Flower Power!

This is a project including tracing, watercolors, cutting and putting together. We first learned four different types of watercolor strokes which was included in on our lei. We then traced out 24 flowers to be laced on our lei. To make the lei, you tie a loop at on end, then place a flower by the loop, then a straw, then another flower, etc. An extention activity would include talking about the many different flowers. Each student could make a different flower and research their flower. The students could model/present their flower to the class and inform them with it. This would improve their writing skills and inform them of a new concept with still incorporating art skills.

This is a bullentin board created by myself and Ella Campbell. We went with "Crazy 4 Coilz!" because it is a project that the students were able to use a new skill and make a masterpiece. I wanted it to be very random and colorful. We laid tissue paper down on the base to accent the colors of the pots. We added tissue on the sides to add a slash of color. We were crazy for coils! 

Print Making

This project is a very unique project that many kids can use their creativity in many ways. I would incorporate this project into history and talk about the impact of the railroad on South Dakota. The students were able to create a design on a foam sheet. They used a small wooden instrument to imprint a design. We then rolled out a color of their choice with a roller. The students must understand that they have to lightly roll out the paint so the imprint doesn't get filled up with paint. They then pressed the foam sheet on a color of construction paper. The students were instructed to create a scene of South Dakota for the background of the rail road and create something to fill up with train carts. I think students would use thier creative minds to create something that they picked up from the lesson that was taught about SD railroads. It uses drawing, imprinting, and creation.

3-D art!

This 3-D art project incorporates a Dr. Seuss book as well as different folding techniques. The concept was introduced by reading a Dr. Seuss book and getting the students’ imagination going. After the book was read, the students were free to use their imagination to create a village of their own. An extension activity for this project would be in the subject of reading. The students could then create their own story about their village and become an author, writing a couple pages of a book. They could then read it to a younger class. This would help them continue to improve their imagination and leadership skills.  

Marble Painting

This project introduced marbling. The students were given a famous monument and were instructed to draw it on a piece of paper. The paper was then covered in shaving cream with whatever color of paint splattered on top of the shaving cream.  The shaving cream is then scraped off and a marble painting appeared. With normal marble painting, the students would use water and paint but for this age group, shaving cream works great. A new vocabulary word I learned was marble. I did not have any prior knowledge of this technique and think it is very neat! An extension activity for this project includes incorporating geography by having the students place their famous monument on the correct area on a map. The students would research their monument and present it to the class. This activity incorporates drawing, a painting technique, history, and geography.

Puzzle Pieces!

This project introduced warm and cool colors. I think it was a great idea to get the students to understand the differences between the two. Each student had a puzzle piece and was to draw an animal on it. The animal should be either a warm color or a cool color. You then used the opposite color to create lines or textures on the outside with the remaining warm/cool colors. All the puzzles fit together into a large puzzle that was hung on a bulletin board. An extension of this activity would be maybe introducing the student into the world of different kind of animals. Each student would have a certain animal to draw and they could look up information on that animal. The students could be broken up into mammal and non mammal. All the animals that were mammal would use warm colors to draw their animals make and make a large puzzle and vise versa for the non mammal. The students would then have a large puzzle to look at for the visual learners as well as research presentations for the audio learners.  

Macramé Madness

This activity introduced us to the macramé process. Students would really enjoy this because it is something they can wear/use daily. This lesson was taught to make key chains. The teachers first went over the history of the macramé. I would use the history an extension activity. The students would be taught how sailors came up with the idea. I would have the students come up with different uses for the macramé using group collaboration. They would create their own macramé masterpieces. I think this is a great activity for students that broadens their idea of “art”.

Blind Contour Spring Drawing

This lesson incorporated different geometric symbols and used color in a local stereotypic way. This lesson was for a 1^st grade classroom but could be used for 2^nd or 3^rd. I was never aware of blind drawing until this lesson but learned that it is when an artist draws a subject without looking at the paper. In this lesson they used warm and cool colors to create a painting over their drawing of a spring scene with a white crayon. The drawing showed up because it was drawn with a white crayon. An extension of this activity could include integrating this drawing with a science lesson when learning about the four different seasons. A teacher would assign each student a different season and they would have to draw a scene that would look like the season they were assigned. The students would have to include something that makes the scene look like their season and the colors of that season.   

Crazy about plaid!

This activity was done over Easter time but could be used to make any kind of animal. We read the a book about plaid and used vocabulary like lines, warm colors, cool colors, and color wheel. As an extention activity I would have the students bring in something plaid they have at home and have a "plaid day" on a Friday at school. During plaid day, the students would wear their plaid they found from home and we would go over the various types of plaid one can have. The students would then be able to paint something plaid using two different colors. The students would get many different examples to choose from and I think they would really grasp the concept of the plaid pattern through these exercises.