Here is a sampling of artwork that was on display at Barnes and Noble for a school fund raiser. I could only choose a few per grade which was a very difficult task! Many of the projects were based on Shel Silverstein poems, others were 'best works' from the year so far.
Kindergarten:
Students looked at Kandinsky's "Concentric Circles" and then painted their own shapes in a similar layout. The students were able to explore color-mixing and worked on mastering their painting techniques. They also loved saying "WASSILY KANDINSKY!"
Kindergarten also created fall leaf compositions using cu-tips. The students learned about warm colors, tracing straight lines and look what happens when the wind blows!
First Grade Hippos!
In first grade we read the poem "Hippo's Hope" by Shel Silverstein. We learned how to mix the color purple and control our small brushes. Most importantly...don't forget the ears!
There once was a hippo who wanted to fly -- Fly-hi-dee, try-hi-dee, my-hi-dee-ho. So he sewed him some wings that could flap through the sky -- Sky-hi-dee, fly-hi-dee, why-hi-dee-go. He climbed to the top of a mountain of snow -- Snow-hi-dee, slow-hi-dee, oh-hi-dee-hoo. With the clouds high above and the sea down below -- Where-hi-dee, there-hi-dee, scare-hi-dee-boo. (Happy ending) And he flipped and he flapped and he bellowed so loud -- Now-hi-dee, loud-hi-dee, proud-hi-dee-poop. And he sailed like an eagle, off into the clouds -- High-hi-dee, fly-hi-dee, bye-hi-dee-boop.
Second Grade: TREE HOUSES!
Second grade students read "A Tree House" by Shel Silverstein and then created these fantastic 'dream tree-houses.' The student's classroom teacher spent class time looking at tree houses and creating collage poetry. The students brought their poetry to class as inspiration for their art-making! The students worked on color-mixing, painting techniques, perspective and overlapping. The students also made their houses look 3-dimensional!
A Tree House
A tree house, a free house,
A secret you and me house,
A high up in the leafy branches
Cozy as can be house.
A street house, a neat house,
Be sure and wipe your feet house
Is not my kind of house at all~
Let's go live in a tree house.
Shel Silverstein
3rd Grade: "One inch Tall"
Students read the poem "One inch tall" by Shel Silverstein and then created an illustration based on the idea of being only one inch tall. The students focused on colored pencil techniques and perspective.
One Inch Tall- Shel Silverstein
If you were only one inch tall, you’d ride a worm to school.
The teardrop of a crying ant would be your swimming pool.
A crumb of cake would be a feast
And last you seven days at least,
A flea would be a frightening beast
If you were one inch tall.
If you were only one inch tall, you’d walk beneath the door,
And it would take about a month to get down to the store.
A bit of fluff would be your bed,
You’d swing upon a spider’s thread,
And wear a thimble on your head
If you were one inch tall.
You’d surf across the kitchen sink upon a stick of gum.
You couldn’t hug your mama, you’d just have to hug her thumb.
You’d run from people’s feet in fright,
To move a pen would take all night,
(This poem took fourteen years to write–
‘Cause I’m just one inch tall).
4th Grade: Picasso Portraits
The fourth graders looked at paintings and drawings by Pablo Picasso and searched for ways that he exaggerated facial features. I found a great website that illustrates Picasso's techniques, www.mrpicassohead.com The students did drawing exercises included blind contours, drawing with your eyes closed and drawing portraits in 5 seconds in order to explore different ways of drawing. The students then look at all of their warm-up drawings in order to decide what to put in their final composition. The students used oil pastels and contour lines for this project.
5th Grade: Cezanne's Apples
The Fifth graders looked at paintings by Paul Cezanne for inspiration on this project. We talked about still-lifes, composition and color mixing. The healthy fruit of the month at our school was apples so we decided that apples would be the perfect object for our paintings. Students took time to study all the colors found in a wide variety of apples and were encouraged to exaggerate those colors in their painting. The students practiced painting techniques, color-mixing and composition.
6th Grade: Printmaking
The artwork from sixth grade are examples from a school-wide enrichment program. For this enrichment each grade is learning basic printmaking techniques that will be built upon throughout the year. The sixth grade followed a reduction printmaking process that required three colors. This project was process-oriented and created a basis of understanding for future printmaking projects.
Kindergarten also created fall leaf compositions using cu-tips. The students learned about warm colors, tracing straight lines and look what happens when the wind blows!
