Science and Art Predictions

This Friday the art club learned how to chart predictions just like scientists. The lessons involved a bucket of water and five items. The items were a paperclip, a seashell, a piece of tissue paper, a sponge, and a cork. Using the chart, the students predicted if each of these items would float or sink. They then tested their predictions by placing the items in the bucket of water to see if it would sink or float. 

We had rich discussions about why certain items sank and why certain items would float. The students discovered that items that were light and filled with air and holes would float while other denser items, such as the seashell, would sink. The next part of the discussion was about which item would make the best material to build a boat. The class agreed that the cork would be the best.

After our experiments the students began to design their sail to attach to their cork boats. On the same paper as their predictions chart the students came up with a name, colors, and a design for their sail. I was so impressed with the variety of ideas form the students.

Next art class the students will assemble their cork boats by attaching three corks together with a rubber band and setting up the sail with a wooden skewer. We hope to fill a bath and race the boats!

 

photo resource of completed boat: http://mamapapabubba.com

Mixing Paint and Drawing Bugs!

  

This past week I had my kindergarten and first grade mixing the primary colors to create the secondary colors. We watched this fun video from the band Ok Go about the primary colors. By the end of the class, all of the students were singing along and able to name the secondary colors! Not only did the video help the students to name the primary colors, but actually mixing their primary colors on a paper plate to create the secondary colors really solidified their knowledge of color theory. Actual experiences are much richer for student learning and engagement then just talking about the subject.

The prekindergarten students also watched a video book last week, but it was not about the primary colors, it was about bugs! The video was a story book called Bugs, Bugs, Bugs by Bob Barner. It is super colorful and engaging for my young students. At the end of the video the students learn about each type of bug that was talked about in the story. Fun little facts about each one.

Next, I taught the young students how to use observational drawing to create bugs. I showed the students how to hold the bug in your hand while drawing it with your other hand. I was so impressed at how my three and four year olds grasped this wonderful skill so quickly. Their bugs were to interesting to look at and the students really caught all the small details of the plastic bugs! I have a lot of great future artists in my prekindergarten class!

 I also had an extra special kindergarten class this week that was able to experience warm and cool colors whoile painting in the hallway! We had a weird thing happen with the heat in the building and my art room was literally freezing. So, being flexible we moved art class into the hallway!

  

I introduced the students to warm and cool colors and how they can make us feel. Next, we taped large poster paper the wall with painters tape and created boxes and triangles. Inside these spaces we painted warm and cool colors. Pictured here is  partner group of two who experimented with the cool color green and the warm color yellow. The results are so fun and cheery!

Everyday Photos from Around the Art Room

The students, preschool through fifth grade, have been working on a lot of exciting projects in the art room. I really enjoying taking photos of the students working and catching them in their creative process. Here are a few images from around the art room from the last few weeks. Please feel free to also check out our classroom Instagram feed by click on the camera the button on the right side of this page.

 

This is a third grade student working on creating a bird sculpture with Crayola's model magic and feathers. The students and I practiced creating spheres and cylinders with the model magic before letting loose and making a creative bird.  This project was possible due to the kindness of donors through Donors Choose. We loved creating projects with these special materials!

Here is a kindergarten student working on a drawing using only black, white, and purple crayons. We read the book Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. We learned that Harold could draw anything he wanted to, using his creativity.

 Here is a patten made by a preschool student during exploring time. They used these manipulatives not only to make patterns but to build structures.

 Here is a kindergarten student creating a castle drawing using colored pencils. As a class we spoke about 3d forms, like cones and cylinders, and then made castles from those forms. I am so proud of the way kindergarten has grasped the knowledge of 3d forms.

 Here is a picture of a first grade student also using 3d forms to create a robot. This robot was then completed using colored pencils.

 Another example of a kindergarten drawing using 3d forms. This student used a castle that a classmate had made in another class for their drawing inspiration.

 Pictured here is a second grade student working on their favorite food collage. That large lemonade looks so good!

Lastly, here is an image of a student who has completed their robot drawing. Next to their drawing is the art room rubric for second grade. This rubric helps students to be reflective about their work and how they can improve their artistic behavior for the next class.

Special Needs Students Discover Fall Textures.

We all know that when a student is using self discovery their learning is more rich and meaningful. I had my special needs/autistic class using discovery to create art a few weeks ago. I prepared a table by taping  plastic texture plates to it and then laid a large white piece of paper over it.  I then placed large crayons, with their paper peeled off, on top of the white paper. I then had the students rub the crayons over the white paper to which they delightfully found neat textures! They rubbed and rubbed and really enjoyed the sensory experience of texture plates.

Next, we decided to push the project to another level by adding painted leaves from stencils. The plastic stencils are easy for the students to use with dot markers. The dot markers are filled with paint, but keep the students hands clean. This is a wonderful option for special needs students who may be uncomfortable with paint, water, or brushes.

The end results were so lovely and colorful! I am so proud of my special students. 

Preschool and Prekindergarten make Owls!

