Grade 3 artists are studying Ancient Art History! In this unit they will learn about the ancient cultures of Egypt, Greece, and Australia. They will learn about cave art and eventually they will get a real sense of time when they make a dinosaur sculpture from several hundred million years ago...

Here are some of their first results:

During our freezing cold snap in January, K-1 artists were thinking of staying warm and cozy in their beds!
They practiced using proper brush technique to paint squares neatly and smoothly, then with just a very small amount of paint left on their brush after each square, having painted most of the liquid carefully off onto the paper, they quickly dipped the brush into another color of the tray and painted again to create a mixed color. When they were finished, they practiced using a very small brush with watered down tempera to paint lines between the squares. After all of the painting was done, they drew a self portrait sleeping. They had lots of fun seeing some of the finished results hanging in the hallway.

I originally saw this lesson done by one of Mrs. Maheu's classes, thanks for the inspiration!

Second grade artists recently completed a unit on bodies in motion. The first project was to create an acrobat out of clay. They had to form a human figure out of the clay, trying to create the proper proportions, mix colors to decorate its circus costume, then choose an action pose in which to position it on its trapeze. They had great fun with it, and now the figures dangle overhead in the art room for all to see.

In the second part of our unit, second graders created a collage of three friends playing outside in a winter activity. Their challenge was to create the collage using only their fingers! Without the use of scissors, they had to keep their shapes very simple and make the choice to leave out details. The results were impressionistic and very fun to see. Many students presented their work to the class in a sharing session. 

Fourth grade artists studied the work of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. We discussed how art styles changed dramatically after use of the camera became common. Modigliani chose a style for his work, making figures look elongated, using bold color, placing them in a small space, keeping lines and shapes simple, and sometimes leaving out the model's eyes! The work was very unpopular at first, but eventually caught on and over a century later is collected by museums all over the world.

I originally found this lesson here: https://artlessonsforkids.me/2009/11/15/modigliani-self-portrait-in-grade-three/

Grade 3 Artists practiced mixing color values, then using the values to show distance in a landscape painting. First, they drew five simple pencil lines across the page to represent sections of the land, seen from above. They began mixing values by starting with white, then mixing very small drops of color into it on a painter's palette. They added more and more drops for each darker tone. They painted a sections of the color's hue, or pure color. Then they tried creating shades by starting with the color and adding very small drops of black for the bottom or closest sections. Their finished work made a beautiful hallway display!

I originally found this lesson on this wonderful website: http://arteascuola.com/2011/01/paesaggi-in-gradazione-tonale/

Grade 5 folding visual art books made with Heather Marlow, who served as a student teacher in the art room during November and December. The students created the book ideas by brainstorming drawing prompts, then made rough drafts. Their final copies fold up into a sculpture.