AMAZING ART IN THE WORKS! Series #2!

December 27, 2017 No Comments

Parents and Students-

To give you a sneak peek into what kids will be creating in art, after returning from winter break, here it is! …

Everyone at ROOSEVELT Elementary will finish up their previous lesson before the break, (if needed), then start the Square 1 Art fundraiser drawings!

Then will continue onto the following lessons as AMVET (read below).

BTW–I have only received the Square 1 Art box for Roosevelt so far. Amvet Elementary will start on them once they arrive!

For students at AMVET ELEMENTARY….

1st Grade:

Mixing Primary colors to create Secondary colors

This is a 1 day lesson. Then in the following class, students will be creating “Mondrian Collages” using primary colors.

2nd Grade:

Finish Monet Inspired 3-D Water Lilies (2M and 2D)

If finished- “Catching Snowflakes” portraits are up next!

3rd Grade:

Finish “Self-Portraits with Personal Symbols” oil pastel drawings

THEN….. Create a “3-D Winter Mug”!!

(PHOTO CREDIT OF 3-D WINTER MUGS ABOVE AND BELOW FROM MELANIE LABONTE-POIRER —VIA PINTEREST)

This will be a new art lesson I’m trying out this year! I don’t have a teacher example of my own or students art to post yet– I’m super excited to try it though, and can’t wait to show my 3rd graders!!!! So fun!

4th Grade:

Finish “Victorian Houses”

Then, create “Wayne Thiebaud inspired Mixed-Media Donuts!”

Donuts Inspired by the amazingly talented Mrs. Cassie Stephens! Thanks Cassie!

Did I mention the sprinkles are created using three-dimensional puffy paint!?! This is one of my favorite lessons!!

5th Grade:

5th Graders will finish their “3-D OP Art Cone Drawings” if needed

Then….

Will start “Falling For Foreshortening” drawings!

Special Education will start a fun “Mixed-Media Sheep collage”

(photo above by “blps_art” via Instagram)

*This will be a new lesson I’m incorporating, and do not have a teacher example or students examples yet– Can’t wait to try it out!! How adorable are these bubble wrap sheep!!

To view more art lessons by grade level, click on the grade level under the drop down menu!

Thanks for stopping by!!

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OP ART -“3D PAPER CONE DRAWINGS”–5TH GRADE!

December 6, 2017 No Comments

5th Graders knocked it out of the park with this lesson!! I’m super proud of their hard work!

Students really LOVED it too and couldn’t believe it could be created using just sharpies, and colored pencils. More on this below!

This lesson took about 5 (40 minute) art classes to complete.

ON DAY 1: Students were introduced to various OP Art by artists Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley, and learned what Op art was (Optical Illusion Art) with a quick slideshow of work.

Six straight lines that intersect at the same spot, were drawn ahead of time on 80# 10×10″ paper for each student with a ruler; Creating 12 “slices” in total.

After kids got their papers, I demonstrated under a document camera as they followed along with me for the first step.

Students then drew a series of concentric curved lines alternating the direction of the curve within each “slice”.

Once finished with that step, students labeled every OTHER slice with a “B” lightly in pencil, to mark that space as black.

This step helps speed things along as kids color in– (just locate the ones labeled “B”), AND reduces any potential mistakes while using Sharpie.

Once that’s all set, students then started tracing over the smallest slices labeled “B” in the center, using a extra fine point Sharpie, (so it wouldn’t bleed too much into the small white sections), then filled in.

As areas got larger, kids switched to a Fine Point Sharpie, (since it has a thicker tip), and colored in the rest.

These 2 steps took about 2- (40 minute) classes to complete.

ON DAY 3, I discussed the element of art VALUE with students and showed them how to create subtle value changes.

Then I demonstrated the next step —using a black colored pencil in the white areas to create shading and shadows, and a white colored pencil in the black areas to create highlights.

Before students started this on their own artwork, I had them practice first on black and white papers.

I explained to students it’s important to draw the lines close together.

It’s also key to press harder with the white in the center, and gradually get lighter and lighter as the white gets closer to the edges of each slice, leaving a bit of black showing along the sides.

