the center and then build out symmetrically on both sides of the center, making sure that each subsequent pair of buildings would be exactly alike. I drew a very quick example, stressing the importance of making them the same size, shape, color, etc. I also showed them one that I had done, and explained that they should not color in the windows, as we wanted them to be created using negative space, which I defined as "the parts you don't color" -- leaving a more detailed explanation for another time.

Before I sent them off to begin their drawings, I pointed out the line along the bottom of the groups of buildings in the pictures. Some of these lines were very clear, like sidewalks in the photographs, or a prominent line in some of the art work, while others were more virtual, like the place where grass meets the bottom of the building in a photograph or where the bottom of the building in a painting or collage simply creates a line. Their instructions were to draw the line first, then draw their first building right in the center, on the line. As they began, I wandered around, giving tips on coloring in one direction, suggesting larger windows next time, and reminding them now and then to be using bilateral symmetry.

I made sure students knew that it was ok for their buildings not to extend across the entire length of the paper, and to take their time. During the last ten minutes of class, I had them do a "turn and talk" activity with a partner, in which they told their partner which part of their drawing they especially liked, which part they might change if they were doing it again, and how they knew they had used bilateral symmetry. Finally, I had them tell their partners what they liked about their partners' drawings.

Because I teach several hundred students each week at three different schools, I can't display everyone's art work, but these were so awesome that I created a "strip" of them in each of my three classrooms, using the work of about fifteen or so students. I love the way they create the look of one long, nighttime cityscape.

This activity was very successful on many levels. Every piece of work produced was original and had its own personality, and the students were very engaged with their drawings. And the best thing of all is that when they finished this art work, most of the students were more clear on the concept of symmetry, and that it's not the line, but what's on each side of the line that counts, and could explain the concept to me or to a partner.

green paper sculptures

2009-03-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

My Kindergarten students had great fun making simple construction paper sculptures. In honor of March and St. Patrick's Day in the near future, I decided to have them use only green paper for these. Prep was easy; I simply cut tons of paper strips from the 9" end of 9x12 construction paper, roughly an inch wide, but truthfully I didn't measure and didn't worry about the width, so there was a lot of variation. I also provided a few 4x4 inch squares on each table for kids to make cylinders or to cut out shapes to use along with spirals, accordion folds, circles, etc. A few students made "paper chain" loops that hung loose, and two little girls attached several strips end to end, creating long, long tails.

My favorite moment was when a student found a little "googly eye" on the floor, apparently left from a project from the previous day's after school program. He squealed ecstatically that he had "found an eye!" and glued it on the top of a loop of paper. He then looked around on the floor and found a tiny piece of green yarn, maybe about a half inch long, which he glued next to the eye and announced that "now I have a mouth!" Later, when we decided to name the sculptures, he decided that his would be named "Mr. Sculpture!"

It was very interesting to watch different students' approach to this activity. One student kept walking over to a table off to the side, on which were sitting a couple of unfinished models that I had used to show different ways to fold and curl the paper strips, and to remind students how much glue to use. He would stand there with his head on his crossed arms, gazing at them for a minute or two, then come over to ask me to show him again how to do a certain thing. In the end, it was lots of fun, there was lots of success, and most students managed not to use way too much glue!

patterned circles

2009-01-25T16:09:00.000-08:00

This first grade observation lesson is almost identical to the Kindergarten "playing with patterns" activity, but in this version, the crayon-drawn patterns are confined inside connected, free-drawn circles. Students use the same rolled-paper viewfinders to observe the details and patterns in a variety of photographs.

Students are first asked to think about what it means to be an artist, and also to name some things that artists do. This is followed by a short discussion about the importance of observing carefully, the making of paper tube viewfinders, and some initial observations of two or three photographs. Students are asked to focus on the details and patterns rather than the contours or subject matter. After these initial observations, students draw one circle about the size of their fist, placing it somewhere away from the center of the paper but not touching an edge. I model this on an actual sheet of paper to show them an approximate size. Circles that are too small will not show the patterns well, and circles that are too big might cause the student to run out of space, so I do like to suggest a size.

