Kindergarten Heart Fish

I am on a quest to revive this old blog and share some of the things I am doing in my classroom... so let's get right to it!

Within this post you will find the videos that I use for demonstration - feel free to use! I will never place ads in the videos that I create. You will probably also notice that there is no sound - I like to teach "live" with my videos so I mute them when editing. 

This past week my kinder's enjoyed making these cute little fish collages made of hearts. We focused on skill-building and following directions, so the results are all very similar, but we learned a lot and I feel that projects like these are great for practice and confidence-building! Of course there is a lot to say about symmetry, but I also appreciate the fine motor practice this lesson offers with all the tracing, cutting, and gluing it involves.

I am actually in the middle of a unit with my kinders where we are learning how to spell the color words - this week was R-E-D, red! I use the following song as part of my anticipatory set (not my video - does contain ads):

We then begin creating the fish body and tail step-by-step together:

I start by handing them a 9"x6" red piece of construction paper that I have pre-folded (I just fold a big stack at once to get them going) as well as the 1/2 heart stencils. I am very clear that they are not to begin tracing until I have checked their stencils to make sure they are on the FOLD side of the paper (the crease). Once I give them a "thumb's up," they can trace the OUTSIDE of the 1/2 heart (not the red line, I tell them).

They then return the stencils to me (as I double-check their tracing) and we go over the steps for cutting (many will want to only cut 1/2 the paper).

Once they finish cutting, they dispose of their scraps and join me at the carpet area for a story. My Heart Is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall is the perfect accompaniment to this lesson (you can probably also find read-alouds on YouTube)! After the story and a quick review of the R-E-D song, we go over the remaining directions:

The fish body and tail are glued to a 9"x12" piece of construction paper (I chose purple). In order for it to really have that fish shape, we talk about how the points on the hearts have to face the same direction. We also talk about how it needs to be glued lower on the paper so that there is room for the bubbles. The lips are made from a heart traced onto a 3"x3" pink piece of construction paper and this heart needs to point the opposite direction.

Finally, using the same little heart stencil, they trace 3 heart bubbles from a 4.5"x6" teal/blue piece of paper, including a white crayon/pastel "shine" and of course - the most fun part - a giant googly eye. 

Hope you and your students enjoy this sweet little lesson as much as we did!

If you would like the stencils I used, you can find a pdf here. Pro tip: print onto card stock! It saves you a lot of tracing - but you will need to add the red line and "FOLD" if you wish to have that on there.

The "I'm Done" Conundrum - When students finish their artwork early

It's my fourth year of teaching art, and I feel like I'm just getting a handle on this - and really, there's still room to improve (isn't there always, though?). We've all been there - a few kids finish in 20 minutes, others take the full 50 and then some, and the rest are somewhere in between.

For grades 3-5, I'm extremely happy with my current solution - the "I'm Done" station. We go over all the rules/parts the first day of art class, and it has been a dream ever since. I have 3 different schools, and at each it looks a little different - at one it's a table, at another it's a shelf, and at the third it's a cart. At two of the schools, I like to put the parts away that I don't want used while I'm not there because there tends to be under-supervised children in my room at various points in the week.

All 3 stations have: free draw paper (classic), multiplication flash cards (can never practice too much), clay, origami, individual white boards, and drawing books.

Clay

I use regular old modeling clay that can be found at Wal Mart. I keep small balls in sandwich bags and even though the bags tend to be left open, the clay hasn't dried out yet. My genius moment with this one comes in the place mats that read, "I will keep the clay on this mat." I'm very strict about it - if I see the kids with clay and not a mat, or they have their clay off the mat at any time, they have to put it away and cannot use it the next class either (if I remember, let's be honest). It's enough of a threat that it keeps the clay from flying through the air, or from getting dropped all over the floor, or from getting stuck in a neighbor's ear.

Whiteboards

A kind neighbor teacher drilled a hole in my whiteboards so I can attach a marker - otherwise I'm sure they'd walk away. I'm a fan of the mini ones you see in the picture - I got them at Target - because there's a hole at the top to put the string through, and plus, they're cute.

Origami

For the origami, I keep phone books on hand for the origami paper. I teach the kids the first day how to rip out a page and turn the rectangle into a perfect square by folding over the corner and cutting off the excess with scissors. The ones who don't remember after that have to ask the ones who do. The directions are just laminated pages from a copied origami book.

Flash Cards/Drawing Books

The flash cards can be found at the dollar store or Wal Mart super cheap, and I get the drawing books on clearance at the book store whenever I see them.

