I'm finally back from maternity leave and ready to teach (kinda)! Can I bring my baby with me? Can he be my assistant? No? Awe. :( Towards the end of the last school year, I came back from my maternity leave early so that I could work the two days of post-planning. I decided it would be best if I were the one to clean up and put away my classroom, so I’d know where everything was when I officially returned. Last school year, we had to take EVERYTHING off of the walls so that our custodial staff could clean them during the summer. And while it was a pain to take everything down, it did give me a blank slate for the new school year! Fun Fact: My classroom looks HUGGGGEEEE when it’s empty! This post contains some relevant affiliate links. SET OF DRAWERS Before I went back for pre-planning this year, I started work on a colorful new set of drawers for my classroom. The idea was that I would use each drawer to store all of my prepped paper for each of my grade-level projects (that way it wouldn’t end up all over my desk and every other flat surface in my room like usual). So I got online and found the perfect set of drawers from Target. As you can imagine I was overjoyed when I saw that the drawers could hold 12″x18″ paper – an art teacher’s dream! Unfortunately in all my excitement, I neglected to thoroughly read the product description and ended up buying a unit whose overall dimensions were 12″ deep by 18″ long; the drawers themselves were much smaller. And of course I didn’t realize all of this until after I had already primed and repainted all the drawer covers and assembled the whole thing. Upset with this realization, I took to Instagram where a fellow art teacher gave me the amazingly awesome idea to use the drawers to organize my scrap paper by color instead. TABLES AND STOOLS Once pre-planning started it was all about getting my classroom put together. My first project was to paint the edges of my tables and stools to color-code them! For the past several years I used colored masking tape to color-code my tables, but as I’m sure many of you already know – kids LOVE picking at tape! I was constantly having to replace it as it got worn and torn in order to save my sanity. The sanity that was slowly being picked away with every scratch of the fingernail. Yeah… I’m a bit of a perfectionist. 🙂 So I was more than relieved when my administration gave me the green light to use paint in my room instead! The tables in my classroom have a laminate surface on them, so the first step was to lightly sand the sides of my tables. My husband (who is not a carpenter, mind you) suggested that I use 220 grit sandpaper. In retrospect however, I wish I would’ve gone with something a little lower so that it would’ve scratched up the sides a bit more. Butttttttttt you live and you learn. After sanding, I cleaned off the laminate shrapnel, then taped off the table edges and started painting using a small roller and Behr Marquee paint (this paint already has the primer mixed into it). Each table took about 3 coats to fully cover the sides (I wasn’t using the 1-coat guarantee colors). After the paint was dry, I removed the painters tape and then used an oil-based sharpie paint marker to write my table numbers (I use these for classroom jobs). Once that had a chance to dry, I painted overtop of everything with coat of glossy mod-podge. When painting my stools, I just went straight in with the paint and then covered with mod-podge as well (in retrospect I could have done without the mod-podge on the chairs). **UPDATE: This particular type of paint didn't stay very well (still very pickable). So I took it off and repainted with Martha Stewart multi-surface acrylic and sealed it with Delta Creative polyurethane varnish. It is working INSANELY better. TABLE BUCKETS This year I used the same type of bins I've used in past years.. but got some nice new ones that weren't colored all over (who doesn't love shiny and new?). To color-code the bins I once again used ribbon. Click here to see how to attach it! I also created some new labels and then added those on as well to help my students know where to put things away. CENTERS Once again, I will be using art centers as part of my classroom management plan! In my classroom I do a table point system using Class Dojo. When students are doing what they are supposed to be doing (coming in quietly, being on task, helping each other, cleaning up on time, etc), they receive table points. When they aren’t following directions (being too loud, being super off task, not cleaning up, etc), they lose them. The way I record all of this in Class Dojo is by having 6 “classes” set up (one for each grade-level). Then in each class I have 8 “students” (one for each of my table colors). Since I see my students multiple days in a row before they rotate to their next special, I use only one class for each grade-level, then reset their points once their rotation is over so it’s back to zero for the next group. So what is the motivation to earn points? Great question! The number of points each table has determines which art centers they can participate in during free time (once a project is finished). Each center has a point value assigned to it. Once a table has that many points or more, they can use that center. If the table does not have that many points, they cannot. The way I determine how many points each center is depends on the interests of my students. If I know they’ll really enjoy something (like jewelry center), I