elementary art lessons classroom management
Geometry is such a fun topic to practice in 1st Grade! There are so many hands-on ways to work with shapes and fractions. Furthermore, many students
First Grade art students are studying the art of Vincent Van Gogh. We looked at many of his paintings and discussed his unique brush strokes that create such vivid textures in his colorful paintings. We then read a great book called "Vincent's Colors" from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that shows many of Van Gogh's artworks accompanied by his own words describing them, from letters to his brother Theo. Then we studied one of his most famous works of art "Starry Night." Students recreated their own versions of starry night and made it closer to home, over the city of Austin. Students also recreated the textured strokes using oil pastels. This project is so wonderful because in spite of everyone doing the same subject matter, each child's art comes out so unique with their style of applying the oil pastels. Enjoy!
This week, first grade will be starting a Charley Harper inspired artwork! He was an American artist who simplified nature into basic shapes, in a style which he called "Minimal Realism". You can learn more about Mr. Harper and view more of his works at his gallery website. After looking at examples of Mr. Harper's work, we will start on our own! We used blue Tru-Ray construction paper for the background 90lb Sax Multimedia paper for the birch trees Red Tru-ray paper Black tempera paint Cardboard Pencils, & Sharpie makers First we'll create the look of bark for our birch trees, by adding black paint to our white paper. We will use cardboard lightly dipped in black paint and drag it across the paper to achieve this effect. After the black paint had dried some, we can cut out the trees and place them on the background. I think while we're waiting for the black to dry, I'll have the children use Q-tips to paint white dots in the background for snow. Next, we'll add the cardinals! We'll use simple shapes like teardrops, half of an oval, crescents, and triangles to create the body parts of the birds. They do not have to create the same exact birds I did. Some of these shapes could be quite the challenge for some. If they just want to do teardrops and triangles, then they can do just that! After we have our birds glued on, we'll create their iconic black masks, and add their beaks. I used black and yellow orange Tru-Ray paper to do so. I notice that when the birds are looking straight at you, Mr. Harper used a "U" shape for the beak, and the mask. So, that's what I used too! If they just want to cut out triangles, they can just do triangles! I added eyes with a Sharpie marker, after I glued the mask, and beak on. Can't wait to see what 1st grade will do with theirs! Stay tuned for some awesome art! Thanks to The Colors of My Day for the inspiration too! “Lauren Stacey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”
I am linking up with Fourth Grade Frolics for Monday Made It. This year I am going with a bird theme in my room. It just kind of happened. I already had a great picture I bought last year at my school's art auction. Then I happened upon these, and that's all she wrote! I have a small space above some of my cabinets in my room. Over the years I have tried to put decorative items on the soffit, but to no avail. It was just too small of a distance from cabinet to ceiling and nothing looked right, until now. Yay! I found these at Kirklands and they were the perfect size. I then saw these bird houses at Hobby Lobby. Again, just the right size. Now I was happy. :) I bought the houses and some paint and this is what happened: I am going to snip the string off the small houses, but they came in handy as I was painting them. I am heading up to my room to add them to my decor. Once my room is put together I will snap some photos and post them. Of course I am thinking of bird things to do with my little sweeties once school starts. I saw this on Pinterest and immediately knew I would be doing something like this. I then found some free bird clipart on TpT and made this. It is part of my upcoming bird pack I am working on. If you would like a copy click HERE. I also made a PowerPoint presentation for one of my classes last week. It goes with the book 'The Day the Crayons Quit'. I plan on using it on my interactive whiteboard to check comprehension after I read the story to my little learners. They will be able to choose an answer, touch it, and the correct answer will stay on the screen. I would love any feedback if you choose to view it and/or use it with your class. The Day the Crayons Quit - Revised from lolaragan Thanks for reading! Have a great day. :)
The past couple of weeks, 1st grade has been working on their Solomons, which are inspired by the author and illustrator, Catherine Rayner, and her book, Solomon the Crocodile. I originally found this idea on Art Room Britt's blog! Here's how we created our own! Materials: Sax 90lb paper Crayola Artista II watercolors Big Kid's Choice paintbrushes pencils Sharpies Solomon the Crocodile Day 1: We read the book, Solomon the Crocodile, and then we created our own! We started with the eye, did the zig zag back next, drew the upper half of the mouth, then the teeth, lower jaw, and then the neck! Then, we drew a few dragonflies! Their drawings are so great! Then we traced them with sharpie, and added watercolor. We painted Solomon with water first, and then added the paint for a wet on wet technique. Here's some great 1st grade examples! Here's a video, showing how to draw Solomon the Crocodile DISCLOSURE: LINKS TO PRODUCTS ARE AFFILIATE LINKS, WHICH MEANS I GET A SMALL COMPENSATION FOR SALES. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR BLOG!
