Summertime!!!! ..well almost

So today was the last day of school for our kiddos! *Weird I know - it's Wednesday..
Thursday and Friday teachers go in for post-planning.. and then it's summer vacation!
....Orrrrr at least until my summer staff development courses. :)

Anyways.. I saw a cute pin on pinterest and wanted to try these out.. so I made some summertime mini cupcakes for the teachers tomorrow.
So fun - so cute! :)

Also for those of you that regularly read - no worries.. I'll still be posting during the summertime. :)

Australian Aboriginal Dot Art (4th)

Teacher Sample

EQ: What is Aboriginal Australian art?

To begin with I showed my students a PowerPoint to first show them where Australia is on a map, and then to give them a little background about Aboriginal Australian art - and more specifically their dot art style. We also watched this video clip.
We talked about how aboriginal Australian artwork contained a lot of symbolism and was often very stylized (like the images of animals). They also often used an 'x-ray style' when painting animals in their artwork.
I gave each of my tables a packet of animal silhouettes that I printed off from online (small enough that they couldn't even try to trace) and asked them to select an animal that they'd like to draw. Students then tried their best at drawing the animal silhouette (with no additional details) on a piece of brightly colored construction paper that they selected. Once the drawing was completed, they cut out the silhouette and glued it onto a sheet of 9" x 12" black construction paper.
Then the dot fun began! :)

Each table got a palette of different colored tempera paints and a bunch of wooden scratch sticks.
Students dipped the scratch stick into the paint and then went to town dotting their papers (you can probably get a good 3 dots before you have to get more paint on the stick).
Some students really got into the project and committed themselves to working hard to finish it, while others got impatient with how long the dotting process was taking. I'd say it was a 60/40 split respectively.
I love this lesson though - and those students that understood that with commitment comes great reward.. were rewarded greatly with their beautiful results! :)

Clay Turtles (2nd)

EQ: What is form?

I wanted to do a quick one-day clay project with my 2nd graders which incorporated multiple building techniques, so I came up with this turtle project. Took one 40-minute class from start to finish (including clay rules, demonstration, and student construction).

Two coils become the legs.

I gave each student a ball of clay then asked them to divide it into two parts (one slightly larger than the other). With the larger piece, I asked students to roll a ball and make a pinch-pot. Students were then asked to divide the other half into equal thirds. With one third, they rolled a ball and then followed my "4's of Clay" (score, slip, smoosh, smooth) to attach it as the head to the upside-down pinch-pot. Then with the other two thirds, students rolled out short coils and attached them to the underside of the pinch-pot (to create legs).
Finally, students added their initials to the inside of their pinch-pot body and then added additional details (like faces, patterns on the shell, etc.).

My clay this year was not the best quality I've ever worked with as it dried out VERY quickly (regardless of my efforts). Hopefully next year I'll get some better quality clay so I can do something a little different.

Student Sample

Student Sample

Student Sample

Student Sample

Student Sample

Student Sample

The ninja turtle :)

This turtle is complete with a full head of facial hair.

International Festival & Artome Art Show 2013

"WOW!!" - That was my first impression upon seeing our artome art show set up this year!
What an absolutely wonderful company!! With just under 1,800 framed pieces of art, our art show was HUGE. I dare you to try to beat that number. haha
We were told our individual school had the largest art show they've done this year! :)

At my school our art show is held on the same night as our "International Festival." Each grade level is assigned a region in the world that they research and learn about and then create wonderfully artistic displays for with their classroom teachers. International Festival night is also host to musical, drama, and dance performances by our wonderful students as well!

What an event! This was my first year at my school so I didn't know what to expect - but I am just blown away!

International Festival displays created by our wonderful classroom teachers:

Little Cloud Pictures (K)

So after creating rainbow mosaics with my kindergarteners, I had quite a bit of "cloud" paint (shaving cream + school glue mixed together) leftover. I didn't want it to go to waste.. so I came up with this quick 1/2 day lesson.
We began by reading the book "Little Cloud" by Eric Carle. This got us talking about all the cool shapes my kindergarteners have seen the clouds make in the sky when they look up at them.
Then on a sheet of 6"x4.5" blue paper, I had students draw a contour line image with white crayon of something they wanted to see in the clouds. Then using the leftover "cloud paint", students colored in their contour line images.

The cool thing about the pictures is that they really do look like clouds when they dry! The kids love them! :)

Can you tell what they were creating in their clouds? :)

Magnetic Pattern Block Mosaic Art

EQ: What is a mosaic?

This is a one-day extension lesson that I often do when I'm teaching about 'mosaics' with my kindergarten and 1st grades (although ALL grade levels thoroughly enjoy it).
Depending on the amount of time I have - I sometimes begin by reading the book 'Pezzettino' by Leo Lionni first.
I group students into groups of 2-3 and give them each a mini white board and a tupperware container full of wooden pattern blocks (to which I've attached magnets).
Students then take turns creating pictures (or 'mosaics') with their pattern blocks, then have their groupmates guess what they've created. Once the picture has been successfully guessed, they clear the board and the next student gets a turn.
This is a GREAT full-day activity or activity for students who finish up early!

I had one kindergarten friend who spent literally 20 minutes trying to find out all the different ways he could combine shapes to make hexagons. It was awesomeness.

I remember loving to play with these as a kid - turns out they are still just as awesome! :)

Kids playing outside!

Man with boat.

Boxer!

Rainy day outside!

Robot monster.

Clown. :)