give it a higher point value. In the past few years that I’ve been using this system, I’ve found a lot of success with it. It keeps my students motivated to make the right choices and rewards them with experiences instead of tangible items (like candy). The centers I currently have in my classroom are: Weaving/Lacing Cards - 1 pt White Boards - 1 pt *This is the one bone that I throw my students. They LOVE white boards! How to Draw Books and Free Draw - 2 pts Pattern Blocks - 3 pts Texture Rubbing - 4 pts Puzzles- 5 pts Origami - 6 pts Spirograph - 7 pts KEVA Contraptions -7 pts. K'NEX - 8 pts Play Doh - 10 pts Jewelry Center - 14 pts ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES POSTERS Now this isn't something new.. but the way that I'm displaying it is. I used to have just the elements posters hanging up on my bulletin board, but now I've hung them along with my principles posters to just above my centers (near my classroom door). I also printed them out larger this year. Instead of being 8.5"x11", I printed them out at 13"x18". If you like the look of these posters, be sure to check them out in my store! VISUAL ART WORD WALL CARDS My word wall is probably the single most popular thing in my classroom with my administrators. My thought when I created them and first hung them up was "Cool! Now my kids can see art words and pictures that help those words make sense." My administrators think "Wow! She's incorporating literacy into her art program!" At the end of last year I took down all my word wall cards and tossed them, so this year I had to print them all out again (which was fine with me because I'm made a million updates to them over the past few years). Once I had them all printed out I knew I needed to laminate them. Trying to get stuff laminated through the school in the beginning of the school year can be a bit challenging however, so I decided it was time to invest in my very own home laminator! Guys... I WANT TO LAMINATE EVERYTHING NOW! I mean.. the process of laminating itself is fun AND cutting out things that are laminated is fun. There's just something very rewarding about cutting through laminated paper. Either you know exactly what I'm talking about, or you think I'm crazy. That's okay. I probably am. ;) I personally bought my laminator at Wal-Mart for about $20... but you can also order the same Scotch Thermal Laminator from Amazon (theirs comes with 20 laminating pouches). Once I had all my cards laminated it was time to cut them out. Lucky for me I recently purchased an X-ACTO Commercial Grade 12" x 12" Paper Cutter (off of Amazon) which made cutting them out at home WAY easier. Seriously Amazon gets all of my money. Their 2-day Prime shipping is dangerously convenient. I decided that this year I was going to hang up my word wall cards on my bulletin board instead of the wall so I wouldn't have to cut like 30,000,000 pieces of tape to stick them up. Yay for staples! The only thing I didn't consider before starting was how to keep the cards straight on my bulletin board. 😔 By the time I got to the letter "D" I noticed that my cards were gradually moving upwards. Soooo I took them all down and started again. I'm going to be real with you guys.. I did this a few times. Then FINALLY I figured out an easy way to keep things on track; I measured how far down from my border I wanted the word wall cards to start, and then put a staple at that height along the length of the bulletin board. Helpful tip: Hang your word wall cards BEFORE you hang your bulletin board letters. The letters "C" and "S" have like a gazillion cards, while the letter "U" only has one. If you like my word wall cards, check out my store! If you like the bulletin board letters, you can find them here! *I warn you to not use them on a black background however. Hah! I wish I would've thought that one through! PROJECT ORGANIZATION/STORAGE Like I mentioned before, I see my students a few days in a row before getting my new rotation, so the way I organize and store artwork may not be applicable to your situation. When students are working on dry artwork at their tables, I have them put their work into their table folder at the end of class. The table folder consists of a sheet of 12"x18" construction paper folded in half with the grade-level written on the front. These folders are then stored in my labeled grade-level drawers. So the next time students come to class, I can just put their folder on their table so they can pull out their work and get started (no time wasted calling out names). If their work is wet and needs to be put into the drying rack, I have them place their work on a 1/4 size sheet of posterboard and then slide it into the drying rack within the their table color band (added with colored masking tape). That way work is easily accessible for students to get from the rack or if I want to put stuff up into their table folders once it's dry, I'll know which folder they go into. To help me tell my grade-levels apart (in case they're doing similar projects) I have clothespins with grade-level tags on them that I just clip onto the top of each drying rack. MATERIALS STORAGE Aside from my table buckets (which contain pencils, erasers, colored pencils, color, sticks, and crayons) I have a couple of other ways of storing ready-to-go materials. First are the color-coded baskets I have. If I'm doing a project with a class that has a LOT of materials, I will often use these buckets to pass out supplies for each table. Otherwise I