The first photograph is held up and students are asked to look carefully at the colors, shapes, spots, lines, and directions, then to fill the first circle with the pattern they see. When most are finished, directions are given to draw another circle, about the same size, touching the first circle. The next pattern is observed, discussed, and drawn in that circle. Subsequent circles are drawn one at a time, making sure each one touches only one previous circle. Students are reminded to completely fill each new circle with patterns they observe in the photographs, and to pay close attention to lines, dots, colors, shapes, and directions.

I especially like that this lesson requires students to really observe what they see, and places more emphasis on the observation than the content. By directing the lesson one circle at a time, I am able to get the students to slow down and pay closer attention to what they are putting on their paper. When they draw a new circle, I remind them that they can attach the new circle anywhere, but they should look to see where the bigger spaces are, and go in that direction. We keep adding new circles until we run out of time, leaving about ten minutes for discussion.

During the sharing/discussion time, I hold photographs next to students' versions of the patterns. I also have students compare and talk about different treatments of the same pattern. Students are able to see that there is more than one way to draw something, that people see things differently, and that close observation is important for an artist. As simple as this lesson is, the results can be very striking and quite varied. While the samples shown here were done with crayon on white construction paper, but I can see them being done on dark construction paper using construction paper crayons or pastels, or even painted or done with markers or colored pencils.
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playing with patterns

2009-01-25T08:48:00.000-08:00

The purpose of this Kindergarten lesson was facilitate students' observations of details in everyday and/or natural objects, and to have them draw patterns they observed in these objects. The original plan was to have them go for a walk outdoors, looking for patterns in and on the buildings, fences, and landscape at the school. To be safe, though, I brought in a couple of dozen pictures of animals, flowers, buildings, fences, etc. that showed a variety of patterns created with dots, lines, and shapes. As it turned out, time and weather directed the use of the pictures rather than the outdoor walk. In the end, I think that was a good thing.

To begin, I had students name things that artists do. Along with the standard "paint" and "draw" there were a few students who named things like "work hard" and "think about what they want to do" and "look." One student won my heart when she said that artists "look back at their work and do it again." But it was the word "look" that I was after. I explained that artists do a lot of looking, and that we'd be doing more looking than anything else with this lesson.

I wanted students to focus their observations on details and patterns rather than contours and objects, so we made viewfinders, but not the traditional "square hole in a piece of cardboard" kind. These viewfinders were simply 9x12 sheets of construction paper rolled into a tube and taped together.

Then we looked. I held up about half a dozen pictures one at a time, had them look at the patterns through their viewfinders, and asked what they could see. I asked about colors, lines, dots, and shapes. I asked how they could draw each one, and demonstrated a few possibilities on the board. Then I sent them off to work. Their job was to draw patterns on a white piece of paper, taking their inspiration from the pictures I had posted all along the white board tray. They could bring pictures to their tables for a closer look, but I encouraged them to sit on the floor and look through their viewfinders to help them look very closely and decide what colors they should use, and to think about how to draw the patterns.

When art-making time was over, we looked at each student's work, comparing the original photographs with the students' treatments of the patterns.

geometric shape collages

2008-11-30T14:53:00.000-08:00

Collage is one of my favorite art techniques to use with children. It's hard to mess up a collage, and the possibilities for subject matter are endless. These particular collages have a math twist and, depending on the directions and the grade level, can have some problem-solving embedded in them as well.

The collages pictured here were done by first grade students. The directions were to use:

- one circle
- two lines
- three different triangles
- four colors

Now that seems pretty simple, but the execution has some tricky parts. Many students are confused by the direction to use four colors, because they only use three shapes (circle, line, triangle) but end up with six parts. I try to ask them questions as they are working: "How many colors do you have here?" "How many colors do you need?" "Could you trade something?" I try really, really hard not to just tell a student to, for example, trade "this orange triangle for a green one" or some such thing, because I don't want to take away the opportunity for students to work through the problem on their own.

I demonstrate how to cut lines from the edge of a straight piece of paper, and how to cut triangles by cutting the corner off a piece of paper. With table groups, everyone gets one 9x12 sheet of black paper for the background, and I put a selection of 6x9 pieces of construction paper in the middle of the table, just one sheet of each color so they have to share the colored paper. This has the added benefit of preventing two or more students from using all the same colors for their designs.

