Art Class Works

Chinese New Year

2012-01-29T14:11:00.000-08:00

We made lanterns and dragons from our hands in first grade, and in third grade we made paper fans! Enjoy the year of the dragon!

Liebster Blog award

2012-01-27T15:32:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much to Janelle Stuck in the Mud Pottery at for passing on the Liebster Blog award to me! The idea is to pass this on to fellow bloggers that I admire with 200 or less followers.

1.Ms. Malones Art Room
2.For the Love of art

These blogs have many lessons to share and are definitely worth checking out!

The rules are:

1. Copy and Paste the award onto your blog
2. Thank the Giver and link back to them
3. Pass along to 5 new bloggers and let them know via comment ( I could only find 2 with less then 200 followers : /)
4. Keep spreading your love of art to other bloggers

Juice Pouch Folders

2012-01-26T16:42:00.000-08:00

My aunt is a teacher and made these very cool and earth friendly folders for my kids during for the holidays. They were a huge hit when my kids brought them to school.

We are going to start a Crafting Corner on our school website where students can go to find fun art activities to do at home! I thought this would be a great one to start with. I wanted to share the idea and directions below with my bloggin friends-enjoy!

Directions for Capri Sun pouch FOLDERS (other brands are usable too!)

A project to help reduce, reuse and recycle…

Materials: 16 pouches and clear heavy tape, scissors and a sink for washing.

1. First, cut across the bottom fold to open. Rinse with warm soapy water, air dry. Make sure the pouches smell clean before you use them.

2. Use a standard folder as your guide as you fold the pouches to form the new folder. Place 2 pouches overlapped, across the front top portion to measure so it’s just right as you pinch about half an inch to be the folding part. Repeat until there are three parts with 2 pouches across. Then lay out the 3 parts to see how they will meet to be taped together as the front. Tape them together so they are just right. The edge of one row must touch or slightly overlap the others.

3. Repeat using the back of the folder until there is a front part and a back part. Form the Capri Sun folder around the other folder and tape the front and back into one piece, inside and out. Use your hands to make it flat. Tape all open spaces so there are no slits between parts that were cut open.

4. Using the pouches, make a pocket by taping 2 pouches, overlapped. Remember to fold and tape the center of the pocket as a diagonal line.

Repeat for left and right side of folder. Tape the pockets inside the front and back of the pouch folder. Press all parts and tape the open pouches closed.

5. Use s small piece of tape to cover any sticky spots. Any mistakes can be fixed by taking the tape off and doing it again. Reuse, reduce and recycle! Enjoy! Share this idea with other Earth savers!!

Beading for a great cause!

2012-01-06T11:34:00.000-08:00

I could make up some new years resolution about being a more consist blogger but the truth is there are just not enough hours in the day! I will try to do better is all I can say : /. Now onto that GREAT cause.... have you heard of Portableplayhouse.org (http://www.theportableplayhouse.org/about-2/ )??? This is an amazing organization that has volunteers that go into hospitals all over the country to make bracelets and necklaces (for free) with long term and terminally ill patients. I was so inspired by this organization that I called the founder Mary Ann to see how I could get involved. I came up with the idea of hosting a beading event at my school. This would help to raise money for the organization, bring families together, promote the arts! The beads that Mary Ann gets are glass beads (see pic above).. they are beautiful! At our school event we will be making either bracelets or key chains (she has wooden beads that will be great for the boys). The cost will be $5 per bracelet or key chain and ALL the profits go to the organization. Mary Ann and her husband will be coming on Feb. 8th to our school. The event will be from 6-8pm and it is a drop in activity..meaning it will only take about 1/2 hour to make the item, but students will pre pay so we know how many are coming. I am so excited for the our event "Families Beading for Love". I will let you know how it goes!

thirsty...

2011-11-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

How fun are these???? I got this idea over at Pink and Green Mama! I was looking for a quick fun lesson to do with this short week week have coming up. I am going to lead into this with sculpture and the many different materials that can be used to create sculptures. Our mini ice cream shakes are going to be held in recycled clear laundry detergent lids! One of the teachers I work with has given me about 100! I guess she does ALOT of laundry. Have a terrific Thanksgiving everyone!! Enjoy your break!

