We are working with watercolor in 5th grade to create these beautiful winter scenes. We discussed opacity in regards to different types of paint, and learning how we have to work from lightest to darkest with watercolor. By letting each area dry thoroughly, we avoid unwanted "explosions" of color. More pictures coming soon!
Monday, February 24, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Snowflakes
Just beautiful and perfect for the weather we've been having lately!
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
WHERE IS THE RED?!?!?!?!?!
Anyone else frustrated with the lack of RED in Crayola's construction paper crayons? Me too! It's amazing how limited you are when you don't have red. I discovered a solution by accident last year as we were working on these adorable self portraits in 1st grade. There was not a great color for lighter skintones, and I had the new Crayola Color Sticks, which I also love. The color sticks are also limited color choices, but by combining color sticks and construction paper crayons on this project, the results were just perfect! Color sticks are a unique material, they're not like crayons, or chalk, or even a colored pencil. I love using them on dark papers, but they are also great on white.
Finally!! A red that works on black paper!!
I just love how these turn out each year!
Monday, February 17, 2014
Fox Box Instructions
I posted the fox boxes at the end of last year and had someone ask for the instructions, so here they are! I hope you can make sense of the pictures, sometimes its difficult to see the folds in photographs!
Start with three squares, I used 6 inch squares for my fox box.
Fold one square in half on the diagonal.
Then fold in half again, and unfold, leaving a guide fold.
Fold each bottom corner up to the top corner, lining the edge up with the guide fold crease, forming a diamond. These will become the fox's ears.
Rotate the unit around and fold up the inside layer of paper to make the fox's nose.
Repeat these steps with the remaining two squares...
To assemble, turn the fox faces all toward the center, with the back of the heads all turned out, and remember that the mouths eat the ears! Insert both ears of one fox into the mouth of another...
Then slide them together as far as they will go...
Carefully put the ears of the last fox into the mouth of the partially assembled piece... that leaves a set of ears and a mouth....
Insert the last set of ears into the only remaining "mouth."
Wiggle the pieces together, trying to close up the opening on each side where all the colors come together. Now you're finished! :) Sometimes if students finish early, I allow them to challenge themselves by making a smaller box, and then smaller, to see how small they can make one! Have fun!
Monday, February 10, 2014
I'm BAAAAAACK! :)
...and it's a BOY!! This little bundle of sweetness is what has been keeping me busy for that last three months! We named him Gray and he was born on November 3, 2013. We are so in love!
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Cat Silhouette Sunsets - 5th grade
I did a similar project last year with 5th grade that used blue and purple hues to create a glowing moon. I saw this one on Pinterest and just had to try it with my 5th graders! This project is great for teaching painting techniques, using just the right amount of pressure to create thin lines. Students have a tendency to smash their brushes onto the paper to get as much paint out as they can before dipping the brush again! I try to encourage them to dip their brush as often as they need to in order to make smooth lines.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
1st grade pumpkin ornaments
I usually do some type of ornament out of model magic or salt dough around Christmas, and this year I will be on maternity leave during that time so I have other things planned for art! So I thought I'd switch up and do ornaments for Fall! We created these cute little pumpkins on the first day, then painted them during the next class. Of course the kids loved making these! :)
Labels:
1st grade,
clay,
fall,
model magic,
pumpkins,
salt dough
Kindergarten pumpkin mosaics
I do this project every year with kindergarten. It's wonderful for teaching them how to properly use glue and is great for their fine motor skills! I draw the pumpkins on black paper. Then they glue the triangles around the outline out of the pumpkin first before they begin filling in the middle. I encourage them to put the pieces together like a puzzle instead of piling them on randomly. It takes a while to complete, but the results are beautiful. I precut the triangles, but if you have time, you could have them cut their own.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
4th grade Halloween houses
We are getting an early start on Halloween this year in 4th grade! We did these Halloween houses by drawing them together step by step in white colored pencil on black paper. We discussed all the whimsial details they could add, such as pumpkins, ghosts, curly trees, black cats, and stars. If you have students that do not celebrate Halloween, they can leave off the ghosts and jack-o-lanterns, and just have pumpkins for fall "funhouses." I reminded students that they shouldn't be too worried about getting their houses straight, since they should look stretched and whimsical on purpose! They are turning out great! Here are a few for you to enjoy!
Monday, October 7, 2013
Big news!
I'm not sure I've officially announced on my blog yet, but we are expecting a baby November 3! I'm a little late in posting, since we only have about 4 weeks left, but I thought I should share so that if I seem to disappear for a little while around Thanksgiving and Christmas... you'll know why! This is our third baby, and like our first two girls, we did not find out the gender, so we are excited to see whether we'll have a boy or girl in just a few more weeks!!
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