Let me start out by saying this has been one of the most successful and visually stunning projects that I've ever done with my students. It is definitely the most exciting printmaking project that we've ever done at Thomas. I wrote the lesson and went into the project thinking that it would probably be pretty good. I told my students that I'm absolutely blown away by the results of their talent and hard work. This lesson is a keeper. My previous 4th grade printmaking lesson was decent, but not outstanding. It was too similar from an art-making perspective to the Wild Things I do with my 2nd graders. This year, I really wanted to push the medium a little more by printing with multiple colors. I ended up deciding to push it to three colors and add in a little vocab by also bringing in the use of complimentary colors. Check out the lesson plan here! Close up of the piece above. Wow. Whew. That was a lot of examples, right? I just couldn't help myself this time. They were all so good that I had to show them off. If you're still reading, you're in luck. I'm going to tell you how I did this project and I'm going to use pictures! Let your inner kid rejoice. Start with a drawing of whatever you want to print. I had my kids do animal portraits. I gave them each a piece of the foam they would be printing on, then had them trace around it to give them the size of the final artwork. I then collected the foam for use the following week. Tape your drawing over the printing foam and use a dull pencil or other blunt tool to press down on the lines of just the outline of the subject. Take the paper off and press down again to make sure the marks are deep enough to make proper prints. I had my students make sure they ended up with three good prints of the background on the first day of printing. Re-tape the original drawing the following class. Press down any remaining details. Cut out the subject along the line that was pressed down last time. Now print with this piece directly on top of the original prints. I had my students use at least one set of complimentary colors. On the final day of printing, cut out a small detail that makes sense to print in a third color. Then, you guessed it, print this piece right on top of the original prints. This was my demo piece I did with the materials above.

Let me start out by saying this has been one of the most successful and visually stunning projects that I've ever done with my students. It ...

This blogging community is full of super cool people with amazing ideas and lesson plans. Often times, I'll find an idea that is interesting and change it or add to it to suit my student population. It is beyond rare that I find a lesson that I duplicate outright. I've done just that with this project. I take absolutely no credit for this lesson. All the props go to Mrs. Knight at Mrs. Knight's Smartest Artists. This post popped up in my Pinterest feed and I immediately repined it to use this year. The project is all about the secret underground lives of ants. What goes on in their maze of subterranean tunnels? What if ants were more like us? My students immediately latched on to this project. We initially got all up in the science and talked about ant body parts and habitats. Next, we discussed personification in the illustrations of Beatrix Potter and others. Next, we got to the art. My students and I had a blast brainstorming about all of the incredible things that could be happening underground. In the end, my second graders produced some highly creative artwork that we were all proud of. Download my version of the lesson plan!

Let me start out by saying this has been one of the most successful and visually stunning projects that I've ever done with my students. It is definitely the most exciting printmaking project that we've ever done at Thomas. I wrote the lesson and went into the project thinking that it would probably be pretty good. I told my students that I'm absolutely blown away by the results of their talent and hard work. This lesson is a keeper. My previous 4th grade printmaking lesson was decent, but not outstanding. It was too similar from an art-making perspective to the Wild Things I do with my 2nd graders. This year, I really wanted to push the medium a little more by printing with multiple colors. I ended up deciding to push it to three colors and add in a little vocab by also bringing in the use of complimentary colors. Check out the lesson plan here! Close up of the piece above. Wow. Whew. That was a lot of examples, right? I just couldn't help myself this time. They were all so good that I had to show them off. If you're still reading, you're in luck. I'm going to tell you how I did this project and I'm going to use pictures! Let your inner kid rejoice. Start with a drawing of whatever you want to print. I had my kids do animal portraits. I gave them each a piece of the foam they would be printing on, then had them trace around it to give them the size of the final artwork. I then collected the foam for use the following week. Tape your drawing over the printing foam and use a dull pencil or other blunt tool to press down on the lines of just the outline of the subject. Take the paper off and press down again to make sure the marks are deep enough to make proper prints. I had my students make sure they ended up with three good prints of the background on the first day of printing. Re-tape the original drawing the following class. Press down any remaining details. Cut out the subject along the line that was pressed down last time. Now print with this piece directly on top of the original prints. I had my students use at least one set of complimentary colors. On the final day of printing, cut out a small detail that makes sense to print in a third color. Then, you guessed it, print this piece right on top of the original prints. This was my demo piece I did with the materials above.

