3rd Grade -- Historical Figures

3rd graders just finished up their historical figure sculptures.  They were assigned one of the following people: Louis Armstrong, Helen Keller, Jackie Robinson, or Amelia Earhart.  They used white talc clay to sculpt their historical person.  We focused on scoring, slipping, and smoothing to ensure that all pieces were attached.  The students used modeling tools to create textures and details in the clay as well.  Tempera paint was applied to the bisque fired clay.  The 3rd graders created cardboard dioramas, which put their person in a scene that would have taken place.  Here are some examples from all 3rd grade classes:

2nd Grade -- Family Portraits

2nd graders learned about Carmen Lomas Garza and observed many of her family portraits.  With so many examples to look at, we were able to get a better understanding of Carmen's family.  The students noticed how family members interacted with each other, how pets can be considered part of the family, and how we experience good and bad moments throughout life.  The students then thought of a moment in their lives that really had an impact on them.  We used pencil to begin our drawings on the 18" x 24" paper and also put an emphasis on drawing BIG.  The students then used crayons to color in their portraits.

5th Grade -- Silhouette Self-Portraits

We began this project by viewing many different examples of silhouettes.  We discussed what a silhouette was and how it has been an important part of art for hundreds of years.  Kara Walker is a current artist who uses silhouettes in her artwork.  The students created lists or webs to help generate things that described them as an individual.  We were focusing more on those qualities and not our outside appearance for this self-portrait.  With the use of the projector, I was able to trace out the students' silhouettes onto 18" x 24" white drawing paper.  From there the students filled up their silhouettes with ideas that described them.  We tried to draw only visual images and to avoid writing with words.  The students then used permanent markers to go over their pencil lines.  This helped add contrast to their silhouette.  They cleaned out the remaining pencil with erasers, cut out their silhouette, and then glued it to black paper.

3rd Grade Paper Mosaics

A mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral. Small pieces, normally roughly quadratic, of stone or glass of different colors are used to create a pattern or picture. As a class we looked observed a PowerPoint with many ancient mosaic examples. From there, we looked at more modern examples such as space invaders created by street artist "Invader". The students planned an image in their sketchbooks at first, then followed out their plan by creating a paper mosaic. Most created small square tiles with the use of a pencil and ruler. The paper tiles were attached with white glue.

2nd Grade Matisse Unit Part II

For our second project based on Matisse, our students focused more on Matisse's "Beasts of the Sea." We started out by choosing a colored piece of construction paper, which was the split in half. The students then created many geometric and organic shapes to collage onto their background pieces. We discussed overlapping, contrast, curvy lines, straight lines, and movement as well. Once their two background pieces were completed, we attached them to a bigger sheet of paper to create a border for their artwork.

Kindergarten Picasso Portraits

The kindergartners started this unit by created a digital Picasso head on the internet. From there, our next step was to create an individual Picasso style portrait out of construction paper. The students learned about the word silhouette, and we used our projector to trace their silhouettes onto. The students cut out their silhouettes after they were traced. Then they glued the profile silhouette halfway to the front silhouette. From there we trimmed off the excess paper and created facial features. We discussed again how facial features did not have to look realistic nor be the correct spot. Once the pieces were attached and dry, the students took permanent markers and outline their facial features.

Kindergarten Picasso Heads

Today in our kindergarten classes we read Picasso (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists).  We learned that Picasso was very inventive and changed his painting style numerous times throughout his life.  We learned that he went through certain periods, such as the Blue and Rose period.  Cubism was another style of painting the class observed.  After we read our book, we visited the website PicassoHead.  Each student helped add a feature or change a color of a feature to create their classroom Picasso head.  Notice how the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears are not exactly in the correct spots.  Next week the kindergarten students will begin their own Picasso style self-portraits!