Then, using the black colored pencil in just the white areas, they drew darkest along the sides and gradually pressed lighter and lighter towards the center—leaving the center strip white!

Students loved seeing the 3D effect start to emerge!!

Here is my step-by-step video tutorial on this lesson

This is my first you tube tutorial (eep!) I’ve ever created….This is all a bit daunting to me, so please be kind as I’m excited (and NERVOUS!) about creating art tutorial videos. But it’s a goal of mine as an educator to try it out, and my hope is to get better and better at it -eventually adding additional art tutorial videos in the future!

https://youtu.be/pZmahmdqee8

To see more 5th grade art lessons, click on the MENU icon and select 5th Grade art lessons and scroll down!

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“NOT SO SCARY SCARECROW” COLLAGE — 1ST GRADE!

December 6, 2017 No Comments

First graders did such a fantastic job creating all these adorable scarecrow collages!

Just look at all these happy, proud faces! And they should be! I know I am posting a ton, but I couldn’t resist!

On day 1 of the lesson, students learned what a landscape is, and looked at various landscape paintings by the artists Vincent Van Gogh, David Hockney, and Grant Wood for inspiration!

They then created their own landscapes by drawing 3 hills (using curved lines) with different types of lines within each hill.

Then they added a few clouds and a sun either setting, or up in the sky. Then went over all their lines pressing hard with various colored crayons. The only things students colored in completely, were the sun and clouds.

On day two, they painted over their hills and sky, creating a crayon wax-resist technique using liquid watercolors.

On day three, students created a scarecrow using little cardboard shirts, pants, and skirt tracers onto different cut patterned papers.

They glued down a couple pieces of raffia for arms, buttons, then added additional details with oil pastels, like hats, hair, facial details, and crows!

For more art lesson ideas and additional Scarecrow collages– click on 1st Grade Art Lessons listed under the Menu –then scroll down! Thanks for stopping by!

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ABSTRACT SELF-PORTRAITS -2nd Grade

October 28, 2017 2 Comments

This is one of my FAVORITE art lessons for 2nd grade!! I LOVE each and every one of them!!

(More info. and how they were created below! Plus a little virtual gallery walk video!)

This fun self-portrait lesson combines art exploration in abstract art and color theory!

This lesson took (3) 40 minute art classes to finish.

On the first day of the lesson, students learned about abstract artwork and looked at a slideshow of artwork by various abstract painters (Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Joan Miro, Jackson Pollock and William de Cooning). We discussed how abstract art focuses mainly on lines, shapes, and colors.

ON DAY 1 After viewing the slideshow and doing a quick demo, students drew an abstract drawing using various lines, and shapes on 12×18″ medium weight tagboard. Students then went over all their lines with crayons being sure to press super hard (later on we would do a crayon wax-resist). They then filled out a short questionnaire with questions asking about their favorite things and things about themselves.

ON DAY 2 They painted their drawings using concentrated liquid watercolors creating a crayon wax-resist. Before painting we reviewed what the primary colors, secondary colors and warm and cool colors were. While kids worked, I took each students photo (which I later printed as a high-contrast black & white photo on printer paper).

ON DAY 3 Students glued their black and white self-portrait onto their painting. I printed these out ahead of time and cut each one out (not only to save time, but to ensure that no one would lose fingers or ears etc. when trying to cut them out themselves!!)

As I was cutting them out, I piled them up on top of each other and thought this was kind of a cool picture in of itself!

Then students cut out their pre-printed sentences into strips (Yep….I also typed up ALL kids answers and printed them out in Word…I know, I know…) and added them to their paintings using a glue stick! I’m not gonna lie….A LOT of prep went into this lesson– BUT–I think they’re too awesome not to do it!

Students are able to create and identify abstract artwork, use a variety of line and shape to create their drawings, learn about abstract artists and their artwork and can identify primary, secondary, warm and cool colors!

I hope you enjoy these awesome abstract self-portraits as much as I do!!