Fifth graders recently studied the Aztec Sun Stone in Art class. The Aztecs lived in Mexico from around 1300-1500 AD. They worshipped the sun because it provided life to all people. They carved a huge stone disk, three feet thick and almost twelve feet in diameter that is now known as the Sun Stone or the Aztec Calendar. When the Conquistadores arrives, it was buried after no one was able to destroy it. In 1760 it was found buried in Mexico City and is now in the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. The Stone shows how the Aztecs believed the world went through four creations and destructions. They used glyphs, or picture symbols, to communicate meaning. It is a complex and fascinating calendar system with the face of the sun in the center of the radial design. Fifth graders were able to create their own radially symmetrical design using gylphs. They began with pencil and repeated shapes around the circle and creating an interesting sun face. They added paint and marker, finishing their projects with cut pieces of construction paper!

This painting project incorporates literature and art with the story "Petunia" to my third grade students. Using a technique that I call smoothing, my

Goin' out with a bang! We are slowly wrapping up our unit on Paris, France and what better way to say goodbye than with fireworks. As my third grade students were finishing up these printed and chalked Parisian pictures, I was so impressed, I thought I'd share them with you. They were mighty proud of them too which lead to the following back and forth: Kids: Can we PLEASE take these home today? Evil Art Teacher: No! I must keep all of these masterpieces for the end-of-the-school-year art show! OTL Kid [OTL = Out To Lunch]: When's the end-of-the-school-year art show? EAT: The end-of-the-school-year art show is next week. OTL Kid: Yay! What time? The Rest of Us: face palm. Once we got OTL straightened out, I convinced the kids that this kind of art activity is one they could easily do at home. All that is needed is the following: cardboard cut into 1" X 2" rectangles. Be sure to cut it so that the wiggly corrugated cardboard line is visible on the 1" side. This will keep the cardboard sturdy enough for printing. tempra paint paper I know, I know, paint on the floor? Really? I never claimed to be the Smartest Artist Teacher. Group of finished third grade prints. Want to make some printed Eiffel Towers of your own? Well, it's super easy. I thought I'd share with you the steps I had on display for the kids to follow. We began by folding our paper in half both vertically and horizontally. After unfolding the paper completely, we brought the bottom of the paper up to the middle line and created another fold. From there, we printed a vertical line from the top of the paper to the first horizontal crease. We added two diagonal lines and an intersecting horizontal line at the top. 3. We chatted about parallel lines and created two parallel lines from the ends of the diagonal lines. These were both the same length of the initial vertical line. 4. We crossed the initial vertical lines with intersecting horizontal lines. These were filled with diagonal lines that created X's. 5. All along we are learning factoids about the Eiffel Tower and it's creator Gustave Eiffel. We used the Eiffel Tower bulletin board and my windows as a helpful reminder. The second level of the tower was created with a printed rectangle shape. 6. A triangle shape was created underneath that as were the long diagonal lines of the side of the towers legs. 7. From there, we created the arch and filled the legs of the tower with horizontal, vertical and intersecting diagonal lines. And while I loved the end results of the prints, I wanted the kids to experience working in another medium and add their own personal flair to the project. Hence the chalking of their prints. I created the display of directions shown above to allow the kids to work independently on this portion of the project. We also chatted about some of the famous structures in Paris that could be included in our chalked landscape like Sacre Coeur, Arc de Triumph and Notre Dame. The key is not to let your paper move as you smudge the chalk upwards. If this happens, you might lose image in your design. The kids had great fun with this project. I've already received a couple "I did this at home!" versions of both the prints and the chalk. Nothing makes this Evil Art Teacher happier. You'll have to let me know if you decide to give this a go. Just don't let me get my hands on your masterpiece...it's likely you won't get it back. That is until the end-of-the-year...which I could only dream was next week (just kidding...we have entirely too much fun in store!).

Learn the history behind and make an ojo de dios craft with your kids.

Welcome to Art Room 104! Well, I no longer teach in room 104...it's now room 309, but the heart is still there! I have now transitioned into teaching 7th-12th grades, and my focus is now moving towards Choice Based Learning in the art room. Join me on my journey as I enter new territory, experiment, and share how I fit it all into the realm of Common Core!

Discover these 8 amazing ways to teach landscape art to your elementary students!