I have done geometric shape collages with students in all grade levels. With Kindergartners, the directions are simpler, and there are less shapes involved. With fifth grade students, the directions are more complex, including more sophisticated geometric terms, and I might throw in a fraction element. I have them use, for example, three different types of triangles, four different quadrilaterals, five colors or less, and to attempt to cover approximately half the area of the paper with their shapes. Depending on the grade level, this activity can be a way for students to demonstrate their knowledge of some geometry vocabulary. Best of all, though, they are great fun to look at.

shape tracing

2008-11-30T14:25:00.000-08:00

These Kindergarten shape tracing designs are made by tracing the same shape template several times, overlaying the shape in different directions to create a variety of interior shapes and spaces. Each table group has a variety of sizes of cardboard or plastic squares, rectangles, triangles, and circles to choose from. When giving directions, I emphasize that they should use only one shape to do all their tracings; I demonstrate this for them using a dark colored crayon for the tracing lines. I point out the variety of shapes and spaces created by the overlapping contour lines of the original shapes, and invite them to color in the spaces however they want to. I also demonstrate cutting the entire design around the outside and gluing it onto a background color that is present in the colored areas.

Interestingly, students will tackle this activity in different ways. Some want to trace the shapes next to each other rather than overlapping. Some like to make large spaces while others will make small ones. Some students take the time to select certain colors for the coloring part, or approach the coloring in a methodical way: starting with the smallest spaces, or starting with the ones nearest the center and radiating out, or starting with the outside spaces and working their way to the center. Some students jump all over the place, switching colors with each new space, while other students might use the same color for several spaces before choosing a new color.

Some students need a contour line to help them cut all around the outside of the shapes, while others grasp the concept right away. It helps to ask each student to trace with their finger where they are going to cut. There are always a couple of students, at least, who cut into the design, so it's important to keep a watchful eye and to be available with scotch tape.

When sharing these, I like to show two or three at a time and ask students to compare the colors, or count the triangles, or find other shapes that have been created by overlapping the original shape. This activity takes less than an hour, uses no special materials other than the shapes for tracing, and can be extended in a variety of ways. Students can be given limited colors to use, they can use chalk or watercolors in the spaces instead of coloring them, or they can be asked to make patterns or do rubbings inside the spaces.

geometric figures

2008-11-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

I have done Geometric People with many second and third grade classes. I've also done a simpler version with Kindergarten and first graders, and more complex versions with upper grade GATE students. Recently I had the idea to give students the choice of creating a person or an animal entirely out of geometric shapes. The activity begins with a review of geometric shapes. With younger students, I draw them on the white board and explain that these are the only shapes they can use. We then look at pictures of animals and talk about the possible shapes that could be used for bodies, heads, ears, tails, and legs. A discussion about the possible shapes for the parts of a person is accompanied with directions that geometric people need to be showing some activity. Depending on the class, I will draw a geometric person and/or animal on the board while they suggest shapes, keeping all shapes separate from each other and pointing out to students that none of the shapes touch each other.

Students are able to choose one bright color for their figure. They don't use pencils to draw any shapes first because I want them to start training their eyes to visualize what they are going to cut. I've found it helpful to demonstrate for students different ways to cut large and small triangles without wasting a lot of paper, because over time I've found that most students want to cut straight into the center of the paper to cut shapes that result in some very "unstraight" edges. I show them how to use the straight edges of the paper for one or two straight sides of their shapes. I also show them how to cut a circle or oval by starting with a square or rectangle and rounding the corners.

One day, when a couple of students had finished their figures and everyone else still had a way to go, I decided to have them do rubbings of their geometric figures. This was so successful that I have made it a regular part of this lesson/activity. Students can do one rubbing or they can do repeated rubbings, moving their paper and using different colors, until they have filled the paper. Sometimes students can do more than one rubbing using totally different colors. During the discussion period, we can then talk about different combinations of colors and how they make us feel.

Overall, this is a really simple activity that takes virtually no planning, no preparation, and results in very little mess. It requires students to make choices of shapes based on their own observations. When a whole class set is displayed as a group, especially on a black background, the result is dramatic, whimsical, and colorful.

line pattern rubbings

2008-11-15T08:47:00.000-08:00

First-graders get cutting and patterning practice in this activity, which also has a problem-solving twist. Whether or not students create a pattern, the results are interesting and can create quite a colorful display.

