Pi Skyline

For this project it was an art integration lesson with math.  The lesson was on Pi and the history of pi and how the math symbol is never ending.  We were then given a piece of paper that had a little bit of the pi number on it: 3.145962....  We were then given graph paper to draw a pi skyline on it.  We used the numbers in Pi to make our skyline on the graph paper.  Then we colored in the skyline with black sharpie.  We then used watercolors to make a sky or whatever background we wanted.  Then we framed it on a construction paper and attached a notecard with 2 facts about Pi. 

An extension activity with this lesson could be to have the students graph something they were collecting date form in class and make it into a skyline.  For example maybe the students were collecting data on how many class plants grew in the window then they could take that data and make a skyline of those numbers.  You could use this skyline idea for any time of graphing.  This was a very fun activity and a great way to integrate math and art.

3D Fish

For this project we worked with 3-dimensional design.  We talked about the difference between 2D and 3D.  We also learned about the artist Claes Oldenburg.  He has one of his 3D sculptures in Minneapolis called the Spoonbridge and Cherry.  For our project we created a 3D fish with construction paper.  We did a lot of folding and cutting to create the 3D fish.  We cut out eyes, a tail, and fins to add to our fish.  The fish turned out great and this project was a great way to follow a step by step lesson.

An extension activity could be to research other 3D animals the students could make if we were talking about different types of animals in Kindergarten.  We could also use the 3D fish and make more specific types of fish and talk about animals in the ocean and have a lesson on that.  This project is a great way to decorate your room and show off what the students created.

Agamograph

For this project it was a Social Studies and Language Arts integration lesson on american symbols.  We created an agamograph pictured two American symbols.  We learned about American symbols like: Liberty Bell, bald eagle, State of Liberty, and American flag.  We created two American symbols to put onto our agamograph.  We all did the American flag for one of the symbols and then I chose to do the penny for my other symbol.  Then on a notecard we had to write a paragraph explaining why the symbol we chose was important to us to tie in Language Arts. 

An integration activity would be to have the students draw different biomes as a science lesson and make a agamograph.  For example the students could draw a rainforest for one picture of the agamograph and a tundra as another picture.  This would be a great way to bring in the arts while reinforcing what biomes are.

Weaving

For this project, we learned about the history of weaving and the artist Daisy Tougelchee.  We learned how different countries and cultures use weaving.  We made a small coaster for our weaving project.  Each student had a needle and a cardboard loom.  We weaved the needle through the yarn in an over under motion and made our coaster.  It takes a very long time to weave.  Once we finished we tied the ends and trimmed up the edges if they were too long.  I had never weaved before this project so it was very fun to try it out and experience it.  It was very relaxing and calming once you picked up on the motion.

An extension activity could be to create a big classroom blanket that every student had apart of or a classroom quilt that could hang in the room.  Another idea would be to make different shapes, we made a square coaster, the students could make different coaster shapes.

Clay

In my K-8 Art Methods class we worked with the media of clay.  For this project we learned about Georgia O'Keefe.  She is known for her paintings of enlarged flowers and is the mother of American modernism.  Our project was to make clay flowers.  We kneaded the clay then rolled out the clay and made our flower design in the clay.  We put our design into a bowl so we could paint our flower.  I choose the color blue because blue is my favorite color.  We used clay that would self harden without the use of a kiln.

An extension activity could be to have the students make something special for mothers day.  The students could make their design in the clay and give it to their mothers or grandmas on that special day.  Another idea could be to make a design that describes yourself or a symbol that represents you.  We could set up the clay pieces around the room so every student feels accepted and a sense of belongingness in our classroom.

Paper Mosaic

This was a peer taught lesson on mosaics.  We learned about the history of mosaics and how many different kinds of materials can be used to create mosaics.  For our project we made paper mosaics.  We had to think of a scene that involved the season of summer.   Right away I thought of sunshine and water, so I made a sailboat out on the water.  We used color construction paper and cut out different shapes to make our summer scene.  On the notecard at the bottom of my artwork is two facts about mosaics.  

