Over and Under the Snow

The 2nd grade completed these projects last month but I've been busy posting about other grade levels and only getting to this one now. So it goes when you teach 6 levels of art!

We began this lesson by reading the book "Over and Under the Snow", by Kate Messner. I really appreciate the beautiful illustrations by Christopher Silas Neal. The book lends itself well to teaching about space (compositionally) & science (animals & their habitats). The idea to create collage stemmed from a Deep Space Sparkle lesson by the phenomenal Patty!

After reading the book, I asked the class to think about what kind of wintery world they would create inspired by the book. They then prepared a painted paper to collage their composition (I sure love this method of art-making!). They divided up a piece of 12x18" drawing paper and painted the 5 areas with the color scheme we saw in the book (blue, black, red orange, brown, and white). 

The next class the students were tasked with creating a spatial composition with their painted papers. I demonstrated how to draw on the backside of their painted papers so to not have pencil lines all over their paper. They then cut out their drawings and made their collage compositions.

As an extension to this project, we made pop-ups! I was inspired, again, by the incredible Nic Hahn at Mini Matisse. She has been creating "Pop Up Pets" with her art classes.  In the back of the book, the writer included an index of all the animals in her book with accompanying facts about their winter habits and habitats, so I copied and printed them out for each table so each student could choose an animal for their pop-up.

They created their pop-up base, drew/colored/cut their animal out, added a background, and included 3 facts about their animal.

I really like integrating science into art lessons. My students love learning about animals and their environment. I hope they use these techniques in their classrooms in the future when asked to present information in a report.


Thanks for reading!

Wayne Thiebaud inspired Cake Slice Sculptures

Who doesn't love cake? I know the 5th grade students love it. We've been investigating how to build sculptural forms out of tagboard. We had first began using tagboard paper in the Van Gogh inspired Bedrooms.  The bedroom sculptures gave students an understanding of how paper can be cut, folded, and secured into their intended form. I felt confident they were then able to build a more complex form, like a slice of round cake.

I often create lessons with art history for our inspiration...having an art history degree, it feels natural. This particular lesson explores Pop Art, sculpture, and the artist Wayne Thiebaud.  I remember a print of one of his "Boston Creme" cake paintings hanging in my elementary school growing up.  I always loved this painting because of how well Thiebaud (pronounced Tee-bow) magically made his paintings look like they had the real textures of cake. I had to share it with my students.

Wayne Thiebaud, "Boston Cremes", 1962

I couldn't stop thinking about the lesson I found on Nic Hahn's blog, Mini Matisse. The Mini Matisse is one of many art education blogs I follow. I was inspired by her "Piece of Cake" project. I made some minor changes in that I had the students sponge on tempera paint for the "sponge" part of the cake. I did not have a template for the students to use, they were given parameters for the height of cake (4 inches) and the demonstration I gave for creating their own template for the 3-D slice.

Day 1: They were given 1 sheet of white tagboard, rulers, scissors, masking tape, and a demonstration to create their cake form.

Day 2: They used paper mache to cover their forms with Elmer's Art Paste and newsprint.

Day 3: They painted their cakes with tempera paint and used a mix of shaving cream, glue, and food coloring to "ice" their cake.  This material is almost magical! It is applied much like icing would be with a palette knife. We used craft sticks and they did just fine. The mixture dries with the appearance of a creamy texture due the glue suspending the foam. It is a really amazing and fun medium to use.  It is important to mix the ingredients as close to the time you are using it as possible as the foam settles over time.

They were provided colored sprinkles and glitter to decorate their cakes if they choose.
I even made a icing bag out of a ziploc. They could pipe on white "icing" mixture for an added detail.

Here are some of the results...

How sweet are these cakes!? The students were so proud of their sculptures. They were engaged throughout the whole process and were eager to make their own cake the "most delicious" looking. The younger students would comment about how real they looked and asked when they could make one.

Upon reflection, I found that the students appreciated learning about creating sculptures. Most of their previous knowledge of sculpture was based in using clay. I believe tagboard is an affordable and useful medium for teaching students about construction techniques. They learned how to use implied and actual texture in one artwork as well which is a Washington state art standard for a 5th grader.

I don't know about you, but I want some cake!

Thanks for reading!

Bethel School District's Art & Tech Fair 2016

Bethel School District hosted another incredible Art & Tech fair this past Saturday at Graham-Kapowsin High School. The Art Fair is an opportunity for Bethel art educators to showcase our programs and celebrate our students' artistic work.

Each school in our district is given a space to exhibit their artwork in the high school gymnasium. The artwork is categorized by grade level, 2-D, and 3-D media for judging.  The panel of 6 judges used a creativity rubric and craftsmanship rubric in assessing their choices for awards. They award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place ribbons for K-1, 2-3, & 4-5 grade levels.  There is also the esteemed "Superintendent's award" that is chosen. This award is given to a artist who's work will be purchased by the Superintendent and displayed in the District Office permanently.

I displayed North Star students' 2-D art work that was selected on 4 large boards and and 3-D pieces on the table top. I have to admit I wished I could have displayed 10 tables worth of work but the space given required me to really think creatively about how to maximize the amount of surface for exhibition. My table was probably more on the "too full" side, but hey, that means more happy kids and families.

The lighting in the gym wasn't ideal, this photo has that fluorescent haze.

North Star Elementary had a strong showing in the award standings, in my opinion. We took home 3 ribbons and many honorable mentions. One of our 4th graders won the 1st place 2-D ribbon for the 4-5 category! We had a 1st grade 3rd place 3-D ribbon awarded and a 2nd place 3-D ribbon for the 4-5 category won by one of our 5th graders! I am so proud of their achievement!

2nd place winner for the 4th-5th 3-D category

What a great show! Now to get ready for next year!

Thanks for stopping by!