I was inspired by a cute project from another art teacher's blog last week and decided to try out this owl lesson in my own classroom! The preschool and prekindergarten groups watched an adorable book reading called "Little Hoot". The little owl in the story has to stay up late (because he is an owl and all owls stay up late!) but Little Hoot doesn't really want to. He would rather be sleeping like all of his other first friends!

After the video the students and I talked about shapes. The students told me that the owls eyes were made from circles. They also said his nose (which I taught the students is called a "beak") was the shape of a triangle. I am so proud of my three and four years olds are their ability to recognize shapes!

Here are their owl creations. I think the end results were so fun and whimsical.

Science & Art!

Last week the Kindergarten, First grade, and Second grade students at Langley had an art lesson that tied in with earth science. I had the students already learning about different kinds of lines, so I thought why not find some beautiful leaves outside the school and have the students use line to draw them! The results were great! The students were very focused on looking intensely at the leaves, noticing the smallest details. The room was silent as the students worked on their drawings.

Corcoran Gallery Tour

Today the first grade teachers and I took our students to visit the Corcoran Museum in Washington DC. First graders boarded a bus and headed across the city  to experience a "Five Senses" gallery tour. The students were broken down into groups and then were assigned a tour guide.

The museum tour guide then gave the students a card with a shape and a color on it. The students were instructed to hold up their card when they passed a piece of art work that had either their color or their shape in it. It was a wonderful way to keep the students engaged and looking at lots of art pieces in depth.

The students then observed many different kinds of art work including sculptures and paintings. The tour guide had them do exercises to experience the painting, such as posing like the figures in the painting or guessing what kinds of paint brushes were used to create the painting. They also related the pieces of art work to our five senses (touch, smell, see, hear, and taste) by asking the students what they thought the painting sounded like or how something in the painting might have tasted.

 

Then first grade was walked down to the Corcoran's basement where there was an art studio set up for them to make a hands on project! The students were instructed by a teacher on how to roll a piece of model magic into a ball. Then the students were taught how to make that ball into other shapes. Before we knew it the students were creating boats, birds, and snakes with their model magic!

After crafting a form, the students then used all kinds of special materials to decorate their projects. Feathers, sequins, pipe cleaners, and googlie eyes were used to adorn their sculptures. The end results were so colorful and fun!

 

I can not thank you tour guides enough for hosting us at the Corcoran Gallery today! They were so accommodating and pleasant and really beamed with happiness at the students' work. I am so proud of my Langley Tigers today!

Here is a short video clip of our gallery experience today. Also, remember that many more images can be found on the classroom's instagram: northeastcityart 

Observational Flower Paintings.

This week second grade was learning about different kinds of lines. They used white boards to draw as many lines as they could think of with a partner. Next, the students observed this painting by Matisse and as a class picked out different types of lines represented. In the painting the students spotted straight lines, curved lines, swooping lines, zig zag lines and wiggle lines.

Next, the students were asked to observe a bouquet of hydrangea flowers that were placed on their tables. They talked with their neighbors about what kinds of lines they observed in the flowers and leaves. Many of the students picked up right away that the out line of the leaves was formed from a sharp zig zag.

After observing the flowers closely, the students drew the lines they saw, in crayon, on white paper. Next, the students explored how to add more color to their drawings by using watercolor and tempera paint. The results were so lovely. I am so proud of my second grade students and their ability to notice small details. They did a great job representing nature by using line. 

Value Rocks

This week the 5th grade started to learn about value shading. First we started by observing a drawing that had good examples of value shading. The students observed that the shading was black to grey to white. They also noticed that the shadows were all going one direction, giving the drawing one light source.

Next, the students practiced a value scale and then labeled it from with the numbers 10-1, starting with 10 being the darkest to 1 being the lightest. Next, the students were prompted to stick their hand in a fabric covered box to guess what they were going to be drawing next. I filled a box with interesting rocks for them to draw but did not want them to see right away what they were going to draw. The element of surprise hooked the students right away! They were so excited to put their hand in the box and guess what was inside.

After each student had a chance to feel inside the box, the students chose a rock to draw. Then I prompted the students to use their observational drawing skills to outline their rocks. After the outlining was completed I showed the student how to refer back to their value scales and add it to their rocks. Many of the students made a great connection, adding a range of values, using their numbers. "I am using a 10 here and a 7 here!" said one student as she showed me her sketch.

As an extension to the project, the students are I are assigning a super power to their rocks. After the students pick a super power and write down how it can be used with the rock they are going to create an ad for the rock. I can't wait to see how the ads turn out!

International Dot Day

As a first day in the art room lesson, the students are I explored the world of dots! First we read the book, "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds and then watched the video of it on Youtube! The students loved the main character, Vashti, who at first can not draw, but learns to draw by trying! Next, the students expressed themselves through art by creating their own dot or dots! Kindergarten through 5th grade worked hard on their first art project of the year and I think that they are just colorful and lovely!

Outside of the art room we are showing the rest of the school our work on a display board for International Dot Day! (which is on September 15th!) I am proud of my students and they way they try new things and never give up!