Many of you probably know of Ian and Melissa from Apex High School. They have developed a list of Artistic Behaviors for the high school level. I have been following along and seeing how they teach their students. Seeing their list gave me the idea to create posters that shows kids what artists do and what exactly is an artist. I decided to simplify the behaviors for elementary school students and start from the basics. Start from the ground and … Read more... →

Ever since I saw the Disney Pixar Movie Coco I have been wanting to do some kind of art lesson on Alebrijes. I have always loved these imaginative animals with their bright bold colors and patterns, but the movie really inspired me to come up with a fun lesson for kids to make their own. A@ Alebrije are usually carved out of wood or made out of paper mâché. I thought about trying clay or paper mâché, but in the end decided this was too time consuming and I didn't want to do a drawing or painting - I wanted some dimension so this is what I came up with. Pedro Linares - Artist who invented Alebrije - this link tells his story. https://alchetron.com/Pedro-Linares He made creatures that were made of different animals combined. I am going to tell his story and let my students decide if they want to change their animals paws to claws, give them wings, horns etc... They can make a more realistic animal or be inspired to create their own unique Alebrije. What you will need: Colored cardstock Glue Gel pens Pencils Scissors Glitter is optional I found a pattern for a horse on Krokotac and changed it a little bit: You can print this Jpeg directly onto card stock or trace it on the fold - see below. I traced mine on a half sheet of card stock folded lengthwise. I am going to have my students trace theirs and add their own details such as eyes, mane, mouth etc... I think they will be able to do this on their own. You may have to help them with the folding to make the head pop up. Fold the neck towards the body. Next fold the two angled folds on each side. Push the neck towards the back fold and then fold the horse in half. Put a little bit of glue inside the head and the tail, but not the body so it will stand. Now it's ready for decorating. I used gel pens. I'm going to show my students examples - if they want to make a donkey we can add bigger ears. They can make any animal with hooves with this, zebra, cow, deer, goat, sheep, etc... I used a bamboo skewer with glue and glitter to make the unicorn horn for mine and just put it inside the head with a little glue. For the Coyote I made my own pattern which needs to be cut on a diagonal fold. Once you get the Coyote cut out and glue on the tail it will keep him together so you don't need to glue anywhere else. I would wait until you have all the decoration on both pieces before glueing. By changing the ears and the tail you can make this into a cat, wolf, jaguar, leopard, raccoon, etc... I made some wings to add to mine like this: I cut them on a fold. Then I folded one side about 1/8 of an inch Turned it over and folded the other side to match Now it's ready to decorate and will glue onto the animal's back I can't wait to see what my students come up with! I'll post some pix after I teach it! Photos of student work ages 5-12

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 gar...

Kindergarteners discussed the different ways to make a portrait--how some artist try to make them look real and others like to explore lines shapes and colors to make them more abstract. One such artist is Gaston Chaissac. Students looked at various examples of his work, drew their own portraits and collaged around them with shapes and color! (example of the artists work)

Yay! Everyone I have some very fun activities planned this week and to make it even better we are using my Pete the Cat unit, which is a favorite of mine.

Inspiration: National Geographic These Grade Fours were each researching a famous landmark for a class project.I had a packet of Nation...

Visual Arts is definitely not my forte, but I do however enjoy it. I know some teachers hate glue and supplies and anything that can make a...