**Here’s a fun little virtual “gallery walk” video of all their artwork!!**

FYI– Parents—-Students at Roosevelt aren’t finished yet— I’ll be taking kids pics next week and then the following week they will finish them up!!! Also my cell decided to die as I was trying to get everyone’s artwork in the video above -so not all student work is in this video unfortunately. I tried!

To view additional abstract self-portraits by 2nd grade from previous years click on the menu and select 2nd grade art lessons and scroll down!

Thanks for visiting my blog!!

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1ST- 5TH GRADE SKETCHBOOKS!

October 15, 2017 No Comments

In the beginning of every year I have all my students create their own sketchbook, that will be used periodically throughout the whole year.

Each grade has a different drawing lesson to create a cover for their sketchbooks. Sketchbooks will be used to free draw in if kids finish a lesson early, to practice drawing before creating a final version for a lesson, to copy down information that they’ve learned about a particular lesson, and to experiment in with various art materials.

5th grade – Superhero Sketchbook Covers

5th graders looked at a variety of superhero comic book cover illustrations and then came up with their own unique superheroes demonstrating their superpowers. They had a choice of creating sidekicks, whether they wanted to include a villain and created a background scene. Drawings were then outlined in black sharpie and colored in with a choice of marker or colored pencil or both.

I love this drawing lesson because it allows so much creativity! Each one is so unique!

AS YOU’LL SEE BELOW, SOME STUDENTS ARE STILL WORKING, BUT COULDN’T WAIT TO SHOW THEM! I WILL RE-POST THEIR FINAL VERSIONS ONCE COMPLETE LATER.

STUDENTS FILLED OUT A WORKSHEET ON THE FIRST DAY TO PLAN OUT THEIR IDEAS FIRST.

PHOTOS OF 5TH GRADERS WORKING ON THEIR SUPERHEROES!

***To view superhero sketchbooks from previous years, click on the menu button and select 5th grade art lessons and scroll down.

Up next!!!…..OP ART 3D CONE DRAWINGS!

4TH GRADE – INITIAL DESIGN WITH ANALOGOUS

COLORS

For this lesson, students created a tracer of their initials from manila tagboard using block letters. Students could draw their letters on the tagboard either stacked on top of one another, side by side, diagonally, and could flip them backwards.

Once cut out as one piece, they traced their initials at least 8 times, creating an interesting design and went over their lines with black sharpie.

They then drew a background design with pencil, and colored in only the background with markers using analogous colors, leaving their initials white so they popped from the colorful background.

PHOTOS OF 4TH GRADERS WORKING ON THEIR ARTWORK!

UP NEXT!…… VICTORIAN HOUSE DRAWINGS!

3RD GRADE- ART TOOL SKETCHBOOK COVERS

Third graders chose 1 art tool (they could choose from: scissors, hole punchers, staplers, tape dispensers, foam rollers, glue bottles, or paint bottles) and created observational drawings of their chosen tool from 4 different viewpoints (from the top, from the bottom, from the side, and from the front). Kids could also draw additional drawings of their tool once the 4 viewpoints were drawn and could draw some of them coming off the page or overlap some.

Once drawn in pencil, they outlined in sharpie and colored in using marker or colored pencils, or both.

3RD GRADERS WORKING ON THEIR ART!

(Students are currently working on their “Finish the Picture” lesson)

UP NEXT!…..DAY OF THE DEAD SKULL DRAWINGS ON TINFOIL!!

2ND GRADE- WARM/COOL HANDS WITH PATTERNS

Second graders created a drawing of their hand with patterns inside their hand and in the background and then colored in using warm colors inside just the hand and cool colors only in the background (or vice versa) with marker.

This student is still coloring in, but is doing such a fantastic job had to post it! Nice work Milo!

(2nd graders are now working on their “Abstract self-portrait paintings!”)

UP NEXT!….MONET INSPIRED MIXED-MEDIA 3D WATER LILY

**1ST GRADE- LINES THAT WIGGLE DRAWINGS**

First graders listened to the fun story “Lines That Wiggle” by Candace Whitman. We then looked around the room and did a line scavenger hunt with our eyes!