I have thoughts of adding more things in the future - maybe puzzles, but I can never find any that don't have too many pieces. Plus, I'd really like them to be art-related. In the future, I might copy some pages from this book and keep them as educational coloring pages:


For K-2, I usually have a coloring page/worksheet that goes with the lesson. I say "usually" because at my school, we have a set-up where we don't make our own copies - we send them to a "copy center," which requires us to give them 48 hours notice. For whatever reason, these worksheets seem to always be an afterthought on my part, and I never get to them in time. But, hey, there is always free draw, and I always stick to the rule that they have to keep working on the same single sheet of free draw paper until art is over. This usually discourages the kids who rush through their project just to scribble on 8 sheets of free draw paper. They get one - no exceptions. And more often than not, they surprise me with their creativity and I love to see what they come up with.

What to do with those drawings they want to give you at the end of class? I find it a bit difficult when I'm trying to give clean-up instructions to the class, and 8 students are trying to hand me their free draw papers that they drew especially for me (I'm sure). So this year, I put in a mailbox. Literally, a U.S.P.S. mailbox that I bought at Wal Mart (you'd think I never shop anywhere else). The kids know that if they want to give me a picture, they just have to quickly and quietly slip it in the mailbox, and I will check it at the end of the day. I have a bulletin board where I tack up these treasures - new ones can just be posted over older ones (sometimes they are seasonal, any way). At the end of the year, I pull them down and only keep the ones that are truly special/adorable. Or, if you ask my students, I keep them all forever and always. : )

At Art with Mr. E, Mr. E posted about a brilliant bulletin board he created for these pictures. It's essentially a large paper refrigerator door titled "Mr. E's Refrigerator Art." I thought it was a clever idea.

Kindergarten Gingerbread Man

This is one of my favorite lessons of the season, mostly because of the joy the kids get out of the story. The way it worked out was kind of a flook - I couldn't find the actual book, so I made a Power Point of the story using clip art as pictures. This ended up working out even better than the book, because I added a few extra "custom" parts. Here's how I tell the story (each line is a new slide):

The Gingerbread Man: Retold by (You)

Once upon a time there was a little old lady and a little old man who lived in a little old cottage.

The little old woman decided to make a gingerbread man for her little old husband for Christmas.

She mixed the ingredients.

She rolled out the dough.

She cut out a gingerbread man shape.

Then she put it in the oven.

The kitchen smelled SO good as the cookie baked. The little old man was very excited. "Is it done yet?" he kept asking.

Finally, he couldn't wait any longer. He peeked into the oven...

And out jumped the gingerbread man! He ran right out the door! "Stop! We want to eat you!" they yelled.

But the gingerbread man kept on running. He shouted, "Run, run, just as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man."

**At this point, I have the students read the "You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man" part whenever it comes up.**

On the path he saw a dog, who happened to be very hungry. "Stop, I want to eat you!" shouted the dog.

But the gingerbread man kept on running. He shouted, "Run, run, just as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man."

He ran through (your school's town). "Stop! We want to eat you!" shouted the townspeople.

**I used a photo of our town I found on our chamber of commerce's website... someday I'd like to take my own.**

But the gingerbread man kept on running. He shouted, "Run, run, just as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man."

He ran through (your school). "Stop!" yelled the students. "Stop!" yelled the teachers. "Stop!" yelled (your principal).

**The kids LOVE this slide. "That's OUR school!" they yell.**

But the gingerbread man kept on running. He shouted, "Run, run, just as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man."

He came to a forest where he saw many animals. "Stop!" yelled the raccoons. "Stop!" yelled the deer. "Stop!" yelled the squirrels.

But the gingerbread man kept on running. He shouted, "Run, run, just as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man."

Soon the gingerbread man came to a wide river. "Oh, no! What am I going to do?!" cried the gingerbread man.

A sly fox came along. "I will take you across the river," he offered. "But you will eat me!" said the gingerbread man. "No I won't. I've already had lunch. Grab onto my tail," the fox insisted. And the gingerbread man did.

But the river was too deep. "Oh, no! My body is getting wet!" cried the gingerbread man.

"Well, climb onto my back and you will be safe," said the fox. And the gingerbread man did.

But the river was still too deep. "Oh, no! My feet are getting wet!" cried the gingerbread man.

"Well, climb onto my head and you will be safe," said the fox. And the gingerbread man did.

But the river was still too deep. "Oh, no! My toes are getting wet!" cried the gingerbread man.

"Well, climb onto my nose and you will be safe," said the fox. And the gingerbread man did.

Suddenly, the fox snapped his head back and gobbled the gingerbread man right up!

The End

I would be happy to e-mail you the Power Point with clip art if you contact me. It's not exactly pretty - but it does the trick. I have dreams of illustrating it myself (or at least making a gingerbread man that doesn't always have a white box around him), but we all know how much free time art teachers have. : )

After the story, we complete a crayon-resist gingerbread man - all wrapped up in a lovely 35-minute session.

