Shape Cities

Kindergarten and 1st grade students recently used the texture plates and crayons to make a plain old piece of paper a little more interesting!

Next, they took those papers and cut them into shapes to make buildings!  They turned out amazing!

WHO is making owls?

In first grade, students learn about symmetry (if something is folded in half, it's the same on both sides.) 
We learn how to draw an owl, making sure to have big eyes, a small beak, wings, and even details like feathers.
After we draw, we sculpt!  Students get a ball of clay, make a ball, then flatten it like a pancake. 
Next, they make eyes, a beak, wings, and other details they might see on this mysterious creature!
The coloring is left to their imagination!

Here are some of our 1st grade student's clay owls!

Mandalas: Concentric Circles

I talk about concentric circles with my 2nd grade students every fall.  We talk about how concentric circles are many circles with the same center, and I show them images of mandalas from all over the world.  I also tell them that they are sacred and tell the story of a special place of the artist. 
Next, they start designing their own mandala, using ice cream lids as the outer circle, and other round containers to make more circles.  Students also pick up quickly that all of the mandalas are cymmetrical (the same on both sides.)  They also use templates and other objects in the Art room to add geometric shapes (the ones with names: circle, square, triangle, etc.)
Here are some amazing artists:

Roller Coasters!

Students in kindergarten and 1st grade talked about the many different kinds of lines they saw: straight, curvy, zig-zag, thick, thin, diagonal, vertical, horizontal...the list went on and on!

Here are how they decided to showcase their many kinds of lines:

Environmental Education day!

Today at Five Hawks Elementary, it's environmental education day! 
Requirements: teach some of your lessons outside and incorporate learning about the environment!

Here are a few pictures from my 3rd and 4th grade projects.  We talked about lines and how you can see all different kinds in nature.

School time is here!

Welcome back!  I hope you had a great summer!
We have a lot of great things to do this school year: using paper, using pencils, using paint, using CLAY! 

Rest up, get your creative mind ready, and see you soon!
~Mrs. Gus

Rules Rule!

RULES Rule!

At the beginning of each school year, students hear the rules over and over and over… By the time they see me, they’ve heard it about a dozen times. I started to think of creative ways to get them to hear the rules and get in some Art those first days of school.
Each year, one of my first projects with my 3rd grade students is “Rules Posters.” I tell them that this is a very important job, and that they have been chosen to do this because they have been around long enough to know and understand the rules and their drawing skills are awesome at age 8!
I have a SMART lesson comparing and contrasting posters. We start with the US Constitution and the Art room constitution. I ask them “Which one is more interesting, and why?” Kids usually say our school’s is better because the letters are big and there’s color.
Next, we take the US constitution and compare it to an “old fashioned” black and white newspaper, asking them again “Which one is more interesting, and why?” Again, the kids will often say “The US is small and in cursive and hard to read. The newspaper has big letters-some of them fancy- and that gets my attention.”
Lastly, we take the black and white newspaper and compare it to a 1998 State Fair poster, again asking “Which one is more interesting, and why?” Students say they like the State Fair poster because it has color and pictures on it.
We talk about what makes a good poster: color, big letters and a picture.

Students use 9”x12” white drawing paper, pencils, and markers and think about the concepts of Color, Big Letters, and Pictures to design a Rules Poster to be hung in the Art room for the entire school year. They have an immediate sense of pride for their posters and point them out to others throughout the school year!