ANNUAL PREK-5TH SPRING ART SHOW

We recently held our all school Spring Art Show for students and their families. I displayed our latest projects plus a sampling of the wonderful artwork created throughout the year. Every child had at least one piece of artwork on display. The PTA and many of my awesome colleagues helped with an Ice Cream Social that night as well, which really seemed to bring in tons of families. My principal has been really trying to get our families more involved in the school and it was great to see such a huge turnout for our art night. Enjoy some more photos from the big night!

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1ST GRADE THE TINY SEED COLLAGES

Here is another literature inspired art lesson–a 1st grade flower collage inspired by Eric Carle’s The Tiny Seed. Students first created the background collage using various types of blue tissue and crepe paper. Next, they experimented with color mixing, creating painted textured papers in the style often found in Carle’s illustrations. The following class the students created these vibrant, simple flowers using their painted papers. For a final flourish, seeds were glued to the center just like in the story. Looks like spring!

4TH GRADE GEORGIA O’KEEFFE FLOWER CLOSE-UPS

I have done this Georgia O’Keeffe flower lesson the last two years with my 4th grade students. We start out the lesson by viewing a Powerpoint showcasing some of O’Keeffe’s flower paintings as well as interesting facts about her life, including that she was born right here in Wisconsin. We discover how she wanted to paint flowers big so that even busy people would stop to notice their beauty and intricate detail. Some of my favorite books to share about O’Keeffe during this unit are:

My Name Is Georgia: A Portrait by Jeanette Winter

Through Georgia’s Eyes by Rachel Victoria Rodriguez

Georgia Rises: A Day in the Life of Georgia O’Keeffe by Kathryn Lasky

I also laminated a huge stack of flower photographs (recycled junk mail from a seed catalog!) for reference as they began their first sketches. This was a great way to bring in some science. The main goal of the lesson was to zoom in on the flower, making sure to capture each tiny detail as inspired by O’Keeffe’s style. Students drew their final flowers with pencil on black 12 x 12 paper, outlining their drawings with glue. Once the glue dried, we reviewed O’Keeffe’s paintings, noticing how smoothly her colors blended, often using monochromatic tints and shades. Students tried creating this effect by coloring thickly with similar shades of their chosen color using oil pastels. Check out all their details–what a success!

K WARHOL FLOWER PRINTS

This was one of my favorite projects created by my Kindergarten students last Spring. To start out the lesson, we watched this short Sesame Street counting video featuring Andy Warhol’s flower prints. Students also viewed more of his flower prints, noticing how the prints were very similar except for the colors. This led us into a discussion on printmaking, a process that allows the artist to create many pictures out of just one, using a stamp, screen, or printing plate.

Students first stamped the grass using recycled cardboard. Next, they drew and cut out a flower shape from craft foam, gluing it onto a cardboard backing. The next class, after the stamps were dry, students printed their flowers onto pink and yellow construction paper. They really loved discovering how many flowers they could make from their one stamp! Each artwork turned out bold and vibrant, just like Warhol’s originals.

1ST GRADE UPSIDE-DOWN UMBRELLAS

1st grade students read two books to get us ready for our rainy day collages: Rain Rain Rivers by Uri Shulevitz and vintage children’s book The Wet Walk by Carol Woodard. Students used their pattern skills to create designs for their U-shaped umbrellas using a black crayon. Bleeding tissue paper was placed over their umbrellas and painted over with water to create a watercolor effect. 

The next class, students cut out their umbrellas and made a handle. We assembled our umbrellas upside down to catch the rain! For the finishing touch, students painted raindrops using shiny, metallic paint. A great project for the start of spring!

1ST GRADE JAPANESE CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Last spring my 1st graders had the chance to learn about the importance of cherry blossoms in Japanese culture. They viewed a National Geographic video telling the history of the cherry trees and saw how picnics are still held during the short blooming season to honor the beauty and wonder of the pink and white blossoms. Students also had the chance to see a Powerpoint showing examples of both painted and printed cherry blossoms. We talked about the shape of the branches and flowers to get them ready for their own prints.

Students used recycled cardboard to print the branches and a q-tip for the blossoms. They all turned out so unique and cheery.