Giant Batik Leaves

2011-11-06T13:44:00.000-08:00

This lesson was inspired from Natalie's pumpkins over at smART Class blog. I did this lesson with 1st grade. I am on a cart and only 2 of my 4 1st grade classes have sinks...so I only could do it with the 2 that had 'em : /. I really wish all of the classes could have had the "batik" experience, but you now how it is..life on a cart..you must be flexible!!

I did something I almost never do...used tracers! I wanted this to be a one week lesson...drawing them never would have allowed that. I made a few different kinds of leaves out of oak tag (12x18). I made several sets, the less kids sitting around waiting the better. After tracing their leaf and adding the veins with black crayon I asked them to pick 2 colors from the craypa basket. The only colors they could not pick were black, blue, and pink. ANY other 2 color combinations for their leaves were fine. After coloring we crumbled : )..they loved this part! Then we painted them black and I washed them off. I did a small group of painters at a back table. While the next group painted I washed the first groups off.

As you can see from the pics they came out pretty cool! I am loving the size and bright colors. As for the display..those trees are going to stay up till June! I think I am just going to change what's on them and around them: )!

lessons lesson everywhere

2011-10-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

http://www.dickblick.com/lesson-plans/

I just found this link on Dick Blicks site..thought I would share... i found some great ideas. Thinking of trying this one with my art club...

On another note two projects that we did up this week...first grade witches and 4th grade script name skeletons......

Some pre cutting for the witch but it was a great lesson for following directions. I had them us the hands and hair from pre cut 6 x 6 squares. Great for cutting skills! I precut cut the hats and legs,rectangles for shoes (they cut out a triangle), and they the did the dress. This was a 45 minute lesson. They skeleton was 2-45 min. lessons. One to draw the name for the ribs and one week to paint the skeleton.

Inspired by Mr. E of Tennessee

2011-10-18T16:52:00.000-07:00

Mr. E you have inspired me! I am borrowing "Mayor Project" your idea for Youth Art Month in March!! We are going to call our program “March into Youth Art Month”! I love the idea you had about getting political figures involved to bring attention to the arts. We are thinking of kicking off the day with an assembly which a handful of students would play an instrument or hold up a piece of artwork and say why the fine arts program is important to them. After that we would like to have a local artist, musician, or actor come in and talk about how their grades school art program influenced them. Then it is off to the classrooms… our visitors will participate with a class in an art and music lesson. It just so happens that our school is putting on a play in March so we will get to show that off a little as well.

I know the program will bring a positive light to the art program in our district and our school. This relates to another one of Mr. E’s posts…attending conferences at the state level. I attended the NJ Art Educators Conference a few weeks ago and there were two main ideas I took away from the conference. The first was that we as art teachers need to teach but also advocate! We need to get the message out that our art programs are important! The second message was teaching art skills for the 21^st century. The 4C’s of Art Education skills are Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity and innovation . The basic idea is preparing students with these concepts and skills are critical for a student readiness.

I am excited to prepare for this program and I think that it will be well received! It is a win win on all levels. The kids, our program, our district, and let’s be honest me…..we all benefit! As we prepare for this program and promote the fine arts I am interest to hear if anyone else has done anything like this. What programs do you have at your schools to promote fine arts?

Lastly to Mr. E.... thanks for insipring me!!

Searching for a crayon song

2011-10-12T15:31:00.000-07:00

One of the blogs i follow ( i think : / ) had a post that had a link to a very catchy crayon song. It was a female singer, very folk music sounding. It was shot in a school gym and also oudoors with a handful of students.. does anyone have any clue what I am refering to? Can you send me the link if you do?? I have been sifting through the blogs but can't seem to find it. Thanks!! Note to self..bookmak something is you think there is the slightest chance you may need it : (

Nightmare Before Christmas

2011-10-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying that I have not tried this lesson yet, but it is in the works to start this week. Another side note..credit where credit is due..i got this from another art teacher in my district...so here is goes

This lesson is a great example of a living artist, writer and film maker. Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas has that oh so creepy by fun main character Jack Skellington. In this lesson the students will draw a closeup of Jack. In addition students will be able to create a background with movement using only cool or warm colors.
I try to use as much art history as possible and after going to our state art conference I am trying to connect the 21st century skills / "4 C's" to my lessons. With this lesson I will explain how Tim and his team use critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration and creativity and innovation to make the film/ artwork. I will use the first few minutes of the lesson to use the Promethean Board and go on Tim Burton's website (hopefully it will not be blocked: /). He has a very cool site, check it out if you get a chance. I previewed it..it gives you a virtual tour through his public and private gallery. The one on the left is public, not age appropriate for elementary school. The one to the right was private..you had to give your email to enter. That one seemed better. I think the kids are going to love this lesson! I will report back, let me know if you try it!

