5th Grade: American Gothic Parodies

The paint work "American Gothic" by Grant Wood is a strange painting indeed, but maybe you can ask your fifth graders why it became so famous. It is a painting that has been used time and time again as a parody. Fifth grade and I looked at some parody examples before creating their own versions. I looked for a similar composition, the Gothic style window and blending two crayon colors together somewhere. After crayons they used watercolor paints.

1st Grade: Kandinsky Hearts

Thinking of those we love as we approach Valentines Day! I loves hearing first grade talk about who they want to give their heart paintings to as they worked. In the spirit of Valentines day first grade used Kandinsky circles to inspire these heart paintings. They include both crayons and water color paints.

2nd Grade: Henri Rousseau Jungle Animals

Second grade learned about the foreground, middle ground, and background to create these jungle scenes. First we created our background to the jungle using crayon and blue watercolor paint. Then we created our jungle animal in the middle ground using markers. Last step was to create the fore ground to hide our animals behind and to add texture, using tissue paper.

8th Grade: Scratch board Animals

This project is one of my favorites. The texture and details that can be captured using scratch boards is amazing. After reviewing all our art elements in the lst project, it is nice to recognize the ones found in the project,such as, texture, value, and line.This years animals turned out AMAZING! I am so proud of my eighth graders!

1st Grade: Juan Miro Abstract Drawings

If you have ever looked at the work of Juan Miro, you know that his work is quite imaginative, filled with odd shapes and strange looking figures. First grade and I took closer looks at his work, discussing what we saw as well as trying to mimic some of the shapes he used on the board. We practiced drawing his shapes to see the thought that he put into designing them focusing on the face that they were not just a scribble of lines. First grade's assignment was to create their own abstract drawing, including 4-5 figures and filling the space around those figures with thought out shapes. We also discussed color scheme, as Miro usually sticks with the primary colors and sometimes an additional few. The students were to choose any color scheme they liked, limited to four colors.
I love the excitement the students get when given the opportunity to use their creative side.

Kindergarten: Winter Sunsets

Kindergarten practiced their paint mixing skills for this project. They were able to see how they could slowly change from yellow to purple paint. This project also included stamping techniques, using sponges and rollers to create the trees and snow.