would just call table numbers (how I distribute jobs) and have them come pick up various things. Last year I also started taking advantage of the cabinet storage I have under my countertops and started prepping paints for different classes and storing them under there in copy box lids. At one point I had all this stuff spread out all over my countertop and knew there HAD to be a better way. Using the copy box lids allows me to quickly take out and put away supplies without the giant mess. Last year I also started storing my paintbrushes in labeled drink pitchers. Why? Because it is WAY easier to walk around to distribute them when the container has a handle! And finally - paper storage. I used to have a cardboard holder like this when I was at my old school, but then neglected to bring it with me when I changed schools. This one isn't a revolutionary storage tip - unless you've never used one before. In which case - BOOM! Just blew your mind with its awesomeness! I'm so glad I got one again. :) HALL PASSES Over the past few years, the teachers at my school had been using laminated paper hall passes for our students. The main problem with those though were that they would come back from the bathroom with wet spots on them (is that water or something else?). Eww. So this year our principal had us make our own instead. As she was telling us about this during our staff meeting, she happened to have an example picture of a hall pass on a paintbrush on the PowerPoint slide. Obviously I immediately fell in love! To see my how-to on these paint brushes click here. Now they hang on the back of my door! GENERAL CLASSROOM DECOR These are a few of the other things I have hanging up on my walls. I made these color posters to complement the bulletin board letters I made for my word wall. :) You can get a copy of them here! I moved my shape and form posters from last year onto my large metal storage cabinets so they wouldn't just be wasted space. I also repainted these color mixing posters that I had originally created a few years ago. My old ones were looking pretty worn down. If you don't want to paint your own, consider checking out my TPT store for some smaller printables. CLASSROOM PICTURES If you have questions about anything else you see, please feel free to leave me a comment and I'd be happy to talk to you about it! :) Hope you all have a great school year! Simple Elements/Principles Posters | Art Genre Posters
Summer is almost over! How did that happen? Where did the last 2 months go? With a little under 2 weeks left until we go back to school my mind has been increasingly drawn to planning for the ne…
Art projects that are fun for kids and bring in big bucks for your school auction!
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!) &nbs…
TK - 3rd Grade
Teach children the basics to paint like Pollock in just 40 minutes. Great for grades K-2, kids learn new techniques with paint, yarn and becoming fearless
As Spring Break approaches, I find that my fifth graders are in need of some reminders as to what it means to be kind to each other. In general, they are sweet kids, but at times the words they use and actions they take, particularly on the playground, aren't the kindest. Our read aloud for the month is Wonder by RJ Palacio so the theme of kindness fit right into our room. It just so happens that a new book, We're All Wonders by RJ Palacio, a picture book intended for younger readers to access the story, came out this week as well. So the timing was perfect. (the two links above are my affiliate links and will take you to Amazon to buy the books.) I began by asking the students what kindness is. We brainstormed a list of ideas and created an anchor chart. Then I read the picture book to the students. Because we had just finished Wonder, they were so excited to read this new version. When we finished, I asked the kids to think of all the ways, in both the picture book and the novel, that people were not very kind to Auggie (the main character). The kids were able to fill our entire circle map in no time. It was easy to recall how people would scream in his face, recoiling at the way he looked. They remembered the names Auggie was called and the no-touching game that was played. The instantly told me about all the awful things that happened to him. I then asked the kids to brainstorm ways that, if they were in the novel with Auggie, they could be kinder to him. Again, they had no problem thinking of ways they could be kind to Auggie. Next, I asked the students to think about their own real life. I asked them to reflect upon how they personally treat others and how they personally could make better choices when speaking to others. Here is where things got a little challenging. You see, when students are talking about fictional characters, or reading news stories about OTHER kids they don't know being treated unfairly or unkindly, they know exactly what they would do if they were there. Because they aren't there. They know they never will be there. But when confronted with their own lives, and real possibilities for what they would have to do to step in or change situations, it is a bit harder for them. So I asked them to brainstorm 15 different ways they PERSONALLY could show kindness to our classmates. (I drew a lot of inspiration for this next part from Study All Knight's FREE Kindness unit, which you can grab here.) The students then used tempra paint and painted 15 (or so) rainbow sunshine rays. They also drew their own