Autumn birch trees

My 3rd graders learned about the wet on wet watercolor wash technique.  We gave our papers a generous soaking, then added a sunset (using the warm colors, red, orange, and yellow), then added a green/brownish landscape.

Next, we designed birch trees with Sharpies on strips of white paper.  We made sure to add lots of different lines!

Last, but not least, we added branches and autumn leaves to our paintings.  The results were amazing!

The Dot!

Peter Reynold's book, The Dot, is one of our favorite back to school reads.

Inspired by the book, kindergarteners and 1st graders made their own!

A spin on paper weaving!

Paper weaving with 1st and 2nd grade students can get boring...red, blue, red, blue gets old after 10 years.  So, I was looking for a new way to teach the concept!
Thanks to Pinterest, I found www.artsmudge.com and this lesson.

We started by painting 2 12x12 white papers, one with warm colors, one with cool colors in watercolor.
The following week, we cut one of the papers into strips, and weaved in between the other.  We love the results!

Jasper Johns inspired Alphabets

For the 2013 Elementary Art Festival, students learned about various Pop artists.  1st grade learned about Jasper Johns.

Here's his original piece:

Students started with a grid, then added letters with oil pastels.
Next, they used watercolor paint on top of the oil pastels for a resist.