Clay Slab Ornaments

           This is a project that I plan to definitely keep doing in the future. In 1st and Kindergarten we finally got to use clay! Which all of the students ask me about all year long - all of them love the days that we can work with clay. So I figured making something for the holidays that could be a keepsake for families would be perfect.
           I ended up picking up and ordering a bunch of cookie cutters from Walmart and Amazon. then I showed my classes how I cut slabs, which are thin pieces of clay and then how they can press their cookie cutters into the slabs to cut out their ornaments. It was a fun and easy project that looks good overall when it is finished. It's really a no-fail project. Which we need from time to time, especially younger grades,
          For the project to be complete we use 3 layers of glaze on the ornaments. Glaze is pottery paint. This took a second class period. Then the 3rd class period of this project I used string to tie up ornaments and let kids make holiday cards. The string and wrapping and putting ornaments in bags took  . . . well, FORVER - hours. But it was worth it and of course I was doing this for about 200 kids - since I have a whole school. But if you are quick and do this while they are making cards or don't have a big group it is different. You could also just have them color right on their bags or print something to color and cut out and glue to the bags. These are ideas for the future.

        Also - one important thing to remember is to make sure to put a hole at the top of each ornament when kids are done for string and to make sure they use a pencil to write their name and possibly the year on the back. Remind kids to not paint the hole or else you could have an issue and have to use hot glue.

Here are some finished results!

Winter Landscapes

    4th and 5th graders are just finishing Winter Landscapes. We drew these in pencil, traced them with black felt tip marker and then finished with crayon, colored pencil and glitter for snow. I originally found this lesson from one of my favorite art blogs - A Faithful Attempt. They are made on paper snow globes instead which I think I prefer and will do next year. 

The link for the original lesson can be found here:

http://afaithfulattempt.blogspot.com/2011/11/sparkling-snow-globes.html

This is a fabulous website that I love and is great for art ideas. This teacher works very hard to research so her students can really enjoy their art curriculum. 

      When I talk to students about vocabulary for this lesson we talk about background, middle ground & foreground. Also, the element of space and creating a house to be more 3-D rather than just a flat shape. They enjoyed this project before the winter break.

Tag Art time!!!

     Every year we seem to pull it together right before our deadline in 5th grade and create our work for this very special program. Tag Art is a great program that the tax collectors office in Polk County and now other counties in Florida have set up to raise money for visual arts classes.
      You can order a vanity plate for your vehicle featuring artwork from 5th grade students at participating schools in Polk County. A large portion of proceeds are then given back to art teachers in the county. I've really enjoyed participating these past few years and have been happy to have the extra money put into my account. It helps me order supplies to allow the kids to create interesting work!

Worm's eye view snowmen

      I'm really happy that I ended up doing this project with my 2nd and 3rd graders. It was the perfect project to have up right before our winter break. I also enjoyed this because it gave me an interesting way to teach perspective. Teaching kids the difference between bird's eye view and worm's eye view made it easier for them to understand perspective as a whole. They also loved this project.
      We used 12"x18" tagboard (thin poster board type of paper) and tempera pucks (which I love) after drawing and outlining our snowmen with pencil and felt tip pen. I will definitely be doing this again with these grade levels in the future.

     I found this project on artsonia.com, which is a huge online gallery of student artwork from all over the country and probably internationally as well. 

    Beginning steps of the project. Drawing, outlining with felt tip marker and coloring parts of snowman with crayon. I made sure to teach students about creating the worm's eye view by showing the bottom of the nose of the snowman and that the size of objects like buttons would grow smaller the further away they are. 

Fall Still Lifes

    I was very excited to see these when kids got finished with them. It was a nice chance for them to utilize observational drawing skills. They ended up liking the colored pencil the most of this project. We used watercolor pencil as an option, which can serve as a nice effect for a background.

      When I start a Still Life project with students I try to give them basic steps:

1. Use careful lines to create basic shapes.

2. Add detail to draw each object in your still life. 

3. Show value by going from light to dark with your drawing tools. 

4. Finish adding value by studying and showing highlights and shadows. 

5. Add color to your background and if you would like details to your background also. 

Here are 5th grade examples: 

I loved this still life with a Halloween side and fall reflection!