Yay for Pre-K: Brown Bear, Brown Bear

This year I am teaching pre-k art. This is only my second year teaching, but in all of my teaching endeavors  I've never taught an age this young. I have to say I was a touch worried as to how our time together was going to go. I envisioned paint splattered walls, glue in hair, and ruined paint brushes. That is not at all what happened. The class is calm and I have wonderful kids who love to create and are eager to learn.

Our most recent project was an assemblage based on the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle.

I collaborated with their teacher and found out that they focus on one book each week and this was one of the books. I wanted to focus on a lesson that encompassed painting, cutting, and gluing. I printed a circle and two ear shapes on card stock. The first class I gave them their papers and instructed them to paint inside their shapes trying to stay within the lines.

Let me note here that all through my education of art ed I was highly against templates and tracing. As time has gone by I have become more open to it. I don't think they should be used all the time. I do however find that there is less frustration from the students and less time consumed on elements that aren't part of the lesson objectives. There is also somewhat of an insurance that the art will come out looking as intended and not just a big blob.

The next time we met they cut out the shapes and assembled them onto a black piece of paper. We counted out ten small dots for the face and three small dots for the ears. Next, they glued down google eyes. Again, like with templates and tracing, I don't always use google eyes. Sometimes the project just calls for it though. They used black crayon to add the nose and mouth. Lastly we worked on letters and spelling the word brown.

I really like how they came out. We need to keep working on the glue, but I think these look awesome for pre-k.

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Art From Students

So I love when students make art for me on their own time. I wanted to share some with you.

This is from a second grade boy who races dirt bikes and loves Fox Racing. He did this on his own in his aftercare program. He was very proud of his rainbow F.

A little first grader brought me this poster one morning. I'm not really sure what each element means and I thought it was a class project. There is one element though that was so touching.

I just thought this was so sweet. Later I was talking with her teacher over lunch and found out that this was not a class project. She did this at home on her own time.

This picture is from a fourth grader. I have been working on portraiture with all of my classes. I've been trying hard to get my students away from dot eyes, point noses, and smile lines. I've been focusing on lines and shapes for a persons face and hair. After one class, this student went home and created her own portrait using the skills I taught her. 

This is what I live for. I live for the times students are so inspired by what's happening in class, that they create their own art. We're only one month in and I can't wait to see what else comes my way.

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Bulletin Boards for Open House

Let me start by saying that I love my school. Everyone is so nice, helpful, and welcoming. We've had students now for 2 1/2 weeks and I love all of them. They are sweet kids who so far seem to enjoy art. I can't wait to see what they create this school year.
Outside of my room there are four large bulletin boards just for me. It took me a minute to get anything on them because I had been spending so much time getting my room together. About a week ago we had our open house and I knew I wanted something up before all of the parents came in.

 I wanted one board to identify that you had arrived at the art room. I had this idea of showing some of the many mediums we use in the art room and having them flow into the word art.

If you've been on pinterest then you know that I did not come up with this saying. I researched the quote trying to find the origin, but couldn't find anything. However, I love this quote. I think it sums up what life would be like without the arts. 

I've gotten many complements on my boards and appreciate them all. I still have two boards open and I think I'm going to use them for an art showcase. I'll pick a couple of the best projects and put them out for viewing. 

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Art Camp: Eric Carle Collage

I feel that there is a special place in every elementary teacher's heart for author/illustrator Eric Carle. I love to do this project with my second graders. I start by introducing and talking about who Eric Carle is and what he does. Most students know of him and immediately get excited about our project. I show them a slide show on how Eric Carle makes his painted papers from his website. I also show them from the site, how he cut shapes from the paper and assembles them to make a picture. From here we spend the rest of the class just painting paper. I tell them not to paint a picture, but to paint like Eric Carle.

They paint until the end of class. Some students get one or two papers painted while some get six to eight done. Some try to have a contest to see who can get the most done. I actually encourage this because it doesn't give the student too much time to over think what they're going to paint. They just go for it, pure enthusiasm, and no inhibitions. For the next class, I take the papers and cut them down into smaller easier to handle pieces. There is nothing like trying to cut a small shape from a huge piece of paper. 

We start the next class with the story The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse. I chose this story because I feel it breaks down the preconceived notions that art has to look realistic. If you have not checked this book out you need to. I review how Carle made his animal pictures and demonstrate how to make an animal from shapes. From here they get to choose a piece of colored construction paper for  their background and get to make a picture of any animal they want. 

I tell them that every element of their picture will be made from cut paper, no pencils! There also has to be a setting. No animals "floating in space."

I know you're traditionally supposed to save the best for last, but this is MY FAVORITE of all the collages I've ever seen. First, being a Sagittarius, centaurs hold a special place in my heart. Secondly, how creative. What seven year old thinks, "I'm going to make a picture of a centaur". This kid. 

A cute bird, and a lovely background.

I guess the owl craze has gotten to this kid as well. I think this owl is one of the most awesome owls I've ever seen.

This picture was created by an eight year old. It's a snake in a basket with a light shining on him, while his owner looks at him through the terrarium glass. Besides the overall greatness of this picture, one thing that's pretty cool is that the student cut triangles to put on the snake. It's easy to think that they may be part of the painted paper design, especially in a reproduction, but no.

I was blown away with the collages the campers made!

"Why Didn't I Think of That?!"

Have you ever seen a project, craft, or work of art and said "That is so awesome! Why didn't I think of that?!" I personally have had this moment a lot. I usually have this moment when I'm on my favorite "visual bookmark" website Pinterest. Not too long ago I saw this creative idea.

I knew that I had to have these on my Exploring Table. I know many teachers anticipate the words made famous by elementary artist, "I'm done." Most of the time, when I hear these words, the student isn't actually done. They have missed a step, could do a step with better craftsmanship, have a random floating object in space, the sky isn't touching the ground, etc. I address the issues, offer suggestions and corrections. In some cases though the student is really done with the project and there are several minutes left in the period. This is when I direct the students to my Exploring Table. I have different puzzles, tangrams, how to draw books, and a small but growing library. I have already started making the Velcro sticks and I hope that my students will enjoy them.

I made my sticks a little differently than the ones pictured above. The quantity pictured appear to be made for one child. I wanted to make enough for two to three students to work with them at a time. I have forty sticks. That means I would need 160 Velcro dots. The dots came in packages of twelve at $3.99 a pop. After dividing and multiplying, the answer to my math problem was = I'm not paying that much for Velcro. What I did instead was buy 5' a roll of sticky sided velcro for $7, cut individual squares and put four onto a stick.

For me it's a matter of more time than money. I'm not done yet and have about 30 more sticks to go, but I really think my students are going to enjoy them. Here's what mine look like.

Do you have extra activities for students that get done early? Share in the comments. That way others can read about them and have a "Why didn't I think of that" moment.