I had one random 5th grade class where I only had the girls because the boys had been pulled for a special meeting. I decided to have them do a quick, fun mini-project! I let them choose a color of paper. Then, with gel markers, they made 3-4 squiggly lines down the paper. Then, in the first column, they made smiley lines, in the second, frowny. They repeated this across their page, then got to fill in the lines as they chose. It made a 3D effect that turned out looking pretty cool!

This week, all my classes are learning about art criticism! We started off our lesson by looking at an artwork by Van Gogh and talking about what we like and don’t like in his artwork (positive and negative criticism). Then we looked at two paintings together, one by Monet and one by Picasso, and discussed which one was our favorite and why. We spent a lot of time talking about how each person has a different opinion, and that’s what makes us unique and special! Each grade got to do a different “mini” art project. They had 10 minutes to do it. After the 10 minutes was up, we took an “art walk” where we silently walked around the room and looked at everyone’s creations. Then the students had to find someone’s art in the room they liked and tell them one positive thing about it!

Kindergarten drew pictures of what they want to be when they grow up:

1st grade drew a picture of who they are (portrait of themselves, hobbies, etc):

2nd grade drew imaginary animals:

3rd grade drew a person in a funky outfit:

4th grade drew an invention to help the earth:

5th grade drew a made up super hero:

5th graders learned some interesting things about Africa and the animals that live there. They got to choose an African animal (but could choose other animals if they wanted) to turn into a paper mosaic. Even though we spent two class periods working on this, some did not get quite finished, but they still turned out quite beautifully!

3rd Graders also learned about African animals, and got to choose one to turn into a mask. I created the template and printed them out on cardstock. They had to create a background, then add paper decorations from the scrap bins to complete their animal. They were very creative and did some nice work!

2nd Graders learned about the Wodaabe tribe in Africa who created mirror pouches to communicate with each other by using reflections from the sun out in the desert. They got to create their own pouch using construction paper, tin foil as mirrors, and yarn to string it all together!

Kindergartners learned about the foreground (things in the front) and the background (things in the back) of a work of art. They got to create a background by doing crayon rubbings of sky and grass. Then, for their foreground, they placed trees, and as a final detail, got to choose an animal to stamp in their picture!

4th graders learned about Africa and the various animals that live there. They got to choose their favorite to turn into a yarn painting, in which they traced the lines they had drawn with different colors of string or yarn.

1st Graders learned about Egypt and their ancient hieroglyphic writing. They got to look at what letters from our alphabet translate into hieroglyphics! They used the letters to spell their name and create their very own bookmark!

For second grade’s Japan project, they learned about Kokeshi dolls. They got to create and decorate their own out of paper, then used fabric and ribbon to make a miniature kimono outfit for their doll. They look adorable!

For fifth grade’s Japan project, I showed them how to create and decorate their own origami whale. Then, I taught them a watercolor technique known as “wet on wet”. The students put clean water down on their paper, then add in watercolor. It spreads out and creates a watery effect. Students used this technique to create an ocean habitat for their origami whale to live in!