2nd grade: The Nutcracker

Around the time of winter festivals The Nutcracker ballet is preformed all over the world.
My second graders created unique nut-crackers in honor of the ballet using TP rolls and egg-cartons. We looked at traditional and modern designs; comparing the two different styles and evaluating which parts stayed the same or changed.
The kids loved the crazy teeth of the traditional nutcracker, so many were sure to add them to their own designs.

My Saint Anthony kids were lucky enough to go see the ballet live downtown last week.
A number of my kids, from both schools, will be part of some of the performances this year! Since I would be missing out, a  few girls were sweet enough to show me a few of their dance moves. So talented!

This clever artist created their nutcracker with two faces. One is angry and the other side is happy.

Face 2# (happy!)

Football Player Nutcracker

Firefighter Nutcracker

Crazy teeth Nutcracker

4th Grade: Dali Mustache

I mustache you a question. Do you know of the fantastic Salvador Dali mustache?

Salvador Dali with Babou, the ocelot and cane.
Roger Higgins, World Telegram staff photographer

Fourth graders learned about the craziness of Surrealism and the ever so eccentric, Salvador Dali. We learned about him and some of his quirky behaviors (did you know he jumped up and down in public to get people's attention?), the qualities of Surrealism and about his infamous mustache!

This lesson focuses on Art History with Salvador Dali and Surrealism but I also take it as an opportunity to teach about facial proportions. We tried to keep the portrait serious and the background full of surrealism crazy! Down below you will see flying cheese, floating snakes, coins falling from the sky, with a side of berries and stars to complete the gallery.

Time Capsule: Saint Anthony

Not art related, but something fun to share.
St. Anthony Catholic School just found their time capsule!

The time capsule was first put together on our 75th year anniversary and was opened again in 2000. The 2000 group added a little more, then resealed it for our 100th anniversary (2013). However, it was forgotten! It was not until a few months into 2015-2016 school year that we discovered the capsule hiding in the ceiling.

The time capsule was found in the ceiling after some electoral work was done in the office. If that had not happened it would have gone undiscovered for who knows how long. So glad we found it!

We had an assemble to share with the whole school what was waiting inside.
Within the white tube there were year-books from 1988 and 2000, old uniforms, books, and pictures. There was even floppy-disks and Harry Potter! Apparently, Harry Potter is a good read according to the 6th graders of 1999-2000.

This year we added new year books, DVDs of our current programs, a google-earth image of our school grounds, some CDs, and loads of pictures of students and staff.

I wonder what the kids will think of us in another 25 years?

Kindergarten and 8th grade Buddies Part 2

Early this year our 8th graders learned how to draw the human face using correct proportions. They then gave their drawings to their Kindergarten buddies to complete. This project was influenced by the works Busymockingbird and her daughter. Busymockingbird's project started with the her creating the the faces and her 4 year old daughter added the body. Have you ever seen beaver people in space? It is so funny!

A few weeks later our buddies corroborated again; this time writing a story together to go along with the image they both helped to create. When they were finished the stories were bound together in a book.

Their collaborated stories turn out so funny! The mind of a Kindergartner and an 8th grader can create some pretty amazing stuff.

4th grade: Realism and Non-Objective, Birds

What is the difference between Realism and Non-Objective artworks?

• Realism- the image representing a person, thing, or situation accurately or in a way that is true to life.
• Non-Objective- the image does not representing natural or actual object, figure, or scene. The artist focuses instead on using the most basic Elements of Art (line, shape, color).

Students did observational drawings of birds from calendar pages. We walked through how to break down a complex subject (bird) in to something simpler (shapes). Example: Oval for the body, circle for the head, and a triangle for the beak. We then adjusted our shapes and added details, like feathers, claws, and markings. Crayons were used to give the bird color and allowed for layering of color.

It was great to see my students search the bird's feather for hints of other colors. A black bird might not be made of completely black feathers; there may be blues and greens too. Look carefully!

Next, we observed the works of Wassily Kandinsky, who is know to be one of the top Non-Objective painter of our time. His painting Squares with Concentric Circles, 1913 became our inspiration for the background of our drawings.

The contrast of the two art styles works amazingly well for this project. It really brought home how different artists can be and still create masterpieces.

1st Grade: "Not A Stick"

I adore this beautiful simple book! "Not A Stick" is a book written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis. It tells a story of a little pig's world of pretend. The stick he is holding becomes becomes an orchestra baton, a paint brush, and even a sword to slaying a dragon!