Wonder-Inspired portrait. (I have previously done this before, but had them focus on precepts and writing....if you would like to do that, click here. It is one of my fav lessons too!) The students then glued their Wonder portraits into the middle of the rays, used Sharpie to outline and write the 15 ways they could show real kindness in their lives (one way per ray) and were done. They came out amazing. (See the picture at the top of the post!) What is better though, is that the past two days, my students are actively trying to be kinder to each other. They are watching their words. I have seen people purposefully go up to those who tend to wander during group time and invite them into the group. I have seen students smile at others just a bit more. It truly has been a Wonder. Right now, for a limited time, Amazon has the book available for $3.99!!! Snag up to 4 copies at that price. Use my affiliate link here to get your copy ASAP before they are all gone!! SaveSave
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!) &nbs…
A fun gunslingers and outlaws project to do with 4th, 5th, or 6th graders. Great for Gold Rush lessons!
Back to School Preschool Worksheets with all kinds of great activities for preschoolers to use all year round. Counting, letter recognition and much more.
Learn about famous art and create your own sculpture with this fun lesson about Giacometti.
Instagram @Natty241 @NWaggsArt email- [email protected]
This back to school math activity is a perfect get to know you activity to start a new school year. There are multiple versions of the math pennant included and glyph directions if you'd like to give more structure to the activity. The finished pennants are a colorful addition to your math classroom decor and make for a welcoming classroom. Now includes a digital drag and drop version of the back to school math activity in GOOGLE Slides to meet the needs of distance learning. Happy back to school!
This is the first project that the 5th graders do at the beginning of the year after reviewing the elements of art. We talk about using objects to create the illusion of letters. A candy cane for a "J" or a lower case "r" for example. We also took a look at some photographers that do this same thing with cropped images. Students had a minimum of 5 letters to work with...a first name, last name, nick-name. We also talked about light and how we can use it to help create a 3-d illusion on a flat surface. Here are some examples:
Back to School Preschool Worksheets with all kinds of great activities for preschoolers to use all year round. Counting, letter recognition and much more.
We are off and running at Zamo! As usual, I am starting the school year off with a collaborative project that is low stress and high impact. a little background- during the first week I meet with classes for 30 minute mini lessons. This allows me to review art room rules and procedures and to get students creating right away. Kids end up creating for about 20 minutes. This lesson always emphasizes unity and variety in both art and our school community and beyond. I make a point of introducing textile artists, fabric designers, and quiltmakers with these lessons due to the modular nature of the designs and because I feel that they are often neglected in art education and the art world. This year, I discovered the work of Tula Pink through instagram and her "TriDazzler" quilt jumped out at me from her feed. I love the repetition of the diamonds and triangles and how the colors repeat in a looser visual way. The main adjustment we made in our approach to Tula's quilt design, was that the center line of the diamond could be rotated either horizontally or vertically. The prep for this project is pretty simple compared to some others that I have done (looking at you Libs Elliott project and the Latifah Saafir/Sylvia Sutters project;) I precut a bunch of 6x6" squares that covered the spectrum of colors, plus any tints and shades of those I had available. I then cut a bunch of those squares in half. Before each class comes in, I place a square & triangle at each seat. As classes move through, I progress through the collection of colors I have to create a loose gradient across the install. I don't have a formula to the progression, it's more of a feel when having colors enter and exit, and re-enter the overall arrangement. Students glue the triangle onto their diamond. Students rotate their diamond, so the center line is horizontal. Students add lines from the top and bottom of the diamond to the center line. They need at least 2. Students add any colors like like to their smaller triangles, leaving at least one piece the color of the paper on top and bottom. Students put glue on the back of their diamond. Students bring their piece to the larger paper quilt and place it on, making the decision to have the center line vertical or horizontal, repsonding to the diamonds already in place. end of day 1. end of day 2. I still have 2 days to go. I am out of space to assemble the full install on my tile floor. There are 14 classes that will take part in this over the next two days. My plan is to add one more section of length to make it 22' long and one more section of height along the whole thing to make it 9' tall. The final install will go on the back wall of our auditorium, so that we have have a dynamic piece of art up by the second week of school. I can't wait to see this whole piece assembled on the wall. It's always interesting to see these come together and it's particularly cool to see it in different ways- the diamonds up close during the activity, on an angle while up on a ladder above my floor, to the finished piece to take in while standing back from it. Our kids are always stoked to participate and watch it grow, too. Depending on the size of your school, you could have everyone take part. If you're an art teacher and want to try this- go for it! Just be kind and cite your sources:)