Teaching theme is not an easy task! Not only do students need to have a strong comprehension of the story's elements (like plot, setting, and characters), but they also have to be able to make inferences to find the author's message, since most themes are not overtly stated by the author. So, what are some of my favorite activities for helping kids understand theme? I'll list a number of them here. 1. Make an Anchor Chart Anchor charts are a great way to make learning visual and to have a record that kids can refer to when they need a bit of extra support. Theme may be defined in a number of ways. To me, the theme is the author's message or what he/she wants the reader to take away/learn from the story. It is a BIG idea, with a real-world or universal concern and can be applied to anyone. Besides talking about what a theme is, you'll also want to go over what it isn't. For example, some kids confuse the main idea of the story with its theme. To help students understand the difference, it's helpful to use stories that everyone in the class knows, like previous read alouds or classic stories like The Three Little Pigs. You can take each story and discuss the main idea (what the story was mostly about - specific to the story) vs. the theme (the lesson the author wants the reader to know - not specific to the story), to contrast the two ideas. The second area of confusion for some kids is that the theme is not specific to the characters in the story. In the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, for example. The theme would not be that...A little mouse named Chrysanthemum learned to accept the uniqueness of her name. The theme would be larger than the book and would be something like...It's important to accept oneself. Also, you'll want to explain to your students that often times, a book has multiple themes and there are several answers which work equally well to describe a book's theme. Since theme is very subjective, I tell students that I will accept any answer, as long as they have the text evidence to prove it. For example, in the book, Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, one might argue that the theme is about friendship, another might say family, or even courage, or kindness. Any one of these themes would be right, and counted as such, since they each fit the story and could be supported by text evidence. 2. Use Pixar Shorts to Practice Theme Besides the sheer enjoyment which comes from watching these mini-films, your students can learn a lot about reading concepts from these. They're great for ELL students or for struggling readers, and for all readers really since the text complexity piece is removed. You can find these clips on YouTube, but you'll want to make sure to preview them first, so you're more familiar with the plot and are able to focus on theme questions. Here are some of my favorite Pixar Shorts for teaching theme: Piper Partly Cloudy Lava Boundin' 3. Use Mentor Texts Mentor texts are one of my go-to teaching tools as picture books are able to portray examples of just about any reading concept you need to teach. One thing I like to do when using mentor texts for theme, is to vary the types of questions I ask. Rather than always saying What is the theme?, I might ask... What is the deeper meaning of this story? After reading this book, what do you think matters to this author? Which idea from the story do you think might stay with you? What did the author want people to learn from this story?... Once kids answer, you might say, Ah...so that's the theme! Some of my current mentor text favorites for theme include the following: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe Journey by Aaron Becker (a wordless book) Beautiful Oops by Barry Saltzberg The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed If you're looking for more titles, I have a FREE Mentor Text List for Literature which includes a page on theme which you can download from my TpT store. 4. Use Posters with Themes to Chart Book Themes I like to choose 8 - 10 common themes and place posters of them in the classroom. These are included in my Theme unit but you could easily make them yourself if you'd like. After we finish a class novel, a read aloud, or a mentor text as part of a mini-lesson, I like to have the kids discuss the theme of the book. Once we decide on the theme, I place a miniaturized copy of the book's cover (about 3 x 3 inches or so) under the correct theme poster. You can also make the posters more interactive by allowing kids to write titles of books they have recently read on sticky notes, under the posters as well. 5. Use Songs to Practice Finding the Theme I love to add music to the classroom whenever possible. Not only does it add instant motivation for some kids, but it is also just good for them in so many ways. There are lots of songs you can use to teach theme, from current pop songs to oldies, rap songs, and country songs. While all of these work well, I especially enjoy using Disney songs. Disney songs are easily recognized for some kids, have catchy, fun tunes, and have lyrics that need no censoring (yay!). You can easily find the lyrics online to project on a smartboard or document projector, and the song clips may be found on YouTube, Here are some of my favorite Disney songs which work well for theme: Hakuna Matata from Lion King Just Keep Swimming from Finding Dory Reflection from Mulan Let it Go from Frozen Something There from Beauty and the Beast A Whole New World from Aladdin 6. Introduce Short Texts Using Task Cards Using task cards for theme gives your students a great deal of practice in a short period of time, which makes them a perfect way to begin to practice finding the theme using text. I love the fact that students can read multiple task card stories and practice finding the theme 20 - 30 times, in the time it might take to read a story and find the theme once. You can do task cards as a center activity, to play Scoot, or as a whole class scavenger hunt. One thing I like to do for the scavenger hunt is to make sure everyone has a partner and to pair stronger readers with struggling readers. 7. Add Some Writing After students have worked on theme for a week or two, I like to have students create their own short stories which show a strong theme, without directly stating it. This changes each student's role from a theme finder, to a theme creator and gives students insight into how authors create a situation that allows a theme to unfold. When I introduce this project, we refer back to the task cards we just completed, as an example of story length and rich content. In a matter of 2 - 3 paragraphs, students learn that they can include enough information to let our readers know our message. After students are finished creating these short stories, it's fun to share them in some way, to give more theme practice. Sometimes I have students meet in small groups to share out, with group members guessing the theme. Other years, I leave a stack on my desk and grab several if we have a few minutes. Either the students or I read the short story out loud, and the class discusses the theme. 8. Move to Passages, Short Stories, and Novels. Once we have scaffolded a great foundation for the understanding of theme, there comes a point where kids have to move on to text which is more challenging. I like to use page-long passages which I have created, before using short stories, and ultimately novels. If you're looking for some ready made materials to help you teach theme, here's a packet I love to use which works well for 4th and 5th Graders. Click here to read more about the Theme unit. Want some more teaching ideas and activities to teach theme? Click here to read Teaching Themes in Literature. If you like this post, make sure to share it with a teacher friend! Thanks so much for stopping by! For more ideas and strategies focused on upper elementary, be sure to sign up for The Teacher Next Door's free email newsletter! Bonus, you'll also gain access to my FREE Resource Library which contains exclusive upper elementary freebies that you won't find anywhere else! I'd love to connect with you! The Teacher Next Door's Website Pinterest Facebook Instagram TpT Store

elementary art lessons classroom management

Enjoy these simple homework packet covers designed for early elementary. Designed in black in white to save on ink, or to print on colored paper. This product includes 120 different cover designs, themed for various holidays and times of the year. Includes: August/Back to School September October November December January February March April May June Summer Miscellaneous