Students drew at least 8 loopy, overlapping lines with pencil. We talked about how it kind of looked like a rollercoaster! We also discussed how when lines connect, it creates a shape! Students then outlined all their lines with black sharpie, and colored in each shape created with marker!

(1st Graders are currently working on their “Pumpkin’s Starry Night” lesson inspired by Van Gogh!)

UP NEXT!….. “NOT SO SCARY SCARECROW” COLLAGE!

I am SOoo excited because I have SO many NEW awesome art lessons planned for the year that I KNOW the kids are going to LOVE!!

I cannot WAIT to get started on them! (There will be least 1 new lesson per grade) and can’t wait to show you!

Of course many of my previous art lessons will still happen because they are keepers and students love them as much as I do!!

Some new ones will start right away and some are coming up later on the year!! Stay tuned!!…..❤️

Best,

Mollie

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ART is for EVERYONE!

September 19, 2017 No Comments

LEAF BIRDS!

My special education classes just finished their super cute leaf bird collages inspired by Art with Mr. Giannetto (via Instagram)! Thanks for the idea Mr. Giannetto!

On day 1 They glued strips of brown paper for branches, applied yellow painted dots with their finger, and added leaves using crumpled tinfoil dipped in green paint.

On day 2 They glued their leaves for the birds body, added a triangle for a beak, and googly eyes and a feather to complete their collage!

Since the second part was only going to take a few minutes, we started another art lesson for the remaining time in class.

They stamped black lines and circles using cardboard and a plastic cup on 12×18″ paper. We talked about horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines as well as shapes (in this case; circles) and overlapping lines and shapes.

We looked at Kandinsky’s abstract artwork for inspiration.

In the following art class we will add paint to the shapes created to finish our masterpieces!

I teach 2 special education classes at one school in my art room and 1 class at another school off a cart. The classes are small (usually up to 4 or 5 kids) with AMAZING paraprofessionals that assist them while they create. Their ages can range from 1st-5th grade and they have varying physical and mental challenges.

When I plan lessons for these students I think about their ability and what they will feel successful at, what can I have them work on to improve their fine motor skills, speech, social skills, emotional processing and of course, what they will enjoy! A lot of the lessons are tactile, which are especially nice for my hearing impaired and visually impaired students.

Modifying the tools and techniques are important for these kids. Sometimes the para’s bring in special equipment like small easel boards that can mount onto the wheelchair or special sized scissors or electric cutting tools. I also offer large handle paintbrushes, wide pencils and sometimes have things pre-cut or use tracers to help them draw and collage together. Smaller items to glue or alter (like bending pipe cleaners for instance) also help students develop their fine motor skills.

Most of my students I see year after year in the same class…which makes it a bit tricky coming up with new lessons every year for them. Especially since most lessons are 1 day projects (at best, 2 day projects). I sometimes repeat lessons that are just way too awesome not to, but I try to switch up the art lessons so they don’t bring home the same projects year after year. That way they are learning new art concepts and techniques AND creating new art each time too!

I get so many awesome ideas from my fellow art teachers in my district, (love you guys!!) fellow teachers on Instagram, art teacher blogs, as well as on Pinterest. Oftentimes I’ll see a lesson for kindergarten or 1st grade and just modify it a bit. A BIG thanks to EVERY ONE of you AMAZING art teachers out there sharing your awesome lessons!! It’s so wonderful and helpful to have those great resources! I hope that my lessons help you out as well!

If you teach special needs kids too, what are some of you’re favorite art lessons?

Please respond by clicking on “no comments” directly under the title of this post or “comment” if someone has already commented.

To view previous student artwork with lesson descriptions for special needs scroll under my menu on the main page and select special education!

Some of my favorites I’ve taught are shown below! (all photos are of student artwork only)

Follow me at mammalovespeaches on Instagram for more elementary art lesson ideas!

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Sharing and Showcasing Art Education Ideas

August 9, 2017 1 Comment

Welcome to my new website/blog!

I’m an elementary public school art teacher (1st-5th grade) in MA. I’m so excited to start this new online adventure and learn from/get feedback from all you amazing art teachers out there! Hopefully you’ll find my site useful too! I’m also very excited to share student’s artwork with all the North Attleboro families where I teach!