An extension activity could be to use this art project to describe a scene from any children's book read aloud to your class.  The students could sketch their favorite scene from the story and then make a paper mosaic project out of it.  Another idea would be to just create a paper mosaic artwork because it is very fun and relaxing and a great way to decorate your classroom.

Printmaking

Another art media we worked with was printmaking.  This was another peer taught lesson.  For this project, we learned about printmaking and its history.  The printmaking artists that were discussed were Andy Warhol and Helen Frankenthaler.  There are many different types of printmaking but we worked with mono-printing.  We used gelli plates, brayer, acrylic paint, and stencils to make the prints.  Our project was to create prints and experiment with different textures.  For my prints I used one stencil and then I created my own design on the gelli plate using a mini eraser.  I had never done printmaking before so it was very fun to experiment with it.

An extension activity could be to have students find other materials that have good textures and experiment with them.  Have the students go on a texture scavenger hunt.  Another idea would be to find stencils that have letters and the students can print their name.  This could go on their lockers as their name tag.

Painting

This was a peer taught lesson on the art media of painting.  In this lesson we learned about Jackson Pollock and his action panting.  We were given history about his paintings and his life.  We then experimented action painting techniques with sticks, marbles, yarn, pipe cleaners, toothbrushes, and toy cars.  We were then allowed to create our own action painting using the different techniques.  I choose to use 3 warm colors: red, orange, and yellow.  I also used the sticks to paint with and the toy cars.  It was fun to play with the different techniques and use toy cars and toothbrushes to paint with.  I named my painting sunshine because it reminded me of the colors of the sun and warmth.

An extension activity could be to integrate this into a science lesson and use materials from outside on a nature walk and see what type of textures and patterns they make when painting with them.  The students could find different types of leaves or rocks.

Kandinsky Concentric Circles

I presented a third grade oil pastel art lesson to my class.  I integrated this art lesson with music as well as language arts.  The students were introduced to the artist Wassily Kandinsky and looked at some of his abstract art.  I used the children's book "The Noisy Paint Box" by Barb Rosenstock to give the students a look into Kandinsky's life growing up and how he used music and emotion to create his famous artwork.  In my lesson the students created their own concentric circles using warm and cool oil pastel colors, recreating Kandinsky's abstract art.  I brought in music as well during work time because Kandinsky thought he could hear music through his abstract paintings.  Below is a picture of the bulletin board I used to display the artwork the students created. 

Drawing-Surrealism

We have now started our peer teaching projects.  For the first peer teaching lesson our classmate, Hannah, taught a drawing lesson on surrealism for third grade.  She talked about famous artists who used this type of art and showed us some examples.  We were assigned to draw a picture using two adjectives and one noun that we were given.  For my drawing I was given the adjectives: green and silly.  The noun that I was given was pencil.  I had to draw a picture that showed a green silly pencil.  We were able to be very creative with this and make it fun.  We had to have five different colors and it had to take up the whole page.  After we were done drawing our pictures we presented to the class and the class had to try to guess what adjectives and noun our drawing was describing.  Finally we had to write a paragraph talking about our picture and using adjectives and nouns.  This was a great lesson to teach adjectives and nouns.  Parts of speech is a big standard in the early elementary years so Hannah did a great job integrating art into a language arts lesson.  I will definitely be using this lesson in my classroom someday!

An extension activity I would do with this would bring in other parts of speech words such as: adverb, verb, pronoun and then still use adjective and noun.  I really like the idea of drawing what parts of speech words you get and trying to describe the words.  We could then use the drawing as a prompt for a journal entry or typing our story out on the computer and work on our keyboarding skills.  Another activity could be the students use adjectives to describe themselves and make a self portrait of themselves and write the words on the bottom of the page.  This would be a great first week activity to get to know your students and for the students to get to know their peers. 

Starry Night Landscape Collage

In my K-8 Art Methods class we created a starry night landscape collage.  For this project we learned about the artist Vincent Van Gogh.  The main objectives of this lesson was foreground, middle ground, and background.  We also had to create bold lines and shapes with oil pastels.  We were given a dark piece of construction paper and we were told to cover the paper in tissue paper and glue it down.  Next, we made lines and shapes with oil pastels to make it similar to Vincent Van Gogh's painting of the Starry Night.  Then we cut out a landscape that we wanted to be at the bottom of the paper for our landscape.  This activity used many different materials. 

