[ Photo by Corey ]
This is a project that I just can't quit. I've been doing it for several years now and the work just keeps getting better every year. Sometimes I wonder if readers get bored with seeing some of the same projects each year. Looking at these totems, who could get bored? One of the things I like best about this lesson is that it's hard. It's really hard for some kids. Good. The most difficult aspect of the lesson is drawing an animal in such a way that it looks like it has been carved into a totem pole. Negative space is essentially nonexistent. I tell my students that they need to use about 98% of their paper. It really forces students to entirely re-think the way they have drawn animals for their entire lives. It makes them learn! I've been dealing with combined classes with 4th grade this year and I was initially concerned that it would negatively impact the quality of student work. For this project, it absolutely didn't. Students have produced more high level work this year than any previous year. The stress of teaching 34 kids at once has apparently paid off. Enjoy the work! Download my lesson plan! Wow.
In an era of high stakes testing, art is sometimes the first thing to go but we as teachers need to find ways to continue providing art experiences for our students. Not only is art just plain fun, and let's face it, kids do need fun, but it's much more than that. Art is beneficial in so many ways! Find out ways to incorporate art in this post by The Teacher Next Door.
The First Nations of Canada have history that includes rich and vibrant traditions, culture, stories, and artwork. Be inspired for your own art project.
The September issue of Australian Geographic Magazine sees the long awaited appearance of my wattle illustrations my first brief for this iconic publication
My students completed a Pueblo building activity as a unit wrap-up for our study of the Native Americans in the Southwest. They used one centimeter grid paper to cut out a pattern that folded into a box shape. Students added … Continue reading →
Native plant expert Digby Growns shares his favourite trees to plant in your own garden.
Who doesn't love feathers?
Behold the magic of the elementary art classroom. This blog is intended as a venue for parents and students to check out what is going on in the art room at Thomas Elementary. Also, possibly more importantly, it is a place for other educators to find free art lesson plans and share ideas. Art, art education, art classroom, bottle cap, mural, elementary art blog, painting, ceramics, fun, awesome, interesting.
Dan Barry's artworks often explore themes of life’s difficult times and mortality
A lesson plan and printable diorama to learn about Arctic Native American Tribes for kids
Last year while I was perusing through the wonderful teaching blogs, I came across Teaching in Room 6's blog. She has SO many great ideas and resources for 5th grade. I was in need of an engaging Native American activity and she had one! I bought her Native American Tribe Research Report Project at her TPT store. Last year and this year, my students seemed to be a little overwhelmed when given the research report project packet. However, this year my students have it a little easier because I put together a Power Point with photos and video footage of last year's student projects and the Native American Museum. So they have a better idea of what the final product looks like. I must say that both last year and this year the kids were BEYOND excited to participate in this project. I like how the packet includes a calendar. I use the calendar to break up the project for my students. We set different due dates for the different components. I give my students one month to complete the project. The packet also lists the different Native American Tribes within the different regions. There are more than enough tribe listed and I don't allow students to research the same tribe. This ensures that everyone will be engaged and learn about many different tribes during our Native American Museum. They all get to choose their top 3 tribes. I haven't had to many issues with students not getting any of their top 3 choices. But we do have a discussion beforehand about the possibility that they may not get any of their choices. The packet includes extra credit options, such as, dressing up the day of the museum, making crafts in relation to their tribe, making dolls, etc. The majority of my students did make the extra credit activities. My 5th graders never cease to amaze me! Yesterday, we had our Native American Museum and it was a BIG success! They have been so excited all week to debut their exhibits. The students have worked hard for the past month researching, building a home, and making crafts, etc. for their project. I was overjoyed by how many parents and family members came to our museum to celebrate the wealth of knowledge my students gained! We also invited the administrators, 4th, and 5th grade classes to come and learn about all the different Native American Tribes across the U.S. It was great to see the parents not only heading over to their son or daughter's exhibit, but they made sure to visit every exhibit which made my students so happy! The 4th graders were adorable! They asked some great questions and commented on how "amazing" the projects were. The project was completed at home and I told my students that they didn't need to spend a lot of money to create their projects. I told them to think outside of the box and be creative. I know that some of the students received help from their parents and back in my earlier years of teaching that would've bothered me. However, I now feel that having their parents help them is a great bonding experience for them. They both learn about the tribe together and if they child isn't used to working on projects like this, they need someone to model and show them how to do things. Last year, I had a parent tell me how much she enjoyed working on the project with her son and how nice it was to spend quality time with him albeit learning something new. It put a huge smile on my face! If you have any social studies ideas make sure you link them up with Fifth in The Middles Social Studies Linky. It is great to see all the social studies projects being linked up! Now for some photos of this year and last years projects (I apologize for the amount of photos! It was just so hard to pick a few). I smudged out any names and faces to protect people's identities. This student used an old shirt to make her teepee. I love the doll she created! Another great home! This year I had quite a few students dress up! She put so much time into her project. I love her headdress and her crafts/dolls! This student brought in her tablet in which she had images on a slideshow?!?! Amazing...right?!?! Another headdress and a bow Love the totem pole in the front of this home. This home looked exactly like the photo she brought in! Again, very creative...no need to spend a ton of money. Super cute A doll made out of play dough! This teepee was made out of canvas and even had a canvas door cover! This house was made from an old basket! Another great example of a Native American home I like how this student made a scene and had two homes I loved how all the headdresses were so different! So much detail! Another student dressed in her attire. He did such a wonderful job with discussing his tribe! Made me one PROUD teacher! Love the colors! Getting creative with the letters. Lots of information and photos...even a replica purse Such great drawings! We decorated the hallways with totem poles they created. A poster one of my students made. Last Years Projects Love how she backed her information with construction paper. He made so many craft items! Very creative and it looks EXACTLY like the photograph. Full house! These 3rd graders were so intrigued! She made the headdress and her display board is beautiful! She made mortar and pestle out of construction paper! Love it! Another scene (definitely adds to the project) Lots of pop with the colors She made her teepee out of a paper towel and twigs. It looked great! It was a full house! Wow! She even constructed a basket out of the same material used for the home!!! A couple of long houses I know this was a long post! I'm just a proud teacher, what can I say!
In this activity, children use a pattern to create a miniature Native American tipi.
Learn about the Native American people's tradition and the importance of listening. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make your own Talking Stick with your kids.
Supplies Needed Brown paper bag White glue Water Wax paper Bowl Stir Stick What to do Step 1 Rip the brown paper bag into one inch wide strips of equal length. Step 2 In a bowl make a mixture of half glue and half water. (To make one sheet of papyrus you only need about 1/
A Q+A with Eleisha who runs Native Painting Workshops (Sip + Paint)
There is a lot of Ted Harrison love at the school these days. Both Grades 2 and 3 are completing art projects based on his work. Ted Harrison is a well known Canadian artist famous for his use of line and color in his landscape paintings around his beloved Yukon home. This is an easy art project based on his work. MATERIALS REQUIRED: - watercolor paper or heavy weight sketch paper - watercolor, tempera, or acrylic paints - black paper - glue - scissors - reference photos (there are lots of images of Ted Harrison's work online) - oil pastels or wax crayons I like to tape off my paper and then draw in your line design. You want to discuss the way Ted Harrison uses a strong line to show shape or contour of the landscape, how the line is just as important as the color. With younger kids you may want to use pastels or wax crayons and draw those heavy lines. I'm using crayon here and they resist the paint allowing you to keep those heavy lines, oil pastels work even better. Start painting. It's good to start with the lightest colors first and then work your way to the darkest. Although the crayon or pastel resists the paint you still want the kids to stay within the lines if the can so you have those separate areas of deep color. With older kids you can get them to conserve that white line. When painting with watercolors you'll want to leave some space between the colors any way so they don't mix together before drying. Another option is to try the stained glass method. I've mixed a couple of squirts of acrylic paint into a bottle of white school glue. I then use this to mark my heavy lines, lie flat and let dry. (about 12 hrs.) Once the glue is dry paint in your strong color. They glue helps to corral the paint in each area for easier painting. Now you can add an Inukshuk if you wish. Cut out individual stones out of black paper. Then glue down on top of your painting. Place a sheet of wax paper on top and rest a heavy book on top of that to help it dry flat. The paintings also look great just on their own. Here is some work by Grade 2. They used their twistables for this and it turned out terrific but I think they are ready to try the painting option. Great work grade 2!
There are certain units in art class that take on a life of their own and just GROW! My Cave art unit turned out even better than I had anticipated and grew into a Pre-K – Grade 5 theme due…
Native American Home Etiquette by Jamie K. Oxendine, Lumbee/Creek PRELUDE Native Americans from the Atlantic to the Pacific and the Arctic to the Tropics
Build your own totem pole with this colorful, beautifully detailed totem pole set. Great addition to activities about the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and British Columbia. Each element is separate to allow for various creative combinations. Set depicts the following: + bear + whale / orca + thunderbird + eagle + beaver + fox Please check out my Totem Pole Printable Craft, which uses these cool graphics! Click below: ****Build a Totem Pole Crafty Printable**** Includes 38 clip art images: .png format, 300 dpi. - 19 color - 19 black and white - 4 preview images (.jpg) Thanks for looking, and enjoy! Please remember to leave feedback! For personal or commercial use, but please use the following to credit my work: Christine O'Brien, 2015 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Christine-Obrien
Native American Heritage Month is in November and a great history lesson for kids. Get Native American lesson plans, American Indian arts and crafts including totem pole craft ideas and more cultural ideas for the month. We have teaching resources on history of Native Americans (American Indians history) and present-day Native American cultures. Perfect for November teaching resources for Thanksgiving, too!
Learning about Indigenous artists in Canada is one of many ways to learn about the different cultures in Canada. Come read more!
Learning About Salmon in Grade 1. I have lots of ideas to share: books, video, life cycle wheel, salmon stream mural and sunset salmon art.
Printable totem pole templates provide an engaging way to introduce you or your students to the rich cultural history and artistry of Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest.
Haida Art is one of the greatest art traditions in the world. This article will show you how to draw a salmon, which according to tradition symbolizes determination. Draw a rectangle and a curved line.
In 6th grade, we talked about how colors can evoke emotions. For example, red can mean love or anger. The students took self portraits with ...
I like using Gerald McDermott's Native American folktales to teach the Common Core literature standards. The trickster tales are always a delight!