This week, first grade will be starting a Charley Harper inspired artwork! He was an American artist who simplified nature into basic shapes, in a style which he called "Minimal Realism". You can learn more about Mr. Harper and view more of his works at his gallery website. After looking at examples of Mr. Harper's work, we will start on our own! We used blue Tru-Ray construction paper for the background 90lb Sax Multimedia paper for the birch trees Red Tru-ray paper Black tempera paint Cardboard Pencils, & Sharpie makers First we'll create the look of bark for our birch trees, by adding black paint to our white paper. We will use cardboard lightly dipped in black paint and drag it across the paper to achieve this effect. After the black paint had dried some, we can cut out the trees and place them on the background. I think while we're waiting for the black to dry, I'll have the children use Q-tips to paint white dots in the background for snow. Next, we'll add the cardinals! We'll use simple shapes like teardrops, half of an oval, crescents, and triangles to create the body parts of the birds. They do not have to create the same exact birds I did. Some of these shapes could be quite the challenge for some. If they just want to do teardrops and triangles, then they can do just that! After we have our birds glued on, we'll create their iconic black masks, and add their beaks. I used black and yellow orange Tru-Ray paper to do so. I notice that when the birds are looking straight at you, Mr. Harper used a "U" shape for the beak, and the mask. So, that's what I used too! If they just want to cut out triangles, they can just do triangles! I added eyes with a Sharpie marker, after I glued the mask, and beak on. Can't wait to see what 1st grade will do with theirs! Stay tuned for some awesome art! Thanks to The Colors of My Day for the inspiration too! “Lauren Stacey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”
This week, first grade will be starting a Charley Harper inspired artwork! He was an American artist who simplified nature into basic shapes, in a style which he called "Minimal Realism". You can learn more about Mr. Harper and view more of his works at his gallery website. After looking at examples of Mr. Harper's work, we will start on our own! We used blue Tru-Ray construction paper for the background 90lb Sax Multimedia paper for the birch trees Red Tru-ray paper Black tempera paint Cardboard Pencils, & Sharpie makers First we'll create the look of bark for our birch trees, by adding black paint to our white paper. We will use cardboard lightly dipped in black paint and drag it across the paper to achieve this effect. After the black paint had dried some, we can cut out the trees and place them on the background. I think while we're waiting for the black to dry, I'll have the children use Q-tips to paint white dots in the background for snow. Next, we'll add the cardinals! We'll use simple shapes like teardrops, half of an oval, crescents, and triangles to create the body parts of the birds. They do not have to create the same exact birds I did. Some of these shapes could be quite the challenge for some. If they just want to do teardrops and triangles, then they can do just that! After we have our birds glued on, we'll create their iconic black masks, and add their beaks. I used black and yellow orange Tru-Ray paper to do so. I notice that when the birds are looking straight at you, Mr. Harper used a "U" shape for the beak, and the mask. So, that's what I used too! If they just want to cut out triangles, they can just do triangles! I added eyes with a Sharpie marker, after I glued the mask, and beak on. Can't wait to see what 1st grade will do with theirs! Stay tuned for some awesome art! Thanks to The Colors of My Day for the inspiration too! “Lauren Stacey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”
This week, first grade will be starting a Charley Harper inspired artwork! He was an American artist who simplified nature into basic shapes, in a style which he called "Minimal Realism". You can learn more about Mr. Harper and view more of his works at his gallery website. After looking at examples of Mr. Harper's work, we will start on our own! We used blue Tru-Ray construction paper for the background 90lb Sax Multimedia paper for the birch trees Red Tru-ray paper Black tempera paint Cardboard Pencils, & Sharpie makers First we'll create the look of bark for our birch trees, by adding black paint to our white paper. We will use cardboard lightly dipped in black paint and drag it across the paper to achieve this effect. After the black paint had dried some, we can cut out the trees and place them on the background. I think while we're waiting for the black to dry, I'll have the children use Q-tips to paint white dots in the background for snow. Next, we'll add the cardinals! We'll use simple shapes like teardrops, half of an oval, crescents, and triangles to create the body parts of the birds. They do not have to create the same exact birds I did. Some of these shapes could be quite the challenge for some. If they just want to do teardrops and triangles, then they can do just that! After we have our birds glued on, we'll create their iconic black masks, and add their beaks. I used black and yellow orange Tru-Ray paper to do so. I notice that when the birds are looking straight at you, Mr. Harper used a "U" shape for the beak, and the mask. So, that's what I used too! If they just want to cut out triangles, they can just do triangles! I added eyes with a Sharpie marker, after I glued the mask, and beak on. Can't wait to see what 1st grade will do with theirs! Stay tuned for some awesome art! Thanks to The Colors of My Day for the inspiration too! “Lauren Stacey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”
These fun, engaging, NO PREP word work activities help students practice their words effectively and are the perfect option for your 1st or 2nd grade class!
First grade is a very important year where students are building a strong foundation in their journey for mathematical proficiency. One of the most
My first graders are studying Claude Monet right now! First we watched a cute video (below) to learn about the artist Then we drew the garden and the Japanese bridge with oil pastels on watercolor paper. Students had to use three different shades of green, have lily pads that begin large at the bottom of the page and get smaller as they go up the page. The lilies can be any color, detailed or blobs. We used cool colors for the water, plants, and tree reflections. I use liquid watercolors because they are the BEST!! Before each student takes their paper to the table I swipe the whole paper with a very very wet towel. Then they begin with some splotches of turquoise Then they use blue Then bits of purple, making sure to leave the top and bottom for the green Then finally add the green at the top for the trees reflecting on the water and on the bottom for the grass You can add salt for texture OPTIONAL Then finally we use a dark green watercolor marker to add some Here is the version with salt after it dried. I love how it created a green vignette around the top!
