FOLLOW THE LINE THROUGH THE HOUSE

To transition from our first trimester unit on line to our second trimester unit on shape we did this project incorporating both elements. I've been wanting to use the cute book by Linda Ljungkvist for awhile, and this lesson was perfect. 

After reading the story students chose geometric shapes to use for a house, planned their composition and glued them with a glue stick. I had different sizes of rectangles, triangles and squares pre-cut for them to choose from. Then they drew details using a sharpie marker. This kept them very engaged, and as always they all came up with interesting stories to go with their pictures!

Animals

I love these magical animals created by 1st and 2nd graders! We started by looking at animals in art, including "Cat and Bird" by Paul Klee and the many Blue Dog paintings by George Rodrigue.

Day 1 we read THE CAT AND THE BIRD, by Geraldine Elschner which was inspired by Klee's painting. What a great idea for a book! To get started I used instructions on how to draw a simple cat from Kathy Barbo's wonderful website, Art Projects for Kids. We looked at how to use basic shapes, beginning with a circle for the head, to draw a variety of animals. The first day they drew with pencils then outlined with sharpies.

Day 2 we read WHY IS BLUE DOG BLUE, by George Rodrigue, then they went to work adding color to their animals using crayons. Day 3 we looked at more examples of Blue Dog with various backgrounds, then used tempera cakes to finish the backgrounds.

Finally, on Day 4, students wrote titles and descriptions for their animals, which they loved doing! For kids who really struggled with writing I transcribed for them.

Beginning of Kindergarten

EVERY year I forget how hard Kindergarten can be at the beginning. The very first day is magical, but as the spell wears off it can get a little crazy. Definitely like herding cats. I always start with reading a story on the rug- and lately this includes reminders on how to sit and listen. I copied this rhyme from another teacher:

Criss cross, apple sauce,

Hands in your lap.

Eyes on Mrs. Freeman

'Cause she likes it like that!

Then, we begin with line. Since our school year is divided into trimesters we focus the first one on line, the second on shape, and the third on color. Reading LINES THAT WIGGLE, by Candace Whitman is a great way to begin talking about and noticing lines. It leads into a search for lines around the art room, and then students create their own line designs on the folders we'll use for the first trimester to hold their art.

Another great book to use early on is the classic, HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, by Crockett Johnson. It's such a strange but mesmerizing story! I followed this story up with time to draw on "magic" scratch art paper. Several students had already used it, but for the ones who hadn't it was very much like magic. Even the students who can still only scribble were engaged for most of our time. 

As students finish they learn to put their work in the designated "Finished Pile" and then choose from options in the Makerspace including clipboards and free draw paper, magnet boards and shapes, chalkboards, and art books to read.

Rainbow Windsocks

Kinder students have been learning about colors and the order they are in to make a rainbow. Later this will help them understand the color wheel and color mixing! 

Our first color project was to experiment with color mixing by having some free choice painting time, then we were ready to try creating a rainbow for these cute windsocks.

We read the magical book, WHAT MAKES A RAINBOW to learn the ingredients (rain, sun, and color!) Students painted their rainbows on paper I had already folded as a "hot dog" using standard watercolor trays (which are already in rainbow order).

Next class we read A RAINBOW OF MY OWN, by Don Freeman (author of CORDUROY). This is a cute story, although we talked about how the rainbow is a little mixed up. Then, students glued strips of tissue paper in rainbow order inside their folded paper to make a color "sandwich." Finally I stapled them into windsocks. They loved dancing around with their own rainbows!

Leprechaun Traps

This may be my students' favorite project of all time! I read them LOOKING FOR LEPRECHAUNS to inspire them to try trapping their very own Leprechaun to lead them to a pot of gold. Then I pulled out all the random items I had saved in my art closet- for example, the "ladders" are from my watercolor refills, the toilet paper tubes were saved by the custodians, and the "nets" are donated ribbons. Of course we needed shiny things to attract the Leprechauns. They had to make a plan and a "shopping list" before I gave them the okay to start building, and then the Leprechaun trap building began!

Each table got a roll of masking tape, and some students were able to build the entire thing with tape. I also hot glued for the students who needed some help. Students had the option to finish their work in one day or take a second day of art to complete the traps. They were all so excited to take these home and try trapping some Leprechauns this weekend- good luck kids!

Robot Collages

Students loved making these robot collages! They were inspired by the book, ROBOT ZOT! by Jon Scieszka,  illustrated by David Shannon.  They started by planning their shapes with the tissue paper- I had pieces pre-cut in squares and rectangles, and they cut smaller pieces out of those. They glued them on using glue brushes and liquid starch.

On Day 2 of this project we read another robot book, RABBIT AND ROBOT: THE SLEEPOVER, by Cece Bell. It was another book that had us all speaking in robot voices for the rest of class. They used black and metallic sharpie to add details to their robots, which really brought them to life!

NOT A BOX and cardboard sculptures

For the first day of this project I started by reading I SPY SHAPES IN ART, by Lucy Micklethwait.  This gives a good introduction to some 3D forms along with a review of 2D shapes in works of art. Each student then chose a large piece of cardboard or mat board as their base, and 2 or 3 geometric shapes I had pre-cut to start their sculpture. They used glue and glue brushes to attach the shapes- I reminded them to count to at least 20 to make sure they stuck. If their pieces wouldn't stick I hot glued them.

For the second day of the project we read NOT A BOX, by Antoinette Portis. My Kindergarten students LOVED this book and the follow up, NOT A STICK, which we read earlier this year. They also had time to add more shapes to their sculpture and paint their sculptures with tempera cakes. Some students added details with markers, string or construction paper too.

 

They were so creative- here are some of their masterpieces on display:

Valentine's Day & Book Giveaway

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays in the Art room! This simple project starts with my own book, LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING, and is perfect for 1st grade and Kindergarten. I'll be giving away a copy of my book on Monday, 2/11/19- just comment below to be entered!

Here's the lesson. I begin by reading to everyone on the classroom rug:

Then I demo how to use origami paper to create a heart. Each class gets a different color so that when finished I can create a rainbow display in the hallway. Color coding also makes it easier to pass back art to students later ; )

I draw a big example of how to draw a heart on the fold, and have students check with me before cutting to avoid wasting paper. When they have cut their heart they can create a design, drawing, or message for someone they love using black felt tip marker. If there's enough time I let them make a second one to bring home.

 Sweet and simple!

Here's the beautiful display my volunteer made: