First Day In Art Class- "Painted Papers"

-
Image
Hi everyone!  It has been a while since I have written a blog post.  Since my last post: -I've bought a house. -Graduated from grad school. -Had a baby.  and as we all are--- currently surviving a pandemic.  But I am excited for the new school year, nonetheless. With the start of another school year comes the dread of creating a fun and engaging lesson for the first visit. I don't know about you, but I always have a hard time coming up with something interesting. This year I stuck with something simple yet fun.  I teach upper elementary, so each grade level did the exact same lesson-- Kwik Stix "Painted papers" using Analogous colors.  I always start my first visit to art with my rules and expecations video. Back when Bitmojis were a hit in the classroom, I made a video explaining the rules of the art room. Its only 5 minutes, keeps the kids' attention, and I don't have to say the same thing one million times--at two schools.  Next, we reviewed analogous color
Post a Comment

Hispanic Heritage Month- My Frida Kahlo Lesson

-




It's Hispanic Heritage Month!!! I am so excited to teach my students about the importance of other people's culture! This month we are focusing on the artist, Frida Kahlo. Frida is one of my favorite artists to study because she has such a phenomenal story. I was so PUMPED about this lesson that I even painted Frida on the back of my jean jacket to wear to school the next day!


 

 I presented a Google slideshow to my students that displayed some of Frida's work and tidbits about her life.



The students were MOST interested in the story of her trolley accident. My sweet babies were so concerned about her. They also thought her painting apparatus was neat! She made use of her bed bound days!




We took some time to analyze her artwork. We focused on a few comparisons, what we enjoyed about them, and what struck us---(of course, many of us talked about the unibrow and mustache.) ;)

 

Then we hopped into the guided drawing! The extra fun part! :) I drew a simplified recreation of the "Still Life with Parrot" painting for my students to draw. When coming up with this lesson, I saw SOOOOOOO many Frida "self Portraits" so I wanted to go outside the box with this lesson. Also, this would be more complex than our previous guided drawing experiences- but I thought they could handle it.






The plan was to then have them paint with watercolors once the drawing was complete. HOWEVER, life happens- I GET BORED- and my plans change at the drop of a hat. So, I decided to use the solid Prang tempera cakes instead and what a great decision that was! (Aheemmmmm...... *whispering* definitely less messy and no water splashies all ova my purdy clean tables.)


 


 I gave my students TEEEEEENY brushes to 1.) SLOW THEM DOWN and 2.) Help them control the paint better and stay in the lines. This idea worked wonders. They were able to slow down and pay attention to what they were doing-- and the five minutes of silent art works with that, too. :)




And the results have been great, many students have gotten VERY creative with their backgrounds and choice of color which I absoluetly LOVE!

"Mrs. Barm-- uhhhh I mean Mrs. Latimer! Can we paint our table rainbow???"
"UHHHH- YEAH!!!"

"Mrs. Latimer! Can we paint our ORANGES BLUE???"
"WHAT?!?!?! Are you serious!?! *squints eyes with pretend fury*
*cowering uncertainty*
"That is the best idea I've heard all day!!!!!!!!....YESSS!"

Haha! Those little things make their cute little faces smile. So, if they like it, I LOVE it.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Blogs

Chris Uphues and Dasic Fernandez inspired Valentine's Day Project

-
Image
Well, well, well! We made it through the year of January! At least it felt like a year to me. I hope your New Years Resolutions are still in effect and if not--hey we still have 11 more months!  Valentine's Day is coming up and if your like me, you wait until the last minute to come up with a project. Thank goodness I've stayed loyal to one of my New Year's Resolutions-- Try to stay two steps ahead.  I was introduced to the artist Chris Uphues (Instagram: @chrisuphues) by the wonderful Cassie Stephens and I LOVED his awesome work. The precious hearts that he paints are so unique and fun! Source: https://chrisuphues.com/pages/commissions I decided to pair this artist with another- Dasic Fernandez. If you haven't heard of him, check him out on Instagram @dasicfernandez. He paints beautiful drips of paint- and sometimes creates imagery with his drips! Source: https://news.1xrun.com/dasic-fernandez-throws-down-on-the-dance-floor-in-paradise/
Read more

S.T.E.A.M. Night- Pendulum Painting

-
Image
Hi, guys! Thanks for taking the time to read today! I wanted to share with you the activity I did with my students on S.T.E.A.M. night! Our theme this year was "S.T.E.A.M Night- Awaken your YET!" I designed our t-shirts this year using the Star Wars font and of course a little calligraphy! Originally, my idea was to do BLACKLIGHT Pendulum Painting. I envisioned blacklights, glow in the dark paint, (yada, yada, yada) and as we know- sometimes things do not go as planned. I ordered LED blacklights from Amazon and I thought that three came with the purchase, but I only recieved one. (Reading is fundamental, folks.) So, our ONE blacklight became a decorative piece to light up our neon paint in the back of the room. Anywho- the session still turned out great! I created seven pendulums using dowels, rubber stoppers, waterbottles, yarn, twine, and tape. I spent about 1.5 hours making all seven and once you get the hang of it you can go pretty fast!
Read more

First Day In Art Class- "Painted Papers"

-
Image
Hi everyone!  It has been a while since I have written a blog post.  Since my last post: -I've bought a house. -Graduated from grad school. -Had a baby.  and as we all are--- currently surviving a pandemic.  But I am excited for the new school year, nonetheless. With the start of another school year comes the dread of creating a fun and engaging lesson for the first visit. I don't know about you, but I always have a hard time coming up with something interesting. This year I stuck with something simple yet fun.  I teach upper elementary, so each grade level did the exact same lesson-- Kwik Stix "Painted papers" using Analogous colors.  I always start my first visit to art with my rules and expecations video. Back when Bitmojis were a hit in the classroom, I made a video explaining the rules of the art room. Its only 5 minutes, keeps the kids' attention, and I don't have to say the same thing one million times--at two schools.  Next, we reviewed analogous color
Read more