Third Grade Outer Space

Today third grade ventured into the galaxies with their art.  First we talked about how to make a tint, by adding white to any color. Using 3 tints that students mixed, they pounced distant stars on black paper.  Then they received their little textured papers from last week. Each student made 4 papers by sliding texture combs through tempera paint. These were creatively cut into stars, suns, comets, planets, moons, shooting stars,   and even earth. Here are a few closeups of some of their celestial creations. Now all that is left is to create the astronaut........

First Grade Clay

First graders heard a book about dinosaurs. They learned the word Paleontologist. They learned that dinosaurs were reptiles.  Then they drew their own versions of dinosaurs. Today they received a chunk of clay.  Their challenge was to mold and form a baby dinosaur hatching from its egg.  We formed the egg by making little pinch pot. Some drew cracks and splinters to show it was broken open. Another piece of clay was used to pinch and pull to form a baby dinosaur. Dinos were placed into the eggs. In a few weeks these will be dry and fired in the kiln. Then  the artists will get to paint their creations.

Kinder Jelly Fish swimming along!

Kinders are doing a great job on their jelly fish! Today they cut out the bell shaped head, cut strips of cool colored papers (blue, green, purple) paper for tentacles, and attached them with glue. This step was especially fun because I gave them the fancy scissors that cut with different kinds of lines. They also used hole punches to add some "pizzaz" to the tentacles. Next week we will  add faces and glue our jellies in our  oceans!  Be sure to check back!

Grade 2 Drawing BIG

Today we read another bird story. Then the children scattered around the room with 18x36" tag board. Their challenge was to draw a huge bird with long legs, and fill it with lines and patterns.
Only one or two kiddos could fit at a table. Everyone else chose a floor spot. Seemed to go well for today.  We will see what happens with paints and cups of water next week..........

Third Grade Space

Third graders watched a short slide show I made about the history of space exploration in America. They were fascinated!  Some kiddos have read a lot about space and had a lot to share. Others had a lot of questions. Fortunately I had several books from the library, because I struggled with a few of the questions!  I grew up watching astronauts land and walk on the moon. I  also raised 4 sons  who were, and are, very scientifically minded. I had a lot of Space books in my home.  I still have more to learn!
 Today we painted textured papers using texture combs.  It was tons of fun, very process oriented, and successful. We will save these to collage planets, moons, asteroids, shooting stars, etc.  We will need a few weeks working on this project!  More to come!
Thanks to Painted Paper for the inspiration.

Kindergarten Jellyfish project

Kinders are now learning about Cool Colors:  green, blue, purple. Today they also learned about wavy lines and painted an ocean for their jelly fish.  More to come!

5th grade batik

Fifth graders are getting batiks finished in some classes. It takes several weeks as each step needs to dry. After drawing the animals, students applied the resist to the silk hoop. Then next week they paint in the areas with dye. Salt can be sprinkled on for added effect.  Then the resist is washed out with gentle rubbing and warm water.  Below are some images of each step.