Welcome Back and American Pride!

2011-09-11T18:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome back everyone..I hope you had a nice summer! I as so excited for this school year! I am only at one school (YEAH!) and I have two new programs. One program is art club, and the other is a program called Project Connections. In PC I team teach with classroom teachers. We integrate the curriculum and the classroom curriculum and together we collaborate and make a lesson. This is in addition to the regular art classes I teach.

Friday was the kick of of my first project connections. I teamed up with a second grade class to do an American Pride lesson. Side note.... My district has installed Promethean boards in every classroom in every elementary school (12) in the district. There is a BIG push for technology in my district..if anyone has any lesson involving the Promethean boards I would love to hear/see them.

The second grade teachers used the Promethean boards to use the writing prompt.. I am proud to be an American because.... The children also brain stormed "hero words" while the teachers wrote the words on the Promethean board. The students practiced their sentences in their notebook then did a final draft on water color paper. Then they made a wash of the American flag. We mounted them on black paper and they wrote the "hero words around the flag in white charcoal pencil. While the students were working American pride music was playing while words lyrics were displayed on the Promethean board. The end result was great! I am going to display them tomorrow but thought is was appropriate to share today.

LONG projects!

2011-05-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

Grade 3,4 and 5 of my have been working on projects that took several weeks to complete. FINALLY we have some finished products (or almost finished).

My 3rd grades are doing weavings on cardboard looms. Last week it was nice enough to go outside.

My 4th grades just completed unders the sea chalk drawing. Thank you to patti at deep sparkle space for this one!

Last but not least fifth grades did 3-d letters. Who says you can't do paper mach'e on a cart! These came out very cool and the kids had lots of fun making them. We really used Ross Art Paste (not paper mach'e) that stuff is GREAT!

model magic birds

2011-03-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

This is a project that I do with third grade- One day one of the lesson I have them mold the bird- two balls one smaller then the other pinch the small one for a beak and make the larger one like an oval and pinch for the tail. I show them how to twist the wire into to arch around the stick around the bird and how to twist the wire or pipe cleaners for the feet. I collected sticks before hand. They need to attach the bird with the feet wire ( it swings around so I hot glued them after class and it was much more secure). Then add feathers. On day 2 when the m.m. dries we painted the birds with sparkle water colors (i love those things!) This only takes about 10-15 minutes- so a mini lesson is needed. Here are some pictures. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product sorry : /.

Minute to Win it! and classroom management

2011-03-15T04:50:00.000-07:00

This year I am experiencing some classroom management issue. The listening skills of my students need a little fine tuning (that is putting it mildly) so I came up with a "game". ..45 minutes to win it. Most of the kids have seen the game show on t.v. and are familiar with the format. This is the 3rd week of the "game" and it is going very well. The empty spots at them bottem are for the names of the kids at the tables (they now have permanent seats). I am not one for rewarding behavior that should be a given, but sometimes you have to do it to keep your sanity!

Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden

2011-03-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some samples of of community workers (grade 3) and cityscapes (grade 2) inspired by Jacob Lawrence.

Here are some samples of our music inspired art (grade 4). We looked at works by Romare Bearden.

lessons were on previous post : )

Jacob Lawrence and Faith Ringgold two amazing artist and story tellers!

2011-02-20T17:28:00.001-08:00

For the next two weeks I will be teaching about Faith Ringgold and Jacob Lawrence. Two great passionate artist that tell/told stories about change and thing that were happening to African Americans. I thought this would be a great way to celebrate Black History Month!

My first grades will hear Faith Ringgold's book "Tar Beach". Students will create their own "dream of what they could fly over and own". Below are samples from last year.

My second graders will see the cityscape painting by Jacob Lawrence titled "This is Harlem". They will create their own cityscape using bright bold colors and lots of details just as Jacob Lawrence did.

I am trying a new lesson with my 3rd graders.... We will take a look at the Migration Series by Jacob Lawrence, and the importance of community and community works. We will talk about how their contributions effect our lives. Students will then create their own image of a community worker using a cut paper collage. I found that lesson HERE. I might tweak it a little.

I will check back with the finished products :).