Here you’ll find:

· Elementary art lessons with lesson descriptions and learning goals with photos of student art work that I’ve taught over the years

· FREE art lesson Powerpoint downloads with printables!

· Fun photos of kids working on their awesome art

· Talk of any creative happenings in the art room

· News of any exciting art related upcoming events

· Teaching reflections

· Links to fun art games and videos

· Tons of photos

All student artwork on this site is a combination of 1st-5th grade art from the two elementary schools that I’ve taught at in North Attleboro, MA since Sept. 2014.

Below are some of my favorite art lessons I’ve taught. To learn more about them, and view additional pics of student artwork, please click on the art lesson grade level in the menu and scroll down!

I hope that you find this website helpful for use in your art classroom or at home with your own kids! Look around and let me know what you think!

Thanks for visiting and checking out my website!

Best,

Mollie

1st Grade Bubblegum Blowing Self-portrait

Parents and Students-

To give you a sneak peek into what kids will be creating in art, after returning from winter break, here it is! …

Everyone at ROOSEVELT Elementary will finish up their previous lesson before the break, (if needed), then start the Square 1 Art fundraiser drawings!

Then will continue onto the following lessons as AMVET (read below).

BTW–I have only received the Square 1 Art box for Roosevelt so far. Amvet Elementary will start on them once they arrive!

For students at AMVET ELEMENTARY….

1st Grade:

Mixing Primary colors to create Secondary colors

This is a 1 day lesson. Then in the following class, students will be creating “Mondrian Collages” using primary colors.

2nd Grade:

Finish Monet Inspired 3-D Water Lilies (2M and 2D)

If finished- “Catching Snowflakes” portraits are up next!

3rd Grade:

Finish “Self-Portraits with Personal Symbols” oil pastel drawings

THEN….. Create a “3-D Winter Mug”!!

(**PHOTO CREDIT OF 3-D WINTER MUGS ABOVE AND BELOW FROM MELANIE LABONTE-POIRER —VIA PINTEREST**)

This will be a new art lesson I’m trying out this year! I don’t have a teacher example of my own or students art to post yet– I’m super excited to try it though, and can’t wait to show my 3rd graders!!!! So fun!

4th Grade:

Finish “Victorian Houses”

Then, create “Wayne Thiebaud inspired Mixed-Media Donuts!”

Donuts Inspired by the amazingly talented Mrs. Cassie Stephens! Thanks Cassie!

Did I mention the sprinkles are created using three-dimensional puffy paint!?! This is one of my favorite lessons!!

5th Grade:

5th Graders will finish their “3-D OP Art Cone Drawings” if needed

Then….

Will start “Falling For Foreshortening” drawings!

Special Education will start a fun “Mixed-Media Sheep collage”

(photo above by “blps_art” via Instagram)

*This will be a new lesson I’m incorporating, and do not have a teacher example or students examples yet– Can’t wait to try it out!! How adorable are these bubble wrap sheep!!

To view more art lessons by grade level, click on the grade level under the drop down menu!

Thanks for stopping by!!

5th Graders knocked it out of the park with this lesson!! I’m super proud of their hard work!

Students really LOVED it too and couldn’t believe it could be created using just sharpies, and colored pencils. More on this below!

This lesson took about 5 (40 minute) art classes to complete.

ON DAY 1: Students were introduced to various OP Art by artists Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley, and learned what Op art was (Optical Illusion Art) with a quick slideshow of work.

Six straight lines that intersect at the same spot, were drawn ahead of time on 80# 10×10″ paper for each student with a ruler; Creating 12 “slices” in total.

After kids got their papers, I demonstrated under a document camera as they followed along with me for the first step.

Students then drew a series of concentric curved lines alternating the direction of the curve within each “slice”.

Once finished with that step, students labeled every OTHER slice with a “B” lightly in pencil, to mark that space as black.

This step helps speed things along as kids color in– (just locate the ones labeled “B”), AND reduces any potential mistakes while using Sharpie.

