Art Room at the Beginning of the Year.

So we've really dug into the first couple of weeks of the year and the kids are already working hard to complete their first art projects. It's a time that's full of experiments, both on the part of the students and their artwork and for me as a teacher. I'm learning the personalities of the students and the classes and deciding what will work with each one. It's a stressful time, but also exciting!
I'm especially proud of the 4th and 5th graders who have started the year learning about, and creating projects using some tough stuff. Shading and contour lines. With the 4th graders, we're even trying Continuous Contour Lines! Here's what they've accomplished so far:

4th grade is working on Contour Lines, We learned about how to draw using Contour Lines. We chatted about going slowly, following the line with our eyes as if we were ants crawling, going along the outline, and even trying not the lift our pens! (Check out the video I used to show this, I didn't use it all, but it was neat for them to see) Then we practiced doing a Contour Line drawing of our hands. They were frustrated that their hands didn't 'look right', but it was a good exercise in slowing down and taking our time.

In our next class, I showed them our finished project, which is taking a picture of each student and placing a transparency sheet on top of it so that students can use a Sharpie marker to trace the contours of their face. We also worked on colorful backgrounds to accompany the transparencies when it's all done. Next week we will attach the two and mount it on black paper. I'm excited for this project because it's easy, but they learn a lot and it looks cool! (Inspiration for this project comes from here)

Next, the 5th graders, who have been learning all about shading. We discussed what shading is and why we use it. We came to the general conclusion that we use shading to make objects that are on a 2-D surface appear to be 3-D and realistic. We practiced a bit and then dove right into using oil pastels to shade crayons on black paper. (we traced the crayons the day before we started using oil pastels.) So far so good, although nice and messy so watch out! (inspiration for this project can be found here)

DIY Apron and The First week of School

Just in time for the first week of school, I finished my new DIY Apron! (instructions courtesy of Cassie Stephens! Check her out!) And although we didn't get really dirty during that first week, it was still fun to wear around. A good art teacher needs a good art room apron!

Since this is my first year in this new school, I wanted to really establish my rules and my art room setup to the kids. During the first week, I took all the classes on a tour of the art room. Some, (kindergartners) took an actual walking tour of the room. While the older classes, who have been in the art room many times, only got the new elements pointed out to them. Then we talked for a little bit about what matters most in my art room, which is creative thought. We looked at a thought-provoking picture and the kids had to make up a creative story about what happened in the picture. We talked after that activity about how being good at painting and drawing doesn't matter as much as being a creative thinker.

Picture found on Indulgy

Then to start the year of right, every class did a mini self-portrait. We had a small chat about what a self-portrait is, mostly this was just review, except again for the Kinders. And then we went right into looking at our finished project. A Rainbow Wall of self-portraits, with each student contributing! 

I gave each student a 5x5 white piece of paper and assigned each table a color. Students could only use shades of that color. We chatted about pushing harder or softer to get different shades. We also talked about what should they draw? Head and shoulders, or the whole body? I let the students make a decision. Then I stressed filling in the background to make sure we could really see that the color they were using was represented. After talking simply about these few things, I let the students work for the rest of the time.

Since it was a relatively simple project, it also gave me time to walk around, learn names, make notes about student behavior, and get a feel for how each student worked and what level they are at. (This project idea was found at Mrs. Crosby's Art Room)

We're just starting to assemble it, but it already looks great!