Torn News Paper Panda Pictures

2011-01-22T16:27:00.000-08:00

This was a first time lesson for me and it went pretty well so I thought I would share it. It was done with 3rd graders and took us 3-45 min. Classes. Intro pandas, China, and recycled art. I cut oak tag 12 x 12 or chip board it you have it, then we used the word part of the news paper to fill in the entire background (tearing into small pieces). After the background was done we use the dark parts of the news paper to add bamboo trees (at least 4 -and 2 had to touch the top). Next came the pandas I used the large paper on the rolls (the kind for the bulletin boards) to make the pandas. I find this paper tears really easily. I told them they could make the panda sitting walking climbing, eating- whatever. I did an acrylic gaze when the projects were done for a more finished look.

Toboggans by 2nd grade

2011-01-11T03:41:00.000-08:00

With another storm expected today in NJ and the surrounding area ...I thought this would be a fun lesson to share...

This is one of my favorite lessons and the kids love it also! I kick off the lesson by showing pictures of toboganns and by explaining what they were used for.

This is a 45 minute lesson. I pre cut The 4x6 inch sleds, a variety of flesh tone 2x2 squares for head, and a variety of jacket colors 3.5x5. I show them how to roll their toboggon using a pencil Then we us scappaer and thin sharpe for detailss. When I display it in the hall I scrunch up white bullition bord paper and staple it on cork so it looks like a mountain.

Evergreens with a twist

2010-12-23T03:05:00.000-08:00

I saw two lessons and combined them. One involved symmetrical evergreens and the other (can't find the blog sorry :( ) was an art lesson that had to do with America and writing words about our country.

I did this lesson with 1st grade and it took one 45 min class. It was VERY successful. I loved the idea of incorporating writing into the lesson.

1st Grade Carolers

2010-12-07T02:21:00.000-08:00

This lesson was a first for me. The kids loved it! It was two long for one 45 min period so I had to make it a 2 week lesson.

I printed the music from Musicnotes.com. I cut off most of the white so it would fit on the 9x12 black paper. The students glued the music sheet down, then cut 2 gloves from rectangles (sheets together -trace hands-fingers together-thumb out), cut out hat from a rectangle (top corners only-use scraps from hand paper to make pom pom), face cut all 4 corners of square. Week 2 was hair and making patterns on mittens and hat. We talked about how they designs should be the same on all three things. For the face they were to make to little rainbows for eyes, a backward "L" for a nose, and an oval for the mouth.

leaves on craft paper

2010-11-21T08:09:00.000-08:00

I was really pleased how this project came out. It was for 2nd grade and was a lesson that took 2- 45 min classes. In the first lesson I put real leaves on the table as well as photos of leaves. They were taught how to draw by observation using pencil. We tried to overlap and make some leaves go off the page. On the 2nd week we traced with black sharpe and uses the construction paper crayons to color in ( at least 2 colors per leaf). The background was to be colored white and they were asked to add wind with the the sharpe. Here are some of the final products....

a thought from a 4th grader...

2010-11-16T04:54:00.000-08:00

My 3rd, 4th and 5th graders use art journals. Some of the topics are about artists we are studying other topics come from the book above. I read the question then give then 2-3 minutes to write and reflect, then we share our thoughts aloud.

Last week I read a random question from the book to my fourth grades. The question was something like..."What would it be like if on Fridays we could only see yellow?". One of my students answered " There would be no more racism". Words from a 4th grader-WOW!!

My Artist Spotlight Questionnaire

2010-11-11T04:44:00.000-08:00

Just incase anyone wants to see it/use it : )

Artist Spotlight

2010-11-10T16:06:00.001-08:00

I was inspired by Mr. E and his terrific boards to create this board. My goal was to once a month change the board with artists from our school that try their best every time and have a positive attitude. I am trying not to choose only "the good artists". I thought this was a great way to promote art in the school.

October went smoothly, I had 3 children chosen and gave them a questionnaire to fill out with their parents about their artwork... who inspires their art, what materials they like to use and so on. I announced the November artists but they have been slow to turn in their paperwork. As soon as I get the questionnaire back I will put it on the board with their photograph. At the end of the month I will give them a certificate and a sketch book I bought at the dollar store.

I am thinking I should do next months artist very soon so I will not be so behind. Speaking of being behind, I had plans to put more posts up on a regular basis -it is just not happening. I have to try to make the time. UGH!