Once that’s all set, students then started tracing over the smallest slices labeled “B” in the center, using a extra fine point Sharpie, (so it wouldn’t bleed too much into the small white sections), then filled in.

As areas got larger, kids switched to a Fine Point Sharpie, (since it has a thicker tip), and colored in the rest.

These 2 steps took about 2- (40 minute) classes to complete.

ON DAY 3, I discussed the element of art VALUE with students and showed them how to create subtle value changes.

Then I demonstrated the next step —using a black colored pencil in the white areas to create shading and shadows, and a white colored pencil in the black areas to create highlights.

Before students started this on their own artwork, I had them practice first on black and white papers.

I explained to students it’s important to draw the lines close together.

It’s also key to press harder with the white in the center, and gradually get lighter and lighter as the white gets closer to the edges of each slice, leaving a bit of black showing along the sides.

Then, using the black colored pencil in just the white areas, they drew darkest along the sides and gradually pressed lighter and lighter towards the center—leaving the center strip white!

Students loved seeing the 3D effect start to emerge!!

Here is my step-by-step video tutorial on this lesson

To see more 5th grade art lessons, click on the MENU icon and select 5th Grade art lessons and scroll down!

First graders did such a fantastic job creating all these adorable scarecrow collages!

Just look at all these happy, proud faces! And they should be! I know I am posting a ton, but I couldn’t resist!

On day 1 of the lesson, students learned what a landscape is, and looked at various landscape paintings by the artists Vincent Van Gogh, David Hockney, and Grant Wood for inspiration!

They then created their own landscapes by drawing 3 hills (using curved lines) with different types of lines within each hill.

Then they added a few clouds and a sun either setting, or up in the sky. Then went over all their lines pressing hard with various colored crayons. The only things students colored in completely, were the sun and clouds.

On day two, they painted over their hills and sky, creating a crayon wax-resist technique using liquid watercolors.

On day three, students created a scarecrow using little cardboard shirts, pants, and skirt tracers onto different cut patterned papers.

They glued down a couple pieces of raffia for arms, buttons, then added additional details with oil pastels, like hats, hair, facial details, and crows!

For more art lesson ideas and additional Scarecrow collages– click on 1st Grade Art Lessons listed under the Menu –then scroll down! Thanks for stopping by!

Here’s a fun little virtual “gallery walk” video of all their artwork!!

5th grade – Superhero Sketchbook Covers

STUDENTS FILLED OUT A WORKSHEET ON THE FIRST DAY TO PLAN OUT THEIR IDEAS FIRST.

PHOTOS OF 5TH GRADERS WORKING ON THEIR SUPERHEROES!

***To view superhero sketchbooks from previous years, click on the menu button and select 5th grade art lessons and scroll down.

Up next!!!…..OP ART 3D CONE DRAWINGS!

4TH GRADE – INITIAL DESIGN WITH ANALOGOUS

COLORS

PHOTOS OF 4TH GRADERS WORKING ON THEIR ARTWORK!

UP NEXT!…… VICTORIAN HOUSE DRAWINGS!

3RD GRADE- ART TOOL SKETCHBOOK COVERS

3RD GRADERS WORKING ON THEIR ART!

(Students are currently working on their “Finish the Picture” lesson)

UP NEXT!…..DAY OF THE DEAD SKULL DRAWINGS ON TINFOIL!!

2ND GRADE- WARM/COOL HANDS WITH PATTERNS

(2nd graders are now working on their “Abstract self-portrait paintings!”)

UP NEXT!….MONET INSPIRED MIXED-MEDIA 3D WATER LILY

1ST GRADE- LINES THAT WIGGLE DRAWINGS

(1st Graders are currently working on their “Pumpkin’s Starry Night” lesson inspired by Van Gogh!)

(PHOTO CREDIT OF 3-D WINTER MUGS ABOVE AND BELOW FROM MELANIE LABONTE-POIRER —VIA PINTEREST)

**Here’s a fun little virtual “gallery walk” video of all their artwork!!**

**1ST GRADE- LINES THAT WIGGLE DRAWINGS**