Celebrate the varied culture, monuments, flora and fauna of Australia with these simple Australia Day Crafts for Kids! Includes koalas, kangaroos and more!
Pop Art Rosa Parks. Learn about Rosa Parks using this fun, easy and FREE Pop Art Rosa Parks art project for kids.
First Week Watercolor Portraits 7 comments Back to School, Bulletin Boards, Self Portraits, Tutorials Every year, my second graders paint a watercolor self-portrait. It is truly my most favorite first week activity of all time. After sharing this picture of this year's portraits on Facebook, a sweet reader asked if I had a blog post about them. Well, it dawned on me that while I have shared my annual self-portraits many times, I've never really shared them exclusively in a post. So, here goes! Every year, I have my students paint a self-portrait during the first week of school (an idea I learned while student teaching many moons ago). I hang these portraits in the room, for the entire year. They really brighten up our space and they are such a joy to look at (this is a picture of my students' portraits from last year). I am not an art teacher and I believe that kids should be encouraged to take risks, so when I task my students with painting their portraits, I pretty much let them "have at it." Don't worry, it isn't a total free for all. I do model the process and I also share examples from years past, like the ones shown below. I just make it very clear that I don't expect their paintings to look like an actual photograph. ;) I always begin by pointing out how much of their body/self they will be painting. I tell them to think about the pictures they see in their yearbooks and how those pictures only show people's heads and shoulders. I explain that they will include only their head and shoulders in their paintings. I then show them examples from previous years (sometimes students move and they get left behind, so I have a few on hand). Once the students understand what it is that they will be including in their portrait, I model the drawing process on the board. I discuss how large the head should be in relation to the paper and show them what this looks like. From there, I show them how I draw a neck and shoulders, hair, and facial features. I apologize that I don't have a photo of this, but essentially, I model and narrate the process, one step at a time. And, then...it's the students' turn. I give each student a piece of white card stock (8x10 inches) to work with. Card stock is brighter and thicker than construction paper, and it just seems to hold the paint better, in my opinion. Then, they start their drawing. Sometimes, I have them draw the outline of their pictures with a black crayon (see below). When I do this, there is NO pencil involved. This helps them to really slow down and visualize before they draw because they know that they can't erase. However, this year, I let them draw with pencil first and then they traced over their pencil lines with a Sharpie. Why did I do that? I have no idea, it was just what I decided to do when I was prepping the materials, but the end result was still fab! Once the students draw the outline of their portrait, they get to paint! Using watercolor is a tricky thing for many second graders. They have a hard time always gauging how much water to use, so a discussion about this (and a little modeling) ahead of time is a good idea. Tip: No matter how much explaining and modeling you do, you'll still have a student or two that uses too much water. Let them use a tissue to blot their paper if you notice this happening. I lay the portraits to dry on the floor, in an out of the way spot. They dry within minutes here in the desert. Once they are dry, I flatten them by stacking heavy teacher manuals on them overnight. I could iron them, but my iron and I do not get along. At all. The next morning, I hang them up and admire the sight before me...all year long. :) At the end of the year, it's always fun to repeat this process. You will be amazed at how much growth your students show. Here are a few examples from last year. Amazing, right? We always get lots of compliments on our portrait display, and the kids are always very proud of them. They love seeing if their parents can guess which one is theirs, and it's fun to see how many parents get it right! At the end of the school year, I send the portraits home as a keepsake. Many parents have commented how much they love them, and they are the perfect size for framing! First week self-portraits are a great way to encourage students to take risks, have fun, and learn to use materials. Beyond that, the students take great pride in their creations and enjoy them just as much as I do, and we have something truly magnificent (that they created!) to look at all year long. :) Share It:
Je suis tombée plusieurs fois sur une superbe réalisation sur le net ( voir ICI ) et j'ai eu envie d'essayer de la réaliser... Alors, jouons à la manière d'Andy Warhol, en répétant un même motif, ici la main, et en faisant varier les couleurs du fond...
