3rd grade donuts!

This is new project for third grade this year.  They learned a lot about value and how to use watercolor to create the illusion of a three dimensional object.  We drew the donuts by tracing a can for the large circle and a bottle lid for the center.  We added a couple of lines to give them depth, then began painting, using a darker version and a lighter version of the same color.  I think they turned out deliciously!!  :)

Watercolor winter wonderland in 5th grade

I usually repeat this project every year in 5th grade and this year was no exception.  I had some really nice ones this year too.  We decided to use black tempera for the trees because I've found that few students can get the black watercolor dark enough and they tended to look gray in previous years.  So we did everything else in watercolor and then last painted the foreground trees.

Snowy cityscapes in 4th grade

This is a new project in 4th grade this year and I think it may be a keeper!  We discussed line, shape, perspective, and of course foreground, midground, and background while creating these colorful cityscapes. 

Schulz Self Portraits in 1st grade!

My first graders learned a little about Charles Schulz to create these adorable self portraits.  We drew them together and they added details to make them unique.  I always love to see how cute these turn out.  Each one has it's own personality, just like the students that created them!  

Happy Valentine's Day!

I began this quick and easy lesson on form and shape with a substitute one day a few weeks ago.  Once I returned we went into more depth (no pun intended!) about how the curved lines make our hearts appear to pop out of the page.  We also talked a bit about the color spectrum so some students chose to do theirs in color spectrum order, although that wasn't a requirement.  We used one of my favorite mediums (besides paint of course!) Crayola Color sticks.  We even incorporated some fraction math by dividing the heart.  I should also mention that we drew everything in pencil first, then traced in Sharpie.  Otherwise you'll have black sharpie all over your rulers!  Instructions are posted at the bottom! :)  

Kinder raccoons in winter!

So I'm having a bit of a battle with blogger lately... apparently they are not updating the app anymore, which makes it difficult to upload pictures!  I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way now that the app is not an option so apologies for the delays between posts!  Kinders are working on these adorable raccoons and finishing up this week.  We did a little directed drawing, then painted the sky and the gray parts of the raccoon, and last we are coloring the black parts and the hat and scarf.  I love how they are turning out!

Christmas 2016!!

We are "wrapping" up Christmas here the art room! Here's a few things we have been working on this season!

These students looked so cute walking back with their elf legs I couldn't resist snapping a photo!!

A few trees waiting for decorations!  A fellow art teacher showed us these when she hosted the art teachers for a workshop a couple of weeks ago!  I don't do a ton of crafty stuff with 5th grade so I think they really enjoyed these!  Thanks for the idea Tracey!!  

Santa suits are always a favorite and are great for teaching about value and blending!

I love this lightbulb project and it's awesome for a sub plan too!  

1st grade made these Merry little Santas!

I hope you all have a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!

~Mrs. Crisco

The first of the painted paper fish

Some of my younger grades are finishing up their fish this week.  My older students are still busy making theirs three-dimensional, as theirs are more of a sculpture than a collage.  I'll share theirs soon!

 We used large hole punchers in various sizes for the dots.  They were doing an awesome job... but there's always that one...

Yeah... so I had to incorporate a little math into my lesson after that by having them count out a certain number before gluing them on.  Hers is beautiful though, I will give her that! :)  

Happy Tuesday!!

Mrs. K

Our school has experienced an unexpected and tragic loss.  We found out early Tuesday morning that our beloved librarian had passed away.  Our hearts are broken and we are numb with sadness and disbelief.

Mrs. K was truly special.  She was generous and kind, uniquely artistic, with a bubbling personality that we all adored.  As cliche as it sounds, to know her was to love her.  Her positive attitude was infectious.

Our library is a warm, inviting and beautiful place to be.  Her "touches" were everywhere, from the soft glowing lamps, the decorations that changed with every season, and even her own works of art were displayed on walls and doors.  As a fellow teacher said, "she had a way of making it feel like home."  

Even at the coffee bar, she had a yummy seasonal soap for us to use.  If you were having a bad day or just needed a little pick me up, you could stop by for a chat or even a "kiss!"  :)  She kept a jar of Hershey's kisses just for teachers who needed a little chocolate that day.

I will miss the artsy chats I had with her.  She "got" things that only make sense to an artist; and when I sometimes felt a little crazy and out of place, she made me feel as if I wasn't the only crazy art person around!  We talked paint and furniture, canvases and brushes.  She loved art as much as she loved books.  She would graciously hang my students' artwork up for display in the library and outside in the hallway.  She never complained when I had so many I couldn't narrow it down.  She would always find a place to hang them.  She was as excited about their work as I was and couldn't wait to hang up our fish projects.

Wednesday was one of the hardest days of my teaching career so far.  As we worked on our painted paper fish, I couldn't help but think of her and how much she would love them.  I'd saved showing them to her because I wanted to surprise her with the finished ones.  She never got to see them.  As I was cleaning up from one of my 4th grade classes, I found this subtle sentiment on one of my tracing templates, which happened to be shaped like tear drops...

...and they did.  Our students are mourning her loss right along with us.

We loved Mrs. K and will miss her so much.

Fishing around!

I always try to start off my first days of classes with a little bit of "art." Something fun and easy that that kids love.  Something so the kids don't say "are we gonna do any art today?" at the end of class.  :)

  Painted paper is just that.  I have a small stash of painted paper left from last year, but I needed to add to it for the projects coming up.  I had planned to do fish in 1st grade, and something different for the other grade levels, but then saw the gorgeous bulletin board that my awesome art teacher friend Michelle did over at tinyartroom.wordpress.com and decided I would love to create a school wide display too!  So I kinda copied her.  But I think she's ok with it.  Although I didn't ask.  Maybe I should?  Nah.  :) 

I also checked out Cassie Stephens' lesson featuring the book, You Be You and loved the painted rock flying fish from the illustrations so we used that to kick off this project.  

First of all, a little about how I handle painted paper projects.  I tried putting containers of scraps for the kids to use for small projects, but I couldn't stand the way the containers looked as if they'd thrown up all over the tables by the end of the day.  Not to mention all the wasted paper that kids didn't want to use just because it wasn't a big enough sheet.  So... I cut the paper down in sizes, letting them choose a big sheet for the body, a small sheet for the face, and then I cut lots of little squares for all the details:

Nice and neat, and very little waste!  Yay.  

Now on to the fish!  We started with an oval for the body, traced the front of the oval onto the smaller piece for the face, then cut and glued those together.  This is as far as some classes got the first day.  The next class we started adding the details like fins, tails, and scales.  I try to encourage them to use the ENTIRE square, just trimming the edges to change the shape, so we don't have tiny little details or wasted paper.  They are turning out pretty awesome so far. I can't wait to share the finished ones!  

Here are a few in progress and I'll update as we go!