3d Paper Iguana

2010-10-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

I love this lesson and so do the kids... I have made a template for you -my readers- but I do NOT give one to the class. A picture is worth a thousand words and I thought it would help explain. I do this with 4th grade...

1. Give students at each group or table various tints and shades of 12x 18 green paper. Example-4 students at a table-4 different color greens

2. Fold paper in half lengthwise.

3. Have then draw the iguana (or something like it) on their paper. Be sure to remind them to have the open side near their stomach when they draw or they will have 2 halves of an iguana

: (. I usually do a step by step drawing on the board while they draw along with me. I don't do a template or hand out because I like when they all come out a little different.

4. At this point I walk around making sure before they cut that the iguana takes up the entire paper and that they drew it with the fold on the correct side.

5. Have them cut out their iguana.

6.Glue the center strips together so the paper becomes 3-d

7. This is the fun part...using each others scraps from when they cut they add details to their iguana. The iguanas will have two tails I have them cut one off-some want to keep the two -who am I to argue.

8. I let them use black sharpe for details.

This is one of those lessons that really needs more then the 45 minutes, but is a little short for 2 classes. Here is that template I mentioned along with some samples of the students work....

I made the Top 20 blogs for Art Educators..

2010-09-30T04:42:00.001-07:00

I would like to thank Maria for creating a site of the 20 top art educator blogs. I am thrilled to be a part of such an amazing resource. There are soooo many great art teachers and blogs out there and I would like to thank all the great bloggers that share their thoughts, lessons and ideas.

Teaching children with autism art...i am looking for advice

2010-09-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

o.k. my fellow bloggers.... I am teaching my usual k-5 classes art, but this year I am teaching 2 autistic classes as well. This is totally new to me. The two classes are broken into a primary k-2 class and a intermediate 3-5 class. There are 6 children in each class, and 3 aids say in the room and assist the children.
I am questioning what is expected of me? What is expected of them? How do I create lessons for them? What is appropriate for their varying abilities? Can anyone out there help?? Or send me some good sites to read about ideas and information??

Back and Making it Work!

2010-08-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I hope everyone had a great summer!

Last year I re-entered the work world after staying home for 7 years to be with my kiddies. I had my dream job- teaching art at one school part time. I worked from 9-12pm everyday. This worked for me because I got my kids off to school and was able to be home before they got home with time to spare : )........not this year : /. I am teaching art full time and traveling between two schools. In addition to that I have no prep time. I am being compensated $$ for my time. I am a wee bit nervous about all the changes, but I am looking on the bright side. I am doing what I love and getting paid for it : ).

To all the blogs I follow..... I might not leave comments ALL the time, but I will try to do better.. I love what you share with the blogging world! Thank you!!

summer break = blog break!

2010-06-16T05:15:00.000-07:00

Hello my fellow teachers :)-
Today is the last day for school For Edison, New Jersey! Wahoooo!! I do love teaching art but I also love the summer break. I am looking forward to a vacation we have planned with friends to Baltimore and time down the shore with my husband and kiddies.
I have to say a quick thank you to all of my fellow art/teacher bloggers. I taught for 6 years then took a 7 year break and had my 3 children. When I returned to teaching this year I found all of your wonderful blogs. You have inspired me more then you will ever know. So thank you for your blogs and taking the time to share your lessons and ideas.
I will not be updating the this blog over the summer, but I will be back in September!

News Paper Flowers

2010-06-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

I have to give a shout out to Teach Kids Art Blog. This is her Magazine Flowers lesson with a twist. I did not have time to collect magazines so we did it with news papers : ). We had a class discussion on recycled art and things they have made from recycled materials. Then we jumped right in to the lesson. I gave the 3 different size squares for the flowers then a piece for the grass , stem, and leaves. I did the lesson with first grades-it went great. Here are some pics...

Family Tree

2010-05-27T05:31:00.001-07:00

Some times as art teachers we are asked by the classroom teachers to create lessons that connect to their curriculum. I LOVE cross connecting curriculums! I think It is a huge benefit for the students to see how art and the classroom subjects can be integrated.

For this lesson I was asked to come up with a family tree project for a 3rd grade class. The paper I used was the craft paper on those huge rolls (the kind for bulletin boards). The is very pliable and could be easily shaped. I gave simple instructions to create the trunk, leaves, grass, and sun. They came out amazing!!

Published..well sort of!