The first step is for students to cut some strips from a piece of black construction paper, about 3x6. They glue the strips onto a white 6x6 piece of construction paper to create a design. Some students like to create a "picture" while others stick to designs or patterns. When the glue has been given a short time to dry, students do rubbings of their design on a 6x18 strip of white drawing paper. When I demonstrate how to do the rubbings, I show them that rotating the collage design for each new rubbing will result in an interesting pattern. Students use their choice of one, two, or three colors. The problem solving piece comes when students need to do a second 6x18 rubbing that exactly matches the first one. For some students, this is not as easy as it would seem. When the rubbings are complete, all three pieces are taped together to make a banner.

During the discussion, we look at the patterns created by the series of rubbings. Students are asked to describe their own patterns, or to name the patterns created by other students. The discussion also includes reference to colors used, especially the results of using heavier or lighter pressure with the crayons.

kindergarten line collages

2008-11-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

These are incredibly simple to do and give students an opportunity to practice cutting. The best part is that every single student's work is a success, no matter what. There also isn't a huge amount of preparation, and practically no clean up.

To prepare, I created a line template for students to cut. I wanted them to experience cutting a variety of lines, so on half a sheet of copy paper I drew a couple of straight lines, a meandering line, and a zig-zag line, then duplicate it on the other half of the paper. Then I copy this onto 9x12 construction paper in about ten or so colors and chop those in half.

I start the lesson by talking about lines. I ask students to tell me what they know about lines; I draw samples on the white board. Then I quickly demonstrate the activity. To start, each student chooses one template to cut. I like to make way more than the number of students, and put one of each color on each table. This way every student gets a choice of color, and every student at each table is working with a different color. Once they choose their color I just take away the extras. As they work, I help those students who are still learning to use scissors... and there are many of them. Some don't know where their fingers go. Some try to cut upside down. I show them how to hold the paper vertically, cut going "up" and to turn the paper instead of the scissors.

Students simply cut on the lines and then glue the resulting pieces onto black construction paper. Voila! Finished artwork! But not a finished lesson. We also look at two at a time and compare what different students do with their pieces. Some students like to glue them down in straight rows. Others will overlap them. Some create a border. Others just glue with no plan. Whatever they do, each one is a success, and they are awesome to look at when displayed on the wall.

harold and the purple crayon

2008-11-08T13:28:00.001-08:00

Planning hour-long art lessons for Kindergarten students can be tricky, because it's difficult to imagine what activities they will do quickly and what kinds of activities will take them a longer time to complete. So, I try to have an additional, simple activity to extend the time for those students who finish faster than I would have expected. I could have them just read books or draw pictures, but I like it better if they can do a second activity that matches the lesson.

Thus, the birth of the purple pictures. First, I read the book "Harold and the Purple Crayon" by Crockett Johnson, having students notice what Harold does with his purple crayon. I explained that they'd do a line collage first, and then if they had time, they could draw some of their own purple pictures. Some students really got into it, while others simply filled the paper with scribbles and lines. Later, I had some of the students tell about what they had drawn. I pointed out details in their drawings that added interest, such as stars in the sky, or facial expressions. This turned out to be a perfect addition to the line collages they did the same day.

not quite mondrians

2008-10-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

I wanted my second grade students to play around with lines. Even though I had some ideas, I explored some art lesson websites and came across an activity that looked colorful and easy to do. I decided to try it after altering it a bit. The originals had all the spaces filled with vibrant colors, which was very dramatic, but I am working with a schedule in which I need to make sure that all students can finish in an hour, and I didn't think they could get the whole paper colored in during such a short time and I wanted them to be able to work carefully and mindfully. So I simplified. Simplifying is always good in the art world. Of course, that's my opinion, since I am a kind of minimalist.

For this activity, all students needed to do was use a ruler to divide the paper into sections (easier said than done), then fill each section with lines, using bold colors (also easier said than done), and finally cut black construction paper lines to glue over the pencil lines.

