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.