Today I had to teach art from a cart (well, not even really a cart, just some tubs!) because the book fair has taken over my classroom for the week!  

On the search for something not too messy but lots of fun, I found this paper line sculpture idea from a few different websites, including Texas Art Teacher's blog. The kids had a blast with it!

 K-3 did this project using paper strips and paper towel tubes cut into rings.

 The photo above is work by 3rd Grader James C.

When finished, we displayed work outside the art room door. This is 3rd Grade's display, and K-2's work filled the wall outside the other door into the room (pics coming soon). The kids have received lots of compliments on their work and several staff have said that the hallway looks great with all the color! It will remain on display until after the art show at the end of April.

My 5th and 6th grade class only meets for 43 minutes per week, so you can imagine how long it takes to do an entire unit! Our landscape unit lasted for one whole quarter, but I covered lots of standards and had high hopes that being so thorough with instruction and examples would help ensure good results. Not so much the case... with 26 kids in a room, elbow-to-elbow, using paint and being on a 43 minute set-up-to-clean-up-and-leave time restriction, they just didn't put much effort into it. But, as always, there are the few that did what they needed to do to get by with a C-, and those who strive to do excellent work. I'm always proud of my students who put effort into their art and produce something they can be proud of. Here are a few of the excellent pieces from class:

Top: Sarah B., Bottom: Alexys C.

Left: Conner R., Right: Jaden B.

The Kindergartners practiced identifying the folded edge of the paper and cutting symmetrical shapes by folding & cutting, resulting in this lovely place mat for someone they love. This one is my example because it was the only proof left of our project-- everyone was very excited to take theirs home to give to someone! I had some very creative arrangements. We did this project during one 50 minute class, then I laminated them and sent them home with the kids on Valentine's Day.

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My classroom has been converted into a book fair! For some reason I thought it wouldn't take up my whole entire room and there would still be space to have my speech and special ed classes....nope. For this week I will get a taste of teaching from a cart (or a tote bag in my case). I'm not entirely sure about my other classes though. I feel kind of bad because I had boxes of toilet paper tubes, cereal boxes, and newspaper sitting around waiting for projects, and I thought they'd be out of the way...nope to that, too.

As one of the first projects for Kindergarten, each student drew a portrait of each other student in class on a 2"x2" square. I collected each of those portraits, in this case of Abigail, and made a collection of everyone's portrait of her. This gave me a good idea of where we were starting out (ability-wise), and gave us a chance to talk about facial features and differences in eye shapes, skin color, hair lengths and textures, etc. It also makes a great keepsake! I will be displaying them in the end-of-year art show along side their later-in-the-year self-portraits.

Don't know what to do with those packing peanuts? If they're the biodegradable type, you can use small amounts of water to make them squishy and sticky and make sculptures. If they're the non-biodegradable variety, it's either reuse them as packing materials, art supplies, or toss them. Since I don't like to toss, I figured I'd use them in a way that I'd never used them before: as stamps. The backing seen here is a toilet paper tube, split lengthwise (and rolled the opposite direction to try to prevent curling). I used a regular glue stick to attach them to the cardboard in a patter, and dipped in paint to stamp with. I figured the kids would have fun making different patterns and designs, then we could display both the art made with the stamp and the homemade stamp itself.

My 4th graders made gingerbread houses as props for the school holiday music program. Students worked in groups of 3-4 kids per house.  After they'd served their purpose in the music program, we drew names to see which person from each group would take home their house.

If you're wondering about the trees in the scene...

They're made from toilet paper and paper towel tubes.The trunk is paper towel tubes (2) and the "needles" used about 8 total. I attached the needles with hot glue, and then spray painted the whole thing when it was finished. I think it would have been easier to paint the toilet paper tubes with a brush, let them dry, and then cut them into fringes and attach. But... I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out until it was done, so I didn't want to waste paint!

In addition to art, I also teach speech and special education. My first year teaching, I participated in a reading challenge against the middle school kids. Whoever got more AR (reading quiz program) points than me would be able to put a pie in my face. I had 9 pies that day...

...and the pictures were published in the local newspaper. Do you know how hard it is to get Cool Whip out of your hair and ears (and nose)? It's greasy. But, the kids will never forget it. 

In the fall, the 1st-4th grade kids made masks (they were complete and ready to take home the day before Halloween weekend). They had such a blast making them! We looked at different types of masks for inspiration- tribal, animal, festive, etc. Most of them turned out as some combination between tribal and festive looking. I did have one very cute bunny rabbit, which unfortunately I didn't catch in a photo. :(
*Sorry, some of my face blurring turned out really weird.

 

I created this sign for my classroom door using free, downloadable letter pictures from this Flickr collection by Leo Reynolods. I used Microsoft Word to create the document, then inserted pictures from my computer. I adjusted the pictures so they'd fit onto the page when set to landscape orientation. Although you can't really tell in this picture, the "Art" and "Ms. Scott" are two separate signs. I just stuck it right over that boring old engraved plastic sign on my door.

Today's project was making Kandinsky-style concentric circles and painting them. This will eventually come together as part of a large project that K-4 are contributing to. I got the idea from the blog Some Kind of One-derful, which I found on Pinterest. Our version will be a little different, and I'm super excited to see how it turns out! Essentially, we will have a large tree (I'm going to attempt to fashion one from a plastic tablecloth since we don't have any brown rolls of paper) with Kandinsky's concentric circles (similar to the blog linked above). Beneath the tree will be Kandinsky's circles as flowers. Kindergarten and first grade made birds and owls to place in the tree and around in the hallway. All I can offer right now is this sneak peek of their circles drying patiently in the rack, waiting to become a masterpiece! It should all come together in a couple weeks, so check back for progress!

2nd Grade has been working on Op art for the past two weeks. These are a few who are finished. This is one type of art where precision and neatness pays off! These may go in the art show... it has been difficult to pick the best projects to put in the show. We still have until the end of April, so we'll see what all we collect!
This particular design was shared on Pinterest. The kids have enjoyed making their eyes "pop" and they've learned a lot about op art and how complimentary colors work (some did not use complimentary colors, although it was part of the directions, and they have been disappointed with the results).

2nd Grade made landscape drawings to put in the art show. They showed a lot of creativity and we had lots of very nice looking landscapes!