If you are looking for the perfect Back-to-School art lesson; one that's low-mess and low-stress (because those first days of school are stressful enough!) then have I got the lesson for you!
Kid-friendly video here! But if you'd like visuals to go along with this or a lesson plan, my friends at Prang have you covered! Check it out here.
On that first day with my fourth graders, we got this far...which is pretty dang good! In that lesson, we were using a variety of color pencils but...what I really wish we would have had were THESE:
Now...I used to be a big fan of the Prisma Color Art Sticks...don't get me wrong, they are so stinkin' good but they are very pricey. These color pencils have that same rich color and buttery feel when you are coloring. They are larger so easier for students to hold and the triangular shape means they aren't constantly rolling off tables. They are larger than the average color pencil so I can't fit 'em in my pencil sharpener. BUT you should never put color pencils in electric sharpeners anyway as they have a fragile core and tend to break easily, regardless of the brand. So...get some of those metal hand-held pencil sharpeners and your students will be good to go!
I will say this: working on a size 9" X 12" sheet of drawing paper does make the drawing time-consuming. And it's exhausting for the hand with all the coloring...I say that from creating the video. My hand was tired! You could make the paper a smaller format for students to work on. This would speed up the lesson and make it so you don't have to hear "my hand is tired" all the time.
For the patterned background, it always helps to have idea sheets. So I created a FREE download just for you and your artists! Here it is:
If you decide to use this sheet in your classroom, I hope you and your students find it helpful. You do not have my permission to copy this sheet to sell it on Teacher Pay Teacher (yes, I have to say that because yes, people do it). Find this free download for you and your artists here!
If you want for your students to create patterns that perhaps symbolize something about them, you might want to share this sheet! Then, when you display their artwork, you can hang this next to their piece. It would be a great conversation starter for parents and family during Open House! Find this sheet here.
One of my favorite things to do when we return to school is have EVERYONE do the same lesson...it saves my sanity and it makes for an EPIC collaborative display. So put your own spin on this lesson and maybe deck the halls with colorful patterned selfies! You can check out this lesson (with video!) here.
YOU GUYS. I can't tell you how excited I am about this one! After I created my first Snow Globe lesson , I started getting all sorts of ideas on how to add color to the background. I thought...what about chalk prints?!
I first shared the process of Floating Chalk Prints back in 2014 (that's wild!) and you can check out that post here. But really...not much has changed! You'll need:
* A basin of water. And, seriously, nothing but water.
* Freart chalk, found here. Sidewalk chalk won't work...and artist chalk is so expensive and little...this stuff is seriously the best.
Okay, now...let's get started. I promise...you and your students are gonna love this!
RIGHT?! Out of all the methods I tried for adding color to the background (and I have another fun one that I'll be sharing here and on YouTube soon...I always post to YouTube first so, please be sure and subscribe to be alerted!)
Whenever I share the process of floating chalk prints, I always get the question "do you have to spray or set the chalk once dry?" NOPE! Which is what makes it even more amazing!
I hope y'all have fun! I can't open my comment section here on my blog, unfortunately, because I get spammed for days BUT...I am active on Instagram and Facebook! BTW...I recently had a fake Facbeook account created in my name and likeness. It's not me! The one I have linked here is my account. So...if you do this lesson in any way, I'd love to see! Please be sure and tag me.
And...friendly reminder...that if you are interested in receiving any of my books for the holidays, you may want to order super soon! I sign all of my books before packing them up and sending them your way. You can find them here!
Hey, friends! I shared on social media last week that I had some exciting news...with my friends at Prang, you can now purchase ROUND paper!
Here's a little more about how that idea came to be:
If interested in seeing those round Dot Day activities my students did, visit here.
But...I know that there are TONS of art lessons out there that could be based on a round piece of paper! In fact, I would have loved it for my Snow Globe lesson!