Kindergarten Rainbows and Tempera Fun

Well, today was the first day of snow for the winter, so I decided to post about bright colorful rainbows to lighten up this gray, gloomy day.

I use this lesson to not only introduce my kinders to the rainbow order of colors, but it is also my first lesson with tempera. I start out by teaching them my rainbow song (to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"):

Red, orange, yellow, green and blue
Don't forget there's purple, too
All the colors that we know
Live up in a big rainbow
Red, orange, yellow, green and blue
Don't forget there's purple too


I have a big rainbow poster that I point to the colors on while singing, and I also add a few motions. We shake our finger with "Don't forget there's purple too," hold our arms and hands out for "All the colors that we know", and form a rainbow with our arms over our heads for "Live up in a big rainbow." It really sticks in their minds - they always remember it after this lesson.

Then it's demonstration time with the tempera. Here are my procedures:

-I keep the paint in solo cups so I can put the tops back on them and save them for later. It wastes very little paint, it's easy to distribute, and it's a small enough amount that if the color gets too contaminated, I'm not super upset about throwing it away and starting fresh.


-If I'm not going to paint again for a while, I wrap the trays in plastic bags, because the solo cups are not completely air tight when paint gets on the rim (which it will).
-I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE brushes with the shorter handles. The long handles are just too much. School Specialty sells them.
-2-4 students share a paint tray and a water dish, depending on how the tables are set up, which makes set up/clean up faster. I just buy clear deli containers from Gordon Food Service for water dishes, and I'm sure they could be found at Sam's club.
-I also give students a piece of paper towel. To make it easier to pass out, I cut down the side of it with a box cutter.

Since I use the solo cups, it's important that the colors don't contaminate each other. Therefore, I tell them to "Swish, swish, swish - Wipe, wipe, wipe, - Dry, Dry Dry - then Dip the Tip" We say this over and over as we paint so they "Swish" the brush in the water, "Wipe" it on the side (not tap, because then the water splatters everywhere), "Dry" on the paper towel so the colored water doesn't get in the paint, and then they "Dip the Tip" of the brush in the paint.

With the rainbow project, they have to switch colors 6 times, so it's good practice. I pre-draw the top of the rainbow with a pencil to give them a starting point, and when they are finished, I glue the song in a cloud so they can sing it at home!

One of my fav's.

Teaching Tip - Paper, paper, paper

I would guess that if you asked any art teacher what the most important supply is, the answer would probably be paper. That said, everyone has their own needs and wants, and we are often limited by budget.

I'm actually not sure what my budget is per student, but I can afford all the basic supplies, some clay and glazes, and usually one or two special items per yearly purchase, such as texture rubbing plates or new brushes. All in all, I feel pretty lucky.

This is my fourth year teaching art - not exactly a veteran teacher. However, I do feel pretty comfortable with my paper purchases, so here is my limited wisdom on the subject:

Construction Paper
You just can't beat the quality brands like Tru-Ray. The colors are vibrant, the paper is durable, and there is less sun fade than with cheaper papers. Quality construction paper makes the average collage that much nicer. That said, sometimes quantity is more important than quality. After all, you need to have enough paper for all of your projects! The cheaper stuff works just as well in terms of functionality, so it can definitely be something you can compromise on.

Construction Paper Scraps
Kind of off-topic, but I keep a large box of my construction paper scraps, as well as smaller plastic dish washing bins, so I can distribute them to each table. When the pieces get too small or there's too much garbage in the smaller bins, I just dump them and refill from the big box. Just be sure to check for scissors, pencils, etc. that will inevitably be in there, first.

Sketching
Teaching elementary, we do some sketching, but certainly not as much as a middle or high school art class. I like to keep some lightweight manila and newsprint on hand for those situations that I don't need bright white.

Drawing
When it comes to a lesson where we are drawing, I am a sucker for crisp extra extra white drawing paper. I stick with the 50#. My favorite is Sax Extra White Sulfate. One year, I ordered the economical stuff, and was just not happy with the texture, which was almost waxy like newsprint. It made colors look dull, wrinkled and ripped too easily, and pencil lines were difficult to erase. Although I don't feel like you have to get the best of the best, I also believe the cheapest stuff will look, well, cheap.

Painting with Tempera
I don't know if there's a better way, but painting right on construction paper has worked pretty well for me. Yeah, the paper gets pretty flimsy when wet and can rip easily when handled, but it tends to hold up pretty well while the kids are painting. With elementary, it's often nice to start out with a background color, such as a light blue for the sky, so things don't get too muddled together. If the background color doesn't matter or will be completely covered up, a medium-weight manila paper works pretty good, as well.

