Please Don't Eat the Paste

Alright, it was glue time. I made a follow up collage video to introduce it. With Kinder, I put a lot of things to song in order to help students remember routines as well as boost comprehension (in other words, please excuse my singing on this video!). I find it to be a really effective way to keep students engaged as well as to help preview a structure for using specific materials. In addition to this video, we also made a "Class Collage" on the SmartBoard in order to review the differences between overlapping, touching, and apart.

On a related note... It was really neat to see the range of development in the class. For some, once the glue came out, any inkling of a composition or arrangement was out... It became all about gluing everything and anything anywhere there was open space. For others they stuck to the composition that had laid out (I didn't give them the glue until the last 10 minutes of class). Others were still focused on sorting their shapes by color, and never quite got to the glue. We'll be spending a couple of weeks on collage to make sure everyone has an opportunity to explore what they need to explore, as well as make a final collage project.

Next Up: Scissors! And yes, there will be a song.

Getting into Shape

Kinder has started their collage unit! I think they were getting a bit tired of drawing materials, and honestly, I was ready to move on as well. We started our collage unit by arranging pre-cut shapes on a plain format, no glue, no scissors. I start this way deliberately in order to allow students to focus on creating compositions by arranging their shapes in terms of overlapping, touching, apart, etc.

This is the video I created to introduce collage for Kinder.

Here are some photos of our adventures!


Next Up: Glue!

Line by Line!

Here are some photographs of students' line explorations. They twisted, curved, straightened, built, zigged, zagged, you name it. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed watching them experiment as much as I think the enjoyed experimenting.

In terms of curriculum, I used this exploration day as a transition between our drawing/line unit and collage/shape unit for Kinder and first grade. The materials we used gave students the opportunity to practice arranging elements to create multiple compositions. In many of the images you can see how students are creating "organization systems" for each material whether it be separating, stacking, overlapping, etc. More on that soon as we move into collage!

For now, some photos.

Exploring Line!

I took some inspiration from Ms. Gonzalez over at Briargrove Elementary Art Page. We have been exploring line in Kinder, making giant drawings, and little drawings, using all different types of lines, even practicing on the SmartBoard! (I wish I could share those files here, does anyone know a way?) This week we explored different materials that could make lines (pipe cleaners, foam, yarn, and block crayons). I think it may have been the most fun I've had this year. I debated whether or not to make a video... In the end, after a couple kids tried to eat crayons the week before, I decided just a general video showing how to responsibly use materials wouldn't be such a bad idea. After all, some of them are only 4!

I made this version especially for the blog. The original video I showed to classes, had an extra scene with students getting materials out and putting them away. Using students in videos is something I'm trying to do a lot this year. I always liked having kids give demonstrations, giving them the opportunity to teach...and being in a video in basically one step up from that. Plus it's a whole lotta fun.

Pictures of their creation to come!

Sketchbook Assembly!

Here is the video students watched on how to assemble their sketchbooks. It was a two period process. We spend the first period drawing our covers, filling them with lines inspired by Kandinsky and coloring in shapes we created. The second day focused on binding our sketchbooks and finishing up any drawing that needed to be done on the cover. If students finished early, they had an opportunity to make their first sketch.

A Creative & Green Effort

At the end of every school year there are always tidbits of crayons and oil pastels with no great place to go... Too worn down and broken to use as intended, but unbearable to throw away. Whenever I've asked other art teachers what do to, the overwhelming response is "melt them down..." So I finally did it. I used a mini-brownie mold (sorry Mom), and filled each mini-square with broken bits and then put it in an oven at about 250-275 degrees for about 15 minutes.

And, poof!
New, exciting marbled gems to create with. I am now inspired to find a mold more exciting than squares. Hmmm. Some research will be in order.

However, as I was peeling crayons on my couch I started thinking about how I would present these to students. I tried to imagine how they might use them. I'm thinking about using them when we make rubbings in October. They're a nice shape to grip, and spread so easily over large surfaces... Although, They'd also be interesting to just draw with as you can achieve a multitude of lines - thick, thin, hard, soft, you name it. Other ideas?

Sketchbooks and Line

Things are definitely underway in the art studio. First graders and second graders have been working on creating their sketchbook covers. We made sketchbooks last year, but I didn't utilize them to the best of my ability. One of my goals this year it to incorporate them into my daily lesson by using them for vocabulary, "Do Nows," and 3 minute brainstorms. I have often gone back and forth on the best use of sketchbooks, or if it would be better to use a portfolio/folder where they could "collect" their sketches and such. We'll see how it goes this year...

In order to facilitate there use throughout the year, we made our sketchbooks so that they could be easily refilled with 8.5" x 14" copy paper folded in half, and slipped under the yarn (video to be posted). The construction paper is 9" x 15."

I took the sketchbooks as an opportunity to also introduce our first element of art this year! LINE! We looked at the work of Kandinsky, and talked about the different lines we saw, naming them as we went along. As I mentioned both first and second both made covers, but I differentiated between the two as follows.

First Graders drew 8 different lines with a black crayon, making each line touch two edges. They then used construction paper crayons to color in the new shapes created when the lines overlapped.

Second Graders drew 6 different lines and 6 different shapes with a black crayon (we noticed shapes when we looked at Kandinsky's paintings as well and revisited the difference between geometric and organic), and then colored in their new shapes with construction paper crayons. We also talked about layering crayons on top of each other to achieve new colors.

I love projects like this, with firm structures and guidelines, mostly because it's always amazing to see how differently each student interprets the assignment. There are no two drawings alike.

From here first graders will be moving on to observational drawing with felt pens while second graders will be brushing up on their playground design skills. Meanwhile K is also beginning a Line unit, thinking how to use their arm and hand in different ways to make different types of lines. On Friday we made collaborative drawings, filling giant pieces of craft paper with all different types of line, some made slow like turtles, some made fast like lightening. Very fun, pictures to come of that soon!