Spring Trees

Educator Effectiveness took the education world by storm this year in Wisconsin. After a lot of thought on what to do my Student Learning Objective (SLO) on I came up with doing something project based. I decided to work with my second graders on developing the skill of drawing trees more realistically. Our first project that I used for measuring my goal was this one that we created in the fall. In order to see how their skills improved after re-teaching and student led teaching we did a second project this spring.

I Can Statement: I can draw a tree more realistically and use materials in a different way.

Day 1: I introduced the project by talking about how we were going to do a similar project that we did earlier in the year but change how we use the materials. I was really nervous at this point that they were going to be mad that they were doing another tree but the were VERY excited. My thoughts are because of the method of drawing them that I taught them, they didn't mind. It is very fun and almost everyone is successful (see the first link for an explanation of the method).When it was time to review how to draw them I went out on a limb and had a student show it on the document camera. Man am I glad I did, it was awesome. They started with a quick practice sketch to make sure they remembered the process and then got to work.

Day 2: Before they got to work by continuing to draw and color we talked about the two other materials that we were going to use in different ways. We used watered down tempera paint and a thick dry bristly brush and did some dry brush work for the green of the tree and then for the flowers crumpled up tissue paper. The big reminders were color schemes, less is more, and think about it logically when you are adding the green to the tree. Would there be green on the trunk? In the air?

This part of the project didn't take a whole lot of time so when they finished we did a great one class/take it with you extension project that you can see here!

Love these, they are just beautiful!

Symmetry Twins

Did one of my favorite portrait projects again this year with my 2nd graders. Here is my original post on the lesson, no changes were made because it's just that awesome.

Really the best part of this project is the element of surprise when revealing that they are creating a twin on the other side!

So here are my questions...
Number 1, is tracing okay in the art room when this is how it's used? And, number 2, how do you feel about letting them make themselves as devils?

Chalk & Mad Libs

School has officially been out for a week! No better time than now to show you a glimpse of the last day of art for some of my classes...

I mentioned in this post that I was going to do Mad-Libs with my 3-4 bunch the last day in art. It was totally a hit as expected. Here are just a few examples...

I also got outside my with K-2 kiddos after a couple of intense rounds of Art Bingo on a few beautiful spring days!

Kindergarten "I Ain't Gonna Paint No More!" Self Portraits

I said it once, and I'll say it again...If you have not seen or read the children's book "I Ain't Gonna Paint No More" by Karen Beaumont then you are seriously missing out.  This self-portrait project goes perfectly with the book! I did this project before and approached the portrait part the same, you can find a more detailed day by day breakdown HERE with my post from last school year.

The only change that was made to the project was creating the large border of their names. I gave them a large piece of poster paper that had a rectangle traced in the middle that was slightly smaller than 12X18 so they knew that was were their portrait was going. Then I did a demo of all the different silly ways they could write their names. I put a big emphasis that it was only okay to do this in art class and not in the classroom because when I taught last years kiddos how to write their names backwards the Kindergarten teachers said they started doing it in the classroom on worksheets :)

I was really happy with the choice to add their names, I think it really added to the "self" in the portraits!

Portrait Extension

When 3rd and 4th grade students had finished up their Paper Self-Portraits and still had some time to work... I encouraged them to do a pixel portrait!

Here is a youtube video I showed them for pixel inspiration which most of them didn't need thanks to Minecraft!

This extension was a very big hit! You can customize how big you want the squares on all different websites for graph paper and they are free to use and print!

That is me in the blue dress according to one of my students <3 

Paper Self Portraits with 3rd and 4th Grade

Sometimes projects turn out exactly how you envisioned them...and this was that time! It did end up taking slightly longer than I thought it would, nonetheless it was a fantastic end result!

I Can Statement: I can create a self-portrait out of paper that shows my hobbies and interests and meets the checklist requirements.

Day 1: Started the lesson with a quick Prezi about a few mind-blowing paper artists....


Next we looked at my example to determine what it said about me and to guess how many pieces of paper I used to make it. I was smart enough to take a picture of mine before I glued it all down...

Then I presented to them the checklist they were be going to be using for the project to make sure they were meeting requirements, it was attached to an envelope they kept their pieces in while working. This checklist is me hopefully moving in the direction of rubrics!

Here is the checklist:

Days 2-4: Because of the the detail required in this project it took almost all of my groups 3 or 4 days to complete their portraits. Well worth it! When they were totally finished, I had them add their "signature" to add an even more personal touch. SO SO proud.

*One side note, I HATE gluesticks because they just don't stick well. I know I know, hate is a strong word but HATE. My students were not happy about using regular glue but once they saw me putting it on the table and dipping pieces they were thrilled! What a rebel Miss Lapin!

WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I just finished my grades for my almost 800 students--with four standards for each student!

 WITH 11 HOURS TO SPARE!

Here is a celebratory turtle to my accomplishment! 

He came up with a google image search of "celebrate" and at this hour is was the perfect remedy to my fried brain.