Before starting, I had the students tell me what they knew about lines, and I drew different kinds of lines on the white board to show different ways to fill the spaces. I thought these were going to be a real piece of cake, but some students had a bit of trouble only making five pencil lines to start with. If they hadn't gone too overboard, we just left it. If they had a dozen lines, they got a new piece of paper and some clearer directions. In the long run, it wouldn't have made any difference, but I knew that the line cutting at the end was going to take a bit of time and the thought of somebody needing to cut about sixteen lines when everyone else only needed five was a concern. So, they got a new paper and were asked to make less lines. This was only an issue because they only have one hour with me. If I were in a self-contained classroom, I would just let it be and give them extra time to finish up. Without the luxury of time, there are some adjustments that need to be made.

As they started filling the spaces with colorful lines, I encouraged them to use dark lines, bright colors, and to work on and finish one space before going on to another. It was interesting to see so many students using the crayons with such a light touch. Occasionally, I held up a student's work to show an example of bright, bold colors with lines clearly drawn. When there were twenty minutes left in their hour, I had them finish up wherever they were and cut and glue their lines.

Some students had a very hard time getting out of the "straight line" box, but a few managed some diagonals, and these were especially interesting. If I do these again, I will make sure that students know they will only have time to fill in a few spaces and encourage them to fill spaces that are not adjacent. During discussion, students found line treatments that they liked in other students' work, and were encouraged to use appropriate art vocabulary to identify and discuss the works of others. Overall, these were quick and very successful!

bubble people

2008-10-04T00:50:00.001-07:00

I have a pet peeve: stick people. So I thought... well... might as well start at the beginning. I came across a people drawing lesson in "Talking, Drawing,Writing" by Martha Horn and Mary Ellen Giacobbe, a book about art and writing that starts with using ovals for every body part. My first idea was to do this lesson with all the students and then have the Kindergartners draw clothes on them, the first graders fill the ovals with patterns, and the second graders do elaborate warm/cool compositions by filling the people ovals with warm or cool parallel lines and then doing a background in the opposite color. Heh. I was a little overambitious on the second grade idea. We were lucky to get the person filled with lines, although a few students did manage to go on to a second bubble person, as they came to be known.

This lesson, for all three grade levels, started with a "loosening up" exercise with a large sheet of white paper on which they practiced drawing dots, circles, ovals of different sizes and shapes, and assorted lines. Then Kindergartners had a read aloud - "From Head to Toe" by Eric Carle (which included much wiggling, clapping, stomping, and kicking) - and everyone learned how to use ovals of different sizes, shapes, and lengths for all the main body parts. Kindergartners were asked to color their bubble people any way they wanted, and as they finished, to draw more on their practice paper. First graders filled theirs with dots and lines, using two primary colors, and those who had time were able to mount them on the third primary color. One creative first grader decided to mount his standing on one hand, and was careful to remind me that it goes "this way." :-) Second graders drew a contour line around their bubble person to define the shape. They then filled the complete shape with warm or cool colored parallel lines. If they finished one, they were asked to draw another on the same paper and to fill it with lines using the same colors.

Everyone did a great job! During sharing we looked at how different they all were, and students were able to talk about what was hard to do, what they liked about their bubble people.

Now... if it will just stick, there will be less stick people in the world! :-)
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stars and stripes collages

2008-10-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

To launch my new school year and celebrate Constitution Day, i had all my students do red, white, and blue (and yellow!) collages. Kindergarten and first graders did torn paper, second graders got to use scissors. I read the book, "I Pledge Allegiance" by Bill Martin, Jr. to launch the lesson, pointing out the students the torn paper illustrations. I also showed them Jasper Johns' "Three Flags" and Alexander Calder's "Stars and Stripes" so they could see how two famous artists used the flag images and colors in their art work.

I demonstrated tearing the paper for the Kinders and first graders, and taught the second graders how to cut out a "dancing star" by starting with a circle with five dots around the circumference, then cutting rays from the edge of the paper to the dots, like doing a dot-to-dot picture. Some students had trouble *not* making a replica of an American flag, but they were stymied by my directions that they couldn't use a blue rectangle.

Over four hundred fifty students, and every single collage was successful! What a great start to my year!

into the classroom

2008-10-03T21:59:00.001-07:00

Lucky me! I got a teaching job making art with little kids! I've been in the classroom for twenty years, first as a full time classroom teacher, then working part time with at-risk students, ELL students, GATE students, and Kindergarten students. And now I get to teach art to Kindergarten, first, and second grade students at three different schools, What a great way to spend three days a week!