Our favorite 2nd grade anchor charts for math, language arts, and beyond. You'll definitely want to use some of these in your classroom.
We all know how much I love self portrait activities. I love how each of my kids draw themselves to reflect their personality. So when I saw...
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Monet's Japanese Bridge and Water Lilies one of my favorite Monet paintings and my first graders put an awesome spin on the famous painting picking a bridge color of their own and swirling their paint colors to make mesmerizing backgrounds.
These free printable sight word matching mittens are a super fun literacy center in Pre-K, Kindergarten, or 1st grade for winter!
With students in your classroom who may not have the basics of sentence writing completely down yet, it can be overwhelming to plan tackling opinion writing with students in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. For young
The winners are... THANKS to everyone for stopping by to enter! If you are a winner, please contact me to let me know if you want the addition or multiplication sets. To show my APPRECIATION to everyone... Click the picture below to grab your own copy of Froggy Facts Doubles Game. And spinners to go with it, just in case you don't have 10 sided dice. P.S. My friend at Learn with Me in Grade Three is getting ready to celebrate 100 FOLLOWERS with her first GIVEAWAY. I have joined with her to give away more of these game sets. If you didn't win here, be sure to stop by to get more chances to win. She's a little nervous so let's all support her. Good Luck!
This week we talked about greater than less than. I found this free flipchart on TpT from the wonderful Lori over at Little Priorities . Che...
Every great reader has their beginnings in sounding out words!
Yay! We are getting soooo close! Only ONE more day till the big party! Really this has to be my favorite day of the school year in Kindergarten! It's so funny how they think school is over after the 100th day! They don't realize we have to keep going. It is so fun we make a whole week of doing 100 activities! Tomorrow during reading buddies we are going to make our count by 10's caterpillars. So fun! I created a TPT packet of my favorite things to do during the 100th day week. Click here to get my 100 day of fun! Here is a little count by 10's puzzle. I made it in color and black and white! I just cut it up and mixed it up. The kids have to put it back together and glue it on another piece of paper. I thought instead of me cutting it up I should have had them cut each others. This activity has the students build their own 100 chart. The students cut the strips across the page so that there are 10 strips. Then they put them in order on a blank 100 chart. It is best to copy this on colored paper so that you can really see the difference when putting them the 100 chart. This is a fun math game to play in partners. Students just pick a number and color that number with their dry erase marker. First person to get 3 in a row is the winner. Of course, I have some writing prompts in my packet. It is fun to see what kids would buy with 100 dollars, what they would eat 100 of and how they would look when they are 100. So fun! I also have a couple pages where they have 100 seconds to see how many letters, numbers, words they can write. You have to have a necklace to wear on the 100th day. We also are making 100 day crowns! We will be ready for the party. And now here are My 5 favorite 100 day activities: 1. Hershey kisses hunt I write the numbers 1-100 on Hershey kisses. Then I hide them around the room while the kids are at lunch. Then when they come back in we walk around and find them. I put a 100 chart down and the kids match the number on their kiss and put it on the chart. 2. 100 balloon pop I blow up 100 balloons and we count to 100 as we pop each one. 3. 100 day cupcakes I make cupcake. The kids frost them with a popsicle stick and then we use the a Mike and Ike for the 1 and 2 lifesaver gummies for the 00. So CUTE! The kids love it! 4. 100 day wish We write about what they would wish for 100 of. Funny... one kid wished for 100 pickles! 5. 100 day crown! I love to get out the glitter and decorate our crowns. What are your top 5 favorites for the 100 day? So many possibilities! Of course we do a couple songs!
? YeeHaw! Join friendly cowboys to sneak in some fun math and literacy practice with super cute themed, FREE Printable Wild West Worksheets
To keep the anchor charts that I have been teaching out on display I have added a space in the back of my classroom to display them. I have hot glued clothes pins to the wall so I can easily clip them up and change them out to keep them on display. Since I have started to make more and more anchor charts I had to think of a way to store them. I have used hooks and hangers to hang them up. I also printed out labels to easily find the charts I am looking for.
Everything you need for a smooth school year.
Have you seen all the free math games & activities from our K-2 Math Activities series? These roll and race games have been so fun to create, including these base ten games designed for 2nd grade. I’ve enjoyed using them with my own learners at home! *The free download can be found towards the END ... Read More about Base Ten Games – Roll and Race
I haven't shared much on math this year because I haven't been the biggest fan of our new math series. Last week I decided to start having...
A while back my class was learning about verbs. I like to emphasize (as most early childhood teachers do) that verbs are Action Words! They are something you can “do”. We brainstormed verbs and I listed them around on this anchor chart…notice the cape? lol Later in the week I gave each of the kids...