Here's a little peek at the paper Prang has for you:
I was concerned that the paper wouldn't be their good quality stuff but it is! In fact, I was able to paint on it to create this wreath project! I created a video for you to use in your art room or at home. Of course, if you don't have round paper, that's no problem! I walk you through an alternative at the start of the video. Here you go:
So, honestly...while creating this video, I wasn't sure if the markers were going to bleed enough to provide color. At first...it seemed nothing was happening. I thought the lesson was just going to be a flop! BUT then I came back an hour later after the paper had dried and it looked AMAZING! So be sure and tell your artists to be patient and let it dry.
Creating a wreath puts me in mind of Christmas! If you have children who are readers...might I recommend my art-themed choose your own direction book Find Your Way. I've had so much positive feedback from parents, homeschool families and teachers alike! You can find it here.
I'm all about the Halloween projects lately and I came up with one that I know your students will love! I mean...I loved making it so even if you just need a fun little weekend craft to unwind, you may want to try this one on for size.
You can find the supplies for this right here. But really...it's just foil sheets, plaster wrap and acrylic paint. Sticks, felt and pipe cleaners are things the average art teacher has in surplus so...you can add that to your shopping list if necessary. But if you are anything like me, those types of supplies seem to multiply in your supply closet!
I created a kid-friendly video for you to share with your students if you'd like. You can find it here:
Personally, I know my students would struggle with the face. So! I talk about embracing your mistakes a lot in the video. I also chat about practicing first. I would recommend doing the faces with a paint pen if you have younger students. I know paint pens like Posca markers are expensive...so maybe it's a station students can rotate to when finished.
But who's to say they have to add a face? They could designs like dots with a sponge brush. Or they could collage a face onto the pumpkin. That might be easier for them. OR you could bust out those googly eyes that also multiply in your closet. I mean, really, the possibilites are endless. Just start with a cute pumpkin base!
If you need a little time between pumpkins drying, you might want to check out this post. Students could work on this pumpkin drawing activity in addition!
Recently I shared that my students were doing Shape Stations (or centers) in the art room. I did this after the success of both our Dot Day and Line Study stations. I'm loving the exploration the kids are able to do and the kids are loving it...for the same reasons. Not to mention, it's just FUN to try a whole bunch of new ways to create in just a few art classes. Here's a look at our Shape Stations:
And what we did during our Line Study:
And some behind-the-scenes tips on these stations:
Here is a look at the Dot Day stations that started it all:
And since we did two days worth of fun:
Once we finished creating artwork from our line study (lessons which I've yet to share here!), I ventured into shape. Currently, I'm doing shape stations with 2-4th only as kindergarten and first are in the middle of other projects. I do think that these shape stations would work for k-1st except maybe the radial symmetry design. But it's always worth throwing the idea out there to see what the kids come up with, right?
Here's a little look at what the back table in my art room looked like after I began prepping for our shape study. Initially we were going to do some shape stamps (seen in the upper left hand corner) but after giving that a run through with one class, I decided it was too similar to the sponge stamping. We switched to the bleeding tissue paper shapes in the end.
Now when I'm working through these station ideas, I also gotta start thinking: what are we gonna do with all of these papers and things we create? Here's a little look at what I've come up with...
First grade is currently working on the self portrait in the upper left hand corner. This is a lesson I've done many times, you can check out the lesson here. As for 2-4th, well...I am currently having them all work on those castles! We will all do printing with our stars...and do some embossing too...but as of right now, we are all learning about Mary Blair. Here's the video I created.
The kids are enjoying working with chalk and oil pastel. I'm excited to give them another opportunity to really explore a variety of supplies.
Above is my example and below is a class of I think thrid graders examples. I will say this...stations means the kids will often work quickly and not always at a slow and 'careful' pace. I'm fine with that. However, I did have a small handful of students later decide the wanted to redo theirs, knowing it was not their best work. I allowed that too.
So far, we've gotten the castles chalked in and now we are ready for the oil pastel.
Our backgrounds will be our bleeding tissue paper. Since winter is coming, we are turning it into a winter wonderland with snow...and a little bit of sparkle on the frame. Oh...and PUFFY PAINT. Everyone's favorite!
Here's an easy and fun way to teach about the four parts of a landscape: horizon line, back-, middle- and foreground. What I love about this little lesson is that the pop-up stands up and it can act as a card of a storytelling prompt as it opens like a book! Check out this three-minute demo. Feel free to share with the young artists in your life!
Hey, y'all! I started a new lesson with my first graders this week. They are really enjoying it and I thought your students might as well. So I quickly created a lesson video for you, if you are interested. In my art class, we learned more about the artist Heather Galler and looked at her work, her love of pattern, color and bold line designs. Afterward, we spent our first thirty-minute art class sketching together in our sketchbooks in preparation for the following day's painting. The next day, we sat on the floor (see last photo) and, using an ink-filled bingo dauber, we drew these masterpieces together. No pencils first, we just dove right in. My students were excited by the results and I can't wait to see how they go about adding color with oil pastels and watercolor paint. Here is a quick lesson video I created for you and your students if you are interested!
And here's me hanging out with a class of first grade masterpieces. I didn't intend to match their work but when one of them pointed it out to me, I had to laugh. I do love me some black and white!
If you decide to do a workshop like this in your school or educational setting, please know that this was created by me and I would greatly appreciate acknowledgement. I'd also love to hear from you! My email address is cassieart75@gmail.com. Yesterday I released three new podcast episodes that I hope you'll take a listen to and enjoy. In this blog post, I want to focus on one of those episodes, Ep. 8: Discovering Your WHY. Before you listen to this podcast, I want you to know...it's what I'm gonna call a "working podcast". What I mean by that is I want you to carve a mere 20 minutes out of your day, grab some paper and markers, flair pens, crayons, whatever and sit down with me. And think. And dig a little deep. And create. Here's a little more info:
What we're going to cover are three questions. I'll walk you thru them a little bit here...but listening to the podcast is really going to take in all of what I have to share. Each of these questions only requires four responses. I would encourage you to unplug, settle back, and answer from your heart. Not how you think I want you to respond, now how you think your favorite teacher on IG would answer but YOU.
Me lookin' like a crazy person while presenting. I'm just a lil passionate, that's all.
I did this workshop recently in a two and a half hour session at Get Your Teach On. We spent a lot of time thinking and creating and walked out of that workshop with a strong sense of WHY we teach. Discovering this is empowering for you. It will give you a sense of purpose on those days when you need it the most. Not to mention sharing your WHY with your students allows them to know the importance you place on spending your days with them. They will learn their value in your classroom.
I'm going to be sharing a portion of my workshop in this blog post. I won't be sharing my responses to the questions with you here but you can hear them in my podcast. FINAL THOUGHT: I would love (and share!) to see your responses and creations! Feel free to email me or, if you post to Instagram, tag me in your stories or posts. In doing so, I'll assume you are okay with me sharing your creations here or on my Instagram. Okay! Let's get started!
You can answer this question any way you like, whether that be literally or figuratively. All I want are four little words. Don't over think this. Your knee-jerk answer is what we're lookin' for.
Again, same thing. There is no right or wrong answer, just YOUR answer. What YOU want your students to spend time with you doing. What's important to YOU as their teacher.
You got it? You got your four responses to the three questions? Great. Now let's prioritize those lists with some colorful pie charts. This is where all of those random art supplies you gathered up are going to come in handy. Look at your responses to the question of what do you want your students to LEARN. My kids have 30 minute art classes. It's impossible to pack in everything that I wish. So discovering my Top Four and prioritizing them really helped me. I'm hoping it will do the same for you. Here are the pie charts I created.
You'll notice that sometimes I answered my questions literally and, other times, figuratively. I also decided to make mine colorful because I wanted to make them attractive enough to hang in my art room.
Developing these pie charts really got my wheels turning about my WHY.
And I hope it does the same for you.
I'm going to end the blog post here and hope that you'll take a listen to the podcast. I feel that I have so much more to say on this topic...so I'm going to say that this one "will be continued...". Until then, I'd love to share with you a my WHY along with that of many other teachers. You can take a look and, hopefully be inspired, right here.
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