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A
Bugs Life
In art class students are encouraged to look at the world in a new way. For this project they created a landscape from a bug's point of view. They were encouraged to be creative, and some students even used dialogue! They were told to consider the use of scale when drawing their bugs and the bug's surroundings (picnic table, grass, indoors, outdoors, etc.) They also explored the technique of using crayon and watercolor paint resist.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.4, 2.6, 3.3
Color
Wheel Mixing
Students created an abstract painting that has a color wheel hidden inside of it. They were given only red, yellow, blue, and black paint to complete this assignment. Since they were given the three primary colors they were able to mix all of the other colors. Once their color wheel was done they disguised it by surrounding it with lots of colors, lines and patterns. Can you find the color wheel in each picture?
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.5, 3.2, 5.1
Circle
Patterns ~
Rotational Symmetry
4th grade students learn the term "rotational
symmetry" in their math class, so for a cross curriculum connection
we do a series of projects involving rotational symmetry. In
this project students used a compass to draw perfect concentric
circles in which they drew small pictures or patterns that
rotated around the circle. They colored in their drawings with
markers and did their best to be consistent with their coloring.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 3.2, 4.3, 5.1,
10.1
Andy Warhol ~ Pop Art Logos
Students reviewed the artwork of the American artist Andy Warhol.
They chose a logo from popular culture and made their own carbon
paper to draw the logo four times. They used different color
combinations to color in their logo: Real Colors, Complimentary
Colors, Primary Colors, and Wacky Colors. This is reminiscent of
many of Warhol's screenprints, such as the famous print titled
"Marilyn Monroe". Students noticed Warhol's vibrant
use of color in his images, and they used bright markers to
color in their own pictures.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 3.2, 5.1, 8.3,
10.1
Clay
Trivets ~
Rotational Symmetry
This project is a follow-up to the Circle Pattern drawing. The
students dive deeper into rotational symmetry and this time
create a clay trivet or wall hanging. They use impression or
stamping techniques to make patterns into the clay, then they
use under glazes or glazes to add color to their piece.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 3.2, 4.3,
5.1, 10.1
Contour
Line Partner Portraits
This is a very challenging lesson for fourth grade students, but
they always amaze me at how well they do. Contour line
drawings are pictures where you are not allowed to lift your
pencil at all. The picture is made with one continuous
line. For this lesson the students paired up and drew
their partner two times. They took their favorite of the two
drawings and finished the look by going over their line with
sharpie marker and adding color with tempera cake paint.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, 3.1, 3.2,
5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4
Tessellations
Students create their own tessellation by first making a shape
tracer that can be repeated over and over and over again. It
technically could go on forever. This is harder than it
looks to get started. Once they get going students are amazed
how their drawing falls into place. They can choose a
color scheme if they want, but they are encouraged to make sure
no two shapes of the same color are touching.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3.2,
5.1
Hand
Henna
Students discussed the ceremonial traditions of the Indian
Culture and learned about hand henna. They then created drawings
by tracing their hand numerous times and filling in the shapes
with patterns. Though traditional hand henna does not use
colors, some students chose to use limited colors in their
drawings.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.2, 1.3, 2.5, 3.2, 5.1, 5.2,
6.2, 7.1, 8.3
Warm/Cool
Cursive Name Design
Students learned about warm and cool colors and they will created a organic design that attempts to disguise their name. They practiced writing in cursive, while also practicing their fine motor skills when coloring in the lines.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.5, 2.6, 3.2
Egyptian
Sarcophagus and Cartouche
Students learned the importance of the Egyptian sarcophagus and
cartouche. The Egyptians felt that mummification was important because they believed that the dead would need their body in the afterlife. They believed that everlasting life could be ensured by being pious to the gods, and mummifying the dead. Pharaohs were rich and important Egyptian Kings and their sarcophaguses were often embellished with intricate designs and hieroglyphics. Students imagined that they were once an Egyptian Pharaoh and they designed their own sarcophagus that showed and understanding of symmetry and balance.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3.3, 5.1, 6.2, 8.3, 10.1
Stained
Glass Painting
Students created an abstract painting using a ruler to create
many straight lines. It reminded many students of stained
glass. We talked about color relationships and what
happens when you put certain colors next to each other.
When the students were finished draing their lines with pencil
and oil pastel they used tempera cakes to paint inside the
shapes with a variety of colors. Many students were challenged
to chose only 4 colors and try to create an interesting color
relationship with only those four colors.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 3.2, 5.1,
5.2, 6.1
Stained
Glass Tissue Paper
Student made their own double sided stained glass using black
construction paper and colored tissue paper. This is a
very challenging project because it requires the students to
make very small cuts with no entry point into the paper.... not
to mention the fact that they have to do it twice, once for each
side of black paper. But, in the end their efforts are all
worthwhile because the stained glass looks stunning when hung in
a window.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, 3.2, 3.3,
4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 6.2
Mardi
Gras Masks
One of the students' favorite projects in fourth grade is the
Mardi Gras Masks. We discuss the history of the
celebration before we begin constructing our masks. They
take almost a month to complete. We start by using plaster craft
to form the shape of the mask using a mold. Then we paint the
mask a solid color before going back and painting patterns and
details. The third class involves adding extra embellishments to
get the mask really ready for Mardi Gras. We try to time this
project so it coincides with the Mardi Gras celebration.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 3.3, 4.2,
5.1, 5.2, 6.2, 8.3
Classmate
Portraits
For this project students drew a small portrait of every
person in their class. We then exchanged portraits so every
student got 24 pictures of themselves back, all drawn by a
different classmate. The above example is a collage of the
pictures given to me by a class of Kindergarten students.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1
Magazine Weaving
Weaving is an important skill and also a challenging one. For this project we start off
with an image from a magazine, We draw lines going one way on
the magazine, and the other way on a piece of black paper. One
by one we cut strips off the magazine and weave it into the
black paper. If we get all the strips lined up correctly our
image will show up in our weaving.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.2, 2.5, 3.2
Pointillism
Landscape
Students have experiment with pointillism since the first
grade, but now it is time to try something a little more
challenging. They will create a simple landscape drawing
using pencil, very lightly, and then fill in their picture using
the pointillism techniquqe. The challenge to
their project is that the entire thing must be done only using
"dots", much like the artist George Seurat. From
a distance the colors come together to form the patterns, lines
and shapes. It is a time consuming project that helps teach
students patience and discipline. When they are complete
the students are always very proud of the work they did!
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.3, 2.5, 2.6, 3.2, 5.1,
5.2
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