Where The Wild Things Are!

First Grade Monsters!! The idea came from Deep Space Sparkle and the students truly enjoyed this lesson. Who doesn't love to create a monster!

Motivation

We began by reading "Where the Wild Things Are." These students come straight from gym, so starting with a story is a great way to settle them down and get focused.

Procedure

I demonstrated how to draw a monster and then added curly lines, wavy lines, zig zag lines, etc.

I photocopied several pages from the story and placed the images on each table. This is Patty's idea from deep space sparkle and I strongly suggest doing this. It really helped the students to achieve some variation when drawing their monsters.  Next, students drew their monsters, added different lines and painted them with tempera cakes. 

Student Work

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Color Wheel Fun With Pre-K Students

Teaching PreK is totally new to me. I have been trying to find a nice balance between art projects that are exploratory and art projects that have a successful product (not easy!).  Teacher Tom and Preschool-Daze both have great things happening in their classrooms! I reference them often for inspiration and ideas. Preschool-Daze created a large color wheel with her students, however, I wanted each student to create one of their own!

I printed out 15 color wheels,

and I prepared 15 plastic cups with odds and ends of various colors (feathers, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, foam shapes buttons, paper clips, etc.).

Students sorted all of their items by color and glued them into place.

Voila, the color wheel!

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Rock N' Roll Love Affair

'Rock N' Roll Love Affair' by stuckinthemudpottery

Red Love paperie a garland ... PaperPolaroid $38.00	HUGE Wood Guitar Bride and G... braggingbags $54.99	Royal Typewriter thevintagewife $185.00
Black and White Trees - tiny... QuietudeQuilts $18.00	Slip-not headband, pleated b... joellecole $14.50	Love- Scattered Scrabble Pie... unforgottensim... $25.00
Music Print stuckinthemudp... $13.00	And On That Note Colorful G ... favmoongirl $6.00	Italy in Black and White Ori... imagesofeveryt... $18.00
Reserved for Leslie Mason - ... Ananya $	Love banner with red fabric ... victorianstati... $	Vintage Woodstock Typewriter... LaBrocanterie $85.00
Garden Party Upcycled Glass ... braggingbags $9.99	Large Wooden Cake Stand SundayHatch $35.00	Set of Glacial Stone Tealigh... brooksbarrow $26.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com A/B image testing.

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A Work of Heart

Here is a book I really enjoy. A Work of Heart: A year of Kindergarten Art Lessons contains a nice collection of art lessons that are age appropriate for Kindergarten children. It offers a visual art curriculum (great for us visual learners) with step-by-step instruction. There really isn't enough to fill an entire school year, but the lesson scaffolding really makes sense and could be used to start out the school year. A kindergartener should have something designed just for them and their special imaginations and abilities. Here it is! 

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My Sketchbook is in the Mail!

Finally, I finished my sketchbook! I decided to really let loose and include a hodge podge of ideas and materials. I drew, printed, painted, cut, burned, wove, and collaged. My theme was Lines and Grids which really allowed me a Ton of Freedom, because what isn't a line? There's straight lines, curvy lines, pencil lines, grid lines, wavy lines, swirly lines, quick-drawn lines, thin lines, thick lines, ribbon lines, etc. In the end, I really enjoyed creating this and can't wait until next year! Here are a few of the pages:

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Monochromatic Painting

9th Grade Students just finished a Monochromatic Painting project.

Materials

Digital Images

Photoshop

Printer

Pallette Paper

Paint

Canvas Board

Procedure

Image

I provided students with a list of copyright free images sites.

Students select (and save) an image of their choice, with the following guidlines: 

-Make sure that the subject is the largest part of the photo.

-Select an image with good value changes.

-It should be a colored image.

Digital Manipulation

1. Launch Photoshop and open image.
2. Go to Image > Image size. Change resolution to 150 and document width to 8" if it is portrait, and 11” if landscape. Make sure the "constrained proportions" is checked. Select inches and not pixels. Click OK.  
3. Go to Image > Mode> Grayscale. You will be asked if you want to discard the color selection. Check OK.
4. Go to Image > Mode > Duotone. A window will come up and you will need to select Monotone in the Type. Click on the colored square and select your color. Click OK.
5. Print image.

Painting

Students drew the image on canvas panel and then painted using Tints and Shades of one color.

I had students complete a tints/shades chart before we began.

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Kinders meet Piet Mondrian

Kindergarten students created their own Piet Mondrian inspired artwork!!

Materials

11"x11" White drawing paper

Red, Blue and Yellow construction paper squares

1/2" strips of black paper

Glue

Scissors

Motivation/Instruction

Discuss the life of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. Explain that he is a famous artist that doesn't want his work to look like a photo. He used big blocks of primary colors in his paintings and he hated the color green.

Procedure

Cut squares and rectangles from the Red, Blue and Yellow paper.

Glue squares of color to the white sheet of paper.

Take the black strips and outline the shapes

If strips are too big, they can be cut off.

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