2010-05-22T03:58:00.000-07:00

I received a fantastic email from someone who saw my blog via the Susan Bivona. That someone was Debrah Sickler Voigt and she and her co-workers Susan Bivona, Linda Devlin, and Bonnie Rushlow are writing a book tentatively titled Teaching art for the Real World of of Elementary and Middle School Education. The Book is being publish by Allyn and Bacon, a Pearson Education imprint and is due out in 2012. In her email Susan said asked if some of the photographs from my African Necklaces lesson could be used in the book!

I announced the news to my students they were thrilled! This is a huge honor for me and my students and I am so thankful that Debbie found me!

Fantastic Frogs

2010-03-26T05:34:00.000-07:00

This was a one day Kindergarten project. We talked about using simple shapes to make things. I did this project step by step with them. I drew a large oval in the middle of the page, they drew a large oval, I drew the eyes, they drew the eyes-so on and so on...they came out great! I asked them to color them in with at least 3 different color greens. Then they traced the lines they drew in black. The final step was a green wash for the lily pad. I was really surprised and happy at the results. Check them out.....

Faith Ringgold and Tar Beach

2010-03-10T12:01:00.000-08:00

This was a first grade lesson...
I began by reading the book Tar Beach. Then I discussed the work of Faith Ringgold and her story quilts.

For this lesson the students are given a 4 x 6 pc of paper (various colors) then they are asked to use scraps of paper to create things/place they would like to own. They then use the scraps to make themselves flying. All of their pictures are put together to create a story quilt! A picture is worth a thousand words....

African Mask Necklaces

2010-03-08T04:44:00.000-08:00

During the month of February I created a few lessons to celebrate Black History Month. These lessons can be done year round. Two lesson I created were connected to the artist Faith Ringgold and her beautiful story quilts. I will post about them later this week, I have to take pictures of the finish product.

The other lesson I wanted to share was African Mask Necklaces. I started the lesson with prints of masks from Africa and other areas and cultures. I posted 6 prints on the black board and covered up the titles with post it's. I then asked the students to start a new page in their art journal and number 1-6. I asked them to create names for the masks. Then we shared their creative names as a class and revealed the "real title" of the mask. The kids seemed to enjoy this.

The masks created were done with 5th graders and made out of model magic. The small individual packs were cut in half and shared between two students. The students were shown a sample that I made. I gave a quick demo on coiling and rolling small balls to make details. Students were asked to make a hole at the top so we could put a string through. Note- we had to re poke many of these holes -partly my fault I did not check them as they were done to see if the hole was big enough. Students used a plastic sowing needle to make the hole.

The masks were left to dry. During the next class students painted the masks. We used sparkle water colors by Prang (love those things!) to paint the entire mask. Then we used metallic tempera paint for details and some black sharpe when that paint was dry. This was a two week lesson (each a 45 minute class). The students put a string in them and were able to wear them by the end of class- the paint dried very quickly.

Drawing the Cat in the Hat with Kindergarten

2010-02-23T05:28:00.000-08:00

Our school is celebrating Read Across America on March 2nd. For a cross curriculum project I wanted to have the Kindergartners draw The Cat in the Hat. I found this link on ehow. So I made this reference sheet for the kids to look while I do a step by step drawing lesson with them. I am also going to put some Dr. Seuss books on their tables so that they can write or draw some other Dr. Seuss type things in the background! I will make another post to show the finished product.

Chance to win..

2010-01-03T11:59:00.000-08:00

Like the rest of you I have sites that I check daily for ideas and inspiration. One of the sites I check is Art Lessons For Kids . This site provides free lesson plans as well as plans that can be purchased. Right now Art Lessons for kids is having a give away. Head over to the site to see what you can win!

Live Binders

2009-10-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

the other day the Teaching Palette had a post on Live Binder. This is a FREE site that helps you organize your web finds. Usually I find great sites with ideas that I want to remember. I find things I would use personally like good recipes or ideas for my home. Professionally I find lesson plans that I want to remember and use. I used to just add them to my favorites or make a file in word, but not anymore. Now I use live binder. I just started last night, but I put a few lesson plans in that I want to refer back to. I need to go back an organize them by elements, or by grade level, but it is a start :).

Loving my finds online!!

2009-10-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

When I left teaching 7 years ago, the Internet and art education was is not what it is today. Today we have lots of very nice bloggers that share ideas. I have found some great art educators that have terrific ideas and lessons. They can be found on my sidebar. These teachers have inspired me to teach their lessons.