Painting with Watercolor
This can be controversial somewhat, because I am well aware of the art teachers out there that swear by real watercolor paper and watercolor paper only. I'm actually from the other school of thought - I just don't think it's worth the money. I do buy a small amount for a special project I do with my 5th graders, but other than that, my 50# Sax Extra White Sulfate does the trick. Cheap/economical drawing paper, manila, newsprint, or computer paper? Absolutely not. Most of these papers suck the color right out of the paint, and the paint doesn't stay on the surface long enough to mix colors or spread the paint out.

Tracing Paper
Not much to say about it, but I do a few projects with tracing paper, so I keep it on hand. I buy the packs of 9x12" sheets instead of the roll, because it's just easier when it doesn't roll up on itself when trying to cut or work with it.

Tag board/Railroad Board
I actually haven't needed to purchase any yet because the previous teacher had so much on hand, but I do use tag board for a project every now and again, such as the Aliens project I posted about earlier. It's cheapest to buy in the largest size, and I have found that the black color suits just about every need. I also have lighter-weight manila tag board (feels like a file folder) that I use to make stencils when I need custom ones.

Bulletin Board Paper
While obviously useful for bulletin boards, this can also be used for paper mache to avoid a painting step.

Tissue Paper
Again, not a lot of secret knowledge to pass on about this - A multi-colored pack or two does the trick for me. You just have to think about if you want the colors to bleed, or not, depending on the project. I wish our supplier sold a pack that shipped the large pieces flat, because the folds really tend get annoying when trying to cut small pieces, but I just lay it out and flatten it a few days before I cut it and it's fine.

I believe that's about it. As with any supply, if you can, it's fun to splurge a little bit on a specialty paper for a special project, but if you haven't been buying supplies for a long time, I emphasize the "little bit" until you are very familiar with what you can splurge on and what should be saved for the greater good.

1st Grade - Color Mixing Turkey Collage

This is one of those lessons that I really feel is a keeper. I'm the kind of art teacher who could never do all the same projects year after year, but there are some that I have cemented into my curriculum, and this is one of them.

This takes me two 50-minute sessions. In the first session, I start with a 12x18" piece of white sulfate paper, and have the students fold it into 8 long rectangles. With first grade, this can be quite an experience, but if I take it slow and I check them after each step, I usually only have one or two per class that don't fold it correctly the first time.

We then go through each rectangle and make a pattern of shapes with crayon. The first is blue, second is yellow, third is red, fourth is red/yellow, fifth is red/blue, sixth is yellow/blue, which leaves two blank. I then tell them to watercolor each rectangle with the colors they used in their patterns. If there are two colors in the pattern, they have to mix them, starting with the lightest color first. I love this step because it allows them to discover the secondary colors on their own to see which colors make what. I then let them paint the blank ones however they want, or they can use them to make a color they messed up on before.



During the second class period, we turn the watercolored paper into feathers and create a turkey collage. I happen to be at the Michigan Art Education Association Conference when it was time for my classes to do this part of the lesson, so I made visual posters to direct the students through each step.





I tested it out with a few classes before I left, and I loved how self-directed and independent my little first graders were. I did give them stencils for the body, head, and feathers, and then pre-cut the beak and feet paper into two-inch yellow squares. I then added the googly eyes as a fun way to finish them off.

I love me some googly eyes...



Let me also share with you that I followed up this lesson with my own version of Deep Space Sparkle's Color Mixing Fish. I thought it was a great way to tie up my turkey lesson because they were still mixing colors, but with a slightly different medium (tempera). Hopefully I'll have some of these results up soon!

4th Grade - Aliens!

I was inspired by a post from one of my favorite blogs: That Artist Woman.

Hers is a frog, but at the end she shows a picture of her son's take on the project - a monster/alien/creature. I took this kid's idea and ran with it.

I started out by having my students trace each of their hands on the sides of a 12x18" piece of white sulfur paper (watercolor paper would be good, too). Then they drew the alien's head in the middle, keeping in mind that they would later weave either one or two eyes (their choice) and glue them on. I had stencils that were the size that the eyes would be on hand so students could be sure they would fit. They could also alter the hands to make them more... out of this world, if you will. After they outlined it heavily with crayon, they had to choose a texture (i.e. watercolor technique) : salt, plastic wrap, marker, crayon or oil pastel. We've experimented with all of these before, so students were aware of the effect the technique would make.

Once the paint was dry, they cut out the alien's head and hands and glued them onto a black piece of construction paper. Then, it was time for the weaving. I simplified the weaving a bit compared to the inspiration project... I just have students weave around the tag board itself, making sure they cut 5 slits (an even number will not work... 5 seemed to be the best amount for the size we were working with).


I also had them use yarn that was already multi-colored. I had several choices for them to choose from - most wanted the bright rainbow. Psychedelic, indeed. Once weaved, the eye(s) are glued on and voila! This project was definitely a hallway crowd pleaser.

I still have a few classes to finish this project with, and I think I'm going to have them oil pastel a space background.