I've been at Dos Rios/Two Rivers Elementary in Springfield all this week and last. We're making projects to take home, and some to sell at the Springfield First Friday Art Walk in May! This was their project that they were able to take home to their families: Self Portraits! For the older kids (grades 2-5) I did a more involved lesson on proportions of the face, colored with sharpie and tissue paper.... read that lesson by clicking here. For the Kinders and first graders, we did this version you see in the pictures. Read on to see how we did this lesson! Supplies: • Multicultural construction paper, cut in 6 x 9" sheets. • black sharpies • colored pencils • background colored construction paper, 9x12" • Small-ish rectangles of pattern paper (we used both wrapping paper and contact paper) • construction paper hair colors, cut into smaller pieces...half or quarter sheets. • glue sticks • scissors This can be done in 2, 30-minute sessions, or one longer one. • Day 1: Teach them suuuuper basic proportions of the face. Just show that the eyes go in the middle of the face, and show some ways to draw eyes, noses and lips. The first day, just draw the faces on the multicultural skin color papers, trace drawings with sharpie, and add some colored eyes (and whites of the eyes!) lips, and cheeks with colored pencils. • Day 2: Put it all together: cut a "shirt" rainbow shape out of the patterned paper, cut out the faces, add torn paper for the hair. Glue, glue glue. Then watch the cuteness happen. Love these!!

This is a cute, one-day lesson I found over at davinciswings.blogspot.com. I had pinned this lesson months ago and decided since Spring has sprung and the bugs will be out...what better time to do symmetrical bugs? Also, the 2nd and 3rd graders are working on lines of symmetry. So, we discussed examples of things around the room and in nature that are symmetrical. I drew several shapes on the board and the students agreed on which ones were symmetrical and which ones were not. And, lastly, I showed them examples from Da Vinci's Wings so they could see some student work. (I have no idea why this is in italics, but just go with it...my 'I' button is not working at the moment...) Here are some examples from 2nd grade:

I love using body percussion activities, so I am sharing some teacher tips and ways to use them in your classes.

“Chromatic Cascade” by Jen Stark, Los Angeles Jen Stark herself! Parking Garage Mural by Jen Stark, Los Angeles Jen Stark is a Los Angeles based artist known for h…

40in x 30in  (101.6cm x 76.1cm) CHRISTMAS- Original Painting- Artwork dimensions: 40in x 30in  | 101.6cm x 76.1cm- Acrylic paint, oil pen on canvas - Hand signed by the artist and includes an exclusive hologram and Certificate of Authenticity from BRITTO®️ StudiosIf you have any questions, please Contact Us Here

8 Steps for Organizing the Ultimate Fine Arts Night Physical Space % %

Offering resources and encouragement for the homeschool community, parents and educators.

It’s been awhile since I last posted, so thought I’d share what we’re working on in the art room! I’M SUPER excited because there are 3 NEW art lessons that we’ll be s…

Follow along as we use ancient art & modern materials to have some fun, adinkra style! This graphic style translates perfectly to a printmaking lesson.

Book digitized by Google from the library of Harvard University and uploaded to the Internet Archive by user tpb.

This is a really quick little artwork. Credit for the artwork that inspired me goes to Sedef Yilmabasar . Its something I would use for w...

Just over 100 years ago, on 15th April 1912, the world's largest passenger liner at the time, the Titanic, sank in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Titanic, which was on its maiden (first) voyage, hit an iceberg and over 1,500 passengers were drowned. We have a number of activities and printables with which to introduce the story of the Titanic to children.

If you need STEM projects ideas, this is THE place to go! This is a collection of over 200 STEM projects and activities that kids love!

I love Georgia O'Keeffe's large flower paintings. They are great for teaching ANALOGOUS COLORS and VALUE. I have the students start with a white 18x18 square. We draw the flower as big as the paper. We start with a circle close to the center, and three petals that stretch towards the corners or side... they have to be spaced apart, not touching. Then we draw a couple more, starting the petals off the sides of the others. I have 4 classes, so each class works with one analogous color group. We start with first outlining the pencil lines. Next, mixing the colors three more times and outlining inward until the flower is fully painted. Next, we paint some leaves by outlining leaf shapes with India ink on green construction or green painted paper. Also... we give a black outline to the flower. Lastly, we cut everything out and arrange it on a 18x18 colored background. We added a little chalk to the background for an added texture. This makes for a beautiful display!!!