Coming off of their autumn-y landscapes dotted with Aspen trees, fifth graders have moved on to seascapes. I've done seascapes for a few years but decided to mix things up this year, combining elements of projects I found here and here. Like that second plan suggests, I use this project to show the kids the work of Winslow Homer. The more I study his realistic oil paintings, the more I appreciate both his talent and dedication to the subject of the sea. This year, the kids looked at some of Homer's watercolors and oils before starting their own. Everyone chose a tempera paint color palette with which to cover a 12x18" sheet of white paper. They loved blending their colors and experimenting with brush techniques to achieve smooth waters or crashing seas. They added some sgraffito if desired. On this day, art class was sponsored by the letter M. For MESSY. On day two, all students painted another 12x18" sheet--this time, watercolors on watercolor paper--for the sky. This day was sponsored by the color blue, a.k.a. an excuse to wear my new blue pants. The 'ocean paper' was torn horizontally to create white waves and surf--so cool! These pieces were layered onto the watercolor paper to make sky and water meet. Lastly, we went over a few origami boat folds. Kiddos had lots of paper and sizes from which to choose. I required them to use differing sizes to demonstrate perspective. I pre-taught my Art Enrichment kids how to do the folds so they could teach the others. Pile-up in the marina! My fifth graders really enjoyed this mixed media approach--when I hear, "this is so cool!" and "woooow!" I want to do a happy little dance (and sometimes my blue pants and I indulge). Some kiddos really went wild with this. I had a few kids 'sink' their ships by ripping them in half, and others made little "S.O.S." flags or named their boats. One of my outside-the-box thinkers asked to use a black Sharpie to draw on the sky; I asked if she'd prefer to paint on clouds but she said she'd like to use the black marker. I said yes and she ended up with this rockin' result, graphic and bold like the rest of the artworks I've seen from her: Gosh I love these kids.
Basquiat street art mixed media free association self portraits for kids
Fun and easy BRAIN BREAKS for elementary students that will help classroom management
Back to School Preschool Worksheets with all kinds of great activities for preschoolers to use all year round. Counting, letter recognition and much more.
Lien :
Please Note: All images seen below are of my students artwork only. These photos/lessons are not posted in any particular order regarding the flow of my curriculum. Abstract Self-Portrait Paintin…
Our first project this year has been a very progressive, multi step, multi media project that has really evolved as we created! Our first p...
Let me just start by saying that I absolutely love my little town. There is a certain charm that comes with living in a small, tight knit community. It’s been a HUGE adjustment getting used to being so far away from so many things…mainly the mall and Starbuck’s. The downside to living out this far …
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Looking for fun All About Me Activities for kids? Check out these 16 Hands-On All About me Learning Activities and Crafts for Preschool or Kindergarten.
This is one of my favorite activities for beginning the school year! However, it can be used at any time to reinforce the importance of giv...
FUN End of the Year Art Projects- It's the end of the year-go out having FUN! I know how it goes at the end of the year-your tired, the kids are tired...EVERYONE is ready for summer break! Go out with a bang with these super fun end of the year art projects!