An extension activity could be to have students write about their landscape.  If they choose a city landscape talk about where they are and why they choose that type of landscape.  If they are in the mountains talk about the wildlife and the activities to do in the mountains.  This would be a great writing prompt for students. 

 

Hidden Safari

In our Art Methods class we did an art project call the Hidden Safari.  This project involved warm colors and cool colors as well as drawing.  We drew a safari animal in a cool color (light blue) and then used warm colors to try to "hide" the animal.  We used patterns and repetition with the warm colors to camouflage the safari animal which can only be seen through a pair of red film glasses.  We made the red film glasses in class with certain material.  This would be a very fun activity for kids.  I was even amazed by the hidden animal and how the glasses revealed the animal.  

An extension activity we could do would be the students to write math equations in cool colors and camouflage the equation with warm colors.  We could hang the projects all around the room and the students could walk around solving equations for a math activity.  It would get the students up and moving around the room as well.  This would be a fun activity and hope to use it in my classroom!

The Dot

In class we did an art assignment called The Dot.  We integrated this art project with Language Arts because we listen to a book read aloud called The Dot by Peter Reynolds.  The story was about believing in yourself and never giving up.  In the story everyone thought that a dot was not artwork but it was artwork because it can be whatever you want it to be.  This book had a great message for kids.  I love bringing literature into any activity because children love read alouds.  We then had a chance to make our own dots.  We made the dots out of coffee filters and used different materials when creating the dots like markers, oil pastels, watercolors, and crayons.  It was very fun to explore the new materials and see which ones would blend with the water colors and which materials would not mix.  The white crayon and oil pastel would not mix with water so that was how we could write our name and it would show up on our dot. 

An extension activity could be to still do the read aloud because it is a great way to integrate literature into an art activity and then have the students create their dot with the vocabulary words for the week on the dot or spelling words so they can practice spelling the words on the dot.  This will be a great way to review vocabulary words for the end of the week test in a fun and engaging way.  It will also help the students practice spelling their spelling words without the students even knowing they are practicing spelling.

Kahoot Link

Here is the link to my Kahoot!
https://play.kahoot.it/#/lobby?quizId=2efb8119-ef2b-4940-8e5f-dd0137833983

Elements and Principles of Design

For this project I took 12 different photos representing the Elements and Principles of design.  We put these 12 pictures into a Kahoot game to play with our class.  This could be done in my own classroom someday.  An extension activity I could do with this project is having my students paint or draw the elements and principles of design so they could remember the terms.

Here are my top five pictures that I took.

Movement
Blowing Bubbles

Brandon, SD

Shape

Straws

Brandon, SD

Space

Sculpture Walk- Dandelion

Downtown, Sioux Falls

Line

Picnic Table- Big Sioux Receration

Brandon, SD

Color

Farmers Market

Athens, Greece

Footprint Introduction

For my project I created a footprint introduction of myself.  My footprint describe myself and is a way to introduce myself to my students.  In the middle of my foot I have my teacher name.  On the bottom of my foot I have blue water representing my favorite color blue but also summer time and the lake.  I have an airplane and suitcase representing traveling and taking road-trips with my family.  I have a picture of Niagara Falls in New York which was a fun family trip we went on when I was in middle school.  I have a christmas stocking because my favorite holiday is Christmas.  I have board games at the top of my foot because I love playing board games with friends and family.  I have an oven mitt because I love to bake.  I have the words South Dakota at the bottom because that's where I was born and raised.  I have a picture of coffee because I love coffee and going to cute coffee shops.  Last but not least I have pieces of candy in the corner because I love candy and I will have lots of candy in my future classroom.
An alternative project that I could do with students for an introduction project would be to have the students create an "All About Me T-shirt."  The students will be given a t-shirt outline and they have to fill the t-shirt with pictures that describe them.  The students will be able to present their t-shirts to the class and I will display the t-shirts around the classroom.  This is a great activity to get to know your students and see their creative side.  For younger students we could work on counting the number of pictures they used to describe themselves.  For older students we could work on describing out pictures we drew through poetry or descriptive paragraphs.