1st Grade: The Dot Group Painting

"The Dot" Group Painting 

For the students first project, we read the book "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds. This book helps to encourage students that they can all be artists. It shows that all it take to create art is to "just make a mark and see where it takes you".(Peter H. Reynolds)

We talked about how to create art like the girl in the story, using only dots and circles. The students started with a single dot and went from there. The project also provided the young first graders a chance to practice working together. They worked very well in sharing their paint colors and well as working side by side.

Kindergarten "The Dot" Paintings

Kindergarten "The Dot" Paintings

For our first project, I read the story "The Dot" to the kindergarten students. This book helps to teach young students that everyone can be an artist, and it only take one mark to get started. The little girl in the book makes all of her paintings out of circles and dots. We discussed how she mixed dots to make one big dot and how she even made a dot without painting a dot!

The kindergarten students then created their own dot art work. They practiced listening to directions, by either painting only inside the circle to make one big dot, or to paint around the circle to make a dot without painting the dot.

I love the way the watercolors blended together!

K-5: You're All One In A Minion

All of our little ones are special and unique in their own. I like to start of the year reminding myself and them of that. For the first mini project of the school year, grades K-5 created their own personal minion. Each minion must tell me something about them through the clothes or the object in the minions hand. I ended up with soccer minions, ice skater minions, pizza lover minions, and much more! The students minions were hung in the hallway on a board that read " YOU'RE ALL ONE IN A MINION", for the students to see all of the differences as well as similarities that we have here at St. Elizabeth.

6-8: Lift Up Your Peers

 A common mural arts trend has started, when an artist paints very large wings on the side of a building, leaving a spot for someone to stand. The person then looks as though they are wearing the wings. Here is an example,


For the start of the school year, I wanted the students to create a group project together. I also wanted to start the year off on a positive note. So Grades 6-8 helped in creating the individual feathers , each with a positive message on it. The goal is for a student to stand in front of the wings and feel lifted up by their peers. Each feather was created using water color paints, salt, and/or plastic wrap. Each student then used sharpie to add a positive message or word.

I am SO very happy with how these wings turned out, and I'm even happier with the reactions from the students. They were so excited to find their feather and stand in front of the wings. i think they really did lift some spirits!