Owl Painting done by my second graders. This one is from Deep Space Sparkle . The Dancing Skeleton's (seen above the Owl Paintings) was a lesson that I created. This was a one day project that the kids had lots of fun with.

Another lesson that I found on Deep Space Sparkle was the Rouault Royals . This is a fantastic lesson and the students were very into it. It did take four 45 minute classes to complete but the it was worth it!!

Check out this lesson...

2009-10-07T05:38:00.000-07:00

http://katieweymouth.blogspot.com/2009/04/playful-playgrounds.html

I am all over this one. I have to work thisone into my plans!! I love both versions for K and 2nd.

Ideas for more Halloween Lessons

2009-10-05T17:53:00.000-07:00

Just found a great site with some really good halloween art lessons...check it out
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/SubPlans/hween.htm.

I am also going to try shrunkin apple heads next week with my 5th graders
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/shrunken-apple-heads.

Halloween Projects

2009-09-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

2nd grade Haunted Housed
4th Grade Script Name Skeleton

3rd Grade Dancing Skeleton

K & 1 Paper Bag Pumpkins

Above are some of the projects for the next two weeks. Today I did the paper bag pumpkins with K and 1st. They were a HUGE success. I changed the lesson after the first class. The first class got done to quickly so I added some steps. Instead of drawing the face the cut it out of paper. After they made the face out of cut paper they drew lines lines on the pumpkin to show the texture.

The Second grade haunted houses are a one week project. Together we will brainstorm about things they can decorate their houses with. They will be given various colors of construction paper to create the house.

Third grades will be making the dancing skeletons. They will simply cut the paper into thin strips and glue down the paper to make skeletons.

Fourth graders will be writing their names in Large script letters on a pc of 12 x 18 paper folded in 12. Then they will cut it our so it makes a mirror image. This will become the ribs of the skeleton. We will make this into a mural. They will be glued onto a LG pc of black bulletin board paper.

Piggy's and Farms

2009-09-28T04:10:00.000-07:00

I finally brought my camara to school on Friday! I got some shots of the kids pictures. The Kindergarteners did the pigs and the first graders did the farms.

more together

2009-09-25T05:20:00.000-07:00

This week I am finally feeling more together!! I am caught up on my lesson plans for next week, my lessons for next week are preped, and I am feeling like I have a little bit of a routine. This week the the kids loved the farm animal drawings. I will post pictures later : ). I used the sheet blow as a guide for them. I have to thank thank the teahcer I did my student teaching under, she gave me this ditto about 10 years ago and I still use it! It is simple and perfect!! The kindergartners only did a pig scene, the first graders did an entire farm scene. My Second and fourth graders were inspired by Van Gogh this week. The 2nd graders did a drawing of sunflowers using craypa's and my 4th graders did one using water color crayons. The 3rd graders did Rain forest Tree's. The fifth graders are completed their second week of there Rouault's Royals:illustrating without a pencil . I am loving this lesson!! I cannot wait to see the finished product! Next week we start Halloween lessons!

Great first 2 weeks

2009-09-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

After leaving teaching for 6 7 years and coming back, not too much has changed. The kids still LOVE art class : ). I was right on target with my projects. The classes took the full two weeks to complete the lesson, this was because of the introduction to art and rules. I can hardly believe back to school night is this Tuesday 9/15! I managed to get 4 classes of art work hung up in the hallways.

Next week will be:see side bar week of 9/14 for detailed plans
K-torn paper landscape with sponge painted apple tree's (yes, brave- 3rd week of school and painting)
1st grade- What is my line?
2nd grade- owl paintings
3rd grade- Torn Rain forest inspired by Henri Rousseau
4th Grade -Iguana with Craypa
5th Grade-Rouault's Royals:illustrating without a pencil - love this lesson, can't wait to see how it works out!

Task Stream Get on Board

2009-08-31T17:44:00.000-07:00

Last week during a staff development training I attended, one of the teachers mentioned Task Stream. The site is amazing. It builds lesson plans with the State Core Curriculum Standards. Basically you plug in all of the point of the lesson, but you select the standards that reflect in your lesson. It does cost $50 a year to join, but I think it will be worth it. You can email the lesson plans as well as get URL links to the lessons you have created. There is also a community area in which teachers share their lessons.
One negative it that you cannot preview it before you purchase it. Ask around lots of people seem to know about it. Good luck!