The assignment I gave each student a was to use their imagination and change a boring stick into something fantastic. They did not disappoint!

The students started with a blank piece of paper and a Popsicle-stick. They came up with a animal/person that could be doing their pretend activity and traced their stick. When they were done adding their details I hot-glue their stick into place.

It's not a stick! It's a sword!

It's not a stick! It's fishing pole!

It's not a stick! It's a weight!

It's not a stick! It's for chopping trees down!

It's not a stick! It's lasers from my monster!

2nd Grade: Claes Oldenburg

Second grade observed and critiqued the work of the artist Claes Oldenburg in order to get the idea of what colossal really means. Well, Claes Oldenburg knows how to do large! We have one of his sculpture here in Des Moines called Crusoe Umbrella. It is a humongous umbrella that takes up an entire street corner. This sculpture was a perfect tie into the lesson because nearly every student had driven past it at some point.

Crusoe Umbrella
By Claes Oldenburg
Nollen Plaza, Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa
Photo: Attilio Maranzano

Crusoe Umbrella
By Claes Oldenburg
Nollen Plaza, Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa
Photo: Attilio Maranzano

We also looked at his soft sculptures like his Floor Burger, Floor Cake, Floor Cone, and Fries and Ketchup.
    

These soft sculptures inspired us to create some sculptures of our own. Since, this is the month of November we tried to create food items we were thankful for, keeping the meaning Thanksgiving in mind.

As you can see, Ice cream, pizza, and McDonald french fries were top on our lists.  Yummy.

DAY 1:

We drew our food on a large sheet of paper, colored it, then cut out our shape with a second paper underneath; now have a front and back to our sculpture. Cutting two sheets guarantees that the front and back will match. For students that struggle with cutting out such huge pieces I used a binder clip to help hold papers in place or had a friend help hold them together as they cut.

Before we colored the backside we line-up our papers to be sure we colored the correct side. If you don't line up your paper, then fip, coloring might end up inside of the sculpture. Oh, no!

We then had to figure out what the back of our food would look like and color that side. (Example: pizza would show crust, compared to ice cream that might look the same as the front.) 

BETWEEN ART TIMES:

 In years past I had the kids sew their parts together, but this took too much time and several kids got pretty frustrated. Glue worked brilliantly, but a grown-up has to do the fastening.

Glue a thin line on of the very edge of the inside shape, being sure to leave a section unglued for later stuffing. Lay the layers together and let them dry. They tend to curl, so you may need to weigh them down.

When dried, the food will be nice pockets to stuff with crumpled newspaper.

DAY 2:

Students stuffed their foods with tiny bits of crumpled paper then I stapled it closed. Be careful not to over-stuff because they may tear.

Their sculptures turned out super cute and look fantastic for our Thanksgiving display. 

Add-On: 

For those that finished early or it can be used as a pre-worksheet.

Claes Oldenburg Drawing Worksheet

6th Grade: Scrolls and Value

 6th  Grade have been sharpening their value skills by undertaking a project called 'Value Scrolls'.

Value:

First, draw scrolls with a pencil.

We drew a few scrolls as a class on the white-board; experimenting if they were rolled slightly different from each other. Easiest way is to start was with a squished swirl and then draw straight lines down from the edges our shape to the bottom of our paper. Don't forget to do the same on the inside, stopping with you hit the swirl lines. (I made a quick tutorial in Paint. Forgive the quality.)

Second, shade the scrolls with pencils. 

I demoed some 'real-life' paper scrolls, holding them up to a lamp to show which sections would be highlights and what parts would fall into shadows.

Heavier pressure was used for the shaded area, lighter pressure for the highlight areas, and left our paper white for where the light would hit the scroll directly. Smooth gradients turned out the best.

We gave our pictures a finishing touch by adding a background and color to our scrolls.

Color to our scrolls had to be done carefully; keeping in mind that the shadow areas would require heavier pressure and lighter pressure where the light hit the strongest. 

Day of the Dead: More art!

We have been so busy getting ready for Day of the Dead! Here are some more projects my kids have been working on.

Tin art Calavera by 7th grade:

 Paint and oil pastel Sugar Skulls by 8th grade:

Bones in Action by 2nd grade:

Can you guess what they are up to?

Rock Sugar Skulls by 3rd grade: