Hey there, best buddies! Like most of y'all, I enjoy trying new things: zumba class (um, turns out you have to be able to gyrate your hips in ways that my genetic makeup won't allow); Japanese delicacies (so, like, fish ovary is as tasty as is sounds [drive heaves, again]) and not starting my day with coffee and dark chocolate (that experiment only lasted 10 minutes as it turns out coffee and dark chocolate are the only reasons I get outta bed in the morning). Despite my many adventures in new-thingie-fails, one thing that I have been doing lately and lovin' is recording video content for my art room (and for y'all!). I believe some folks call this a "flipped classroom" but edu-buzz words aren't my thing. Now, if you subscribe to my youtube channel (do you know how funny that is to say?), then you know I have created videos for my sub and for various projects as printmaking and embroidery. A whole bunch of y'all have asked me how I'm making these videos and I've totes hesitated telling you because I am...
Like, seriously. Just ask my P.E. teachin' buddies who bust me all the time for never checking my email (but, you guyzzz, they changed the format and it's super confusingggg). Anyway, you've been asking so I thought it was high time I delivered.
Here's a lil list of what I use. Please note...this is for recording with a camera not an iPad. I can't afford one of those, y'all: * Cheapo camera. Most cameras have a video record function. I used to use that Canon Powershot before the hubs upgraded me to some other Canon thingie. * Tripod or a stack of books. Don't let not having certain tools keep you from getting started. Just do it! *Access to iMovie.
I recently set up a place to record at home. They were pitching these maps at my school (I KNOW) so I took it off their hands and hung it as a backdrop. It's not perf but it's better than a video of the big booty T.V. it's hiding.
And here's my school set up. Not the best lighting but it works for what I need to share. The camera you see at the bottom of this photo is on a tripod.
If you can't position yourself in front of some windows for good lighting, then you might wanna pick up some of those cheapo clamp lights at your local hardware joint. This, of course, would be getting a pinch fancy (if you'd call the above fancy!) as you don't need this to make your video. Like I said, don't let not having "the right stuff" stop you from giving this a go!
When I do my hands-on demos, this is how I sit. It's a great way to see what you are doing on screen the entire time. It's also great because your mouth is so close to the camera that the sound quality is good. My cameras don't have a mic plug in...but it's not necessary when you sit this close.
If you watch the video, I think you'll find out just how easy making a video can be! I'll go over the steps quickly here but I think I do a decent job explaining in the clip. If I did miss anything, please feel free to drop me a line in the comments. Again, I am a newbie at this...so take everything I say with a salt lick, skip the grain of salt. 1. Upload your videos from your camera to your laptop. Save to your desktop. 2. Open iMovie. Import your videos. 3. Open "create" in iMovie to start making your movie. Choose a theme for your movie. I always go with "no theme". 4. Double click on your film strip (that's the individual video clips you have imported) to highlight them. Now clip, grab and drop the video into the movie strip at the bottom of the screen. 5. Continue to do this until you have all of your content. 6. To add transitions, look to the bottom left of your screen. Double click to highlight then click and drag to drop in between your clips. 7. Add titles in the same way! 8. To save, decide on where you would want it to go. I always save to my desktop and YouTube. 9. Give this part sometime, it might take up to 5 minutes before it to show up on your desktop depending on the length of the video. (Special thanks to my former student Griffin Phillips for showing me how to make iMovie!) And there you have it! I hope you find this helpful. Again, lemme know if you have any questions, y'all! Unless it's about checking your email. I can't help you with that one ;)
What you see here is my final installment of printmaking lessons for the firsties thru thirdz. We started our printmaking units many moons ago and we've been having a big time since. You might recall my lil printmaking pep talk here...
You can check out the first graders printmaking lesson here as well as second grade's here. Fourth gradeland is currently in the midst of a collaborative/legacy/sculptural project that meant they were left outta the printmaking loop. I'm hoping to remedy that before the school year ends. I'll be sure to keep y'all posted. Until then, let's talk about these beauts...
I am so in love with how these printed and collaged cityscapes turned out, y'all! The kids had a blast printmaking...but where really thrilled to see their cities come together.
Lemme tell you what each kid created: * After creating their own printing plate (demo'ed in the video below), each child printed a minimum of four prints on colorful copy paper. They were to do two prints in white ink and two in black ink (or the reverse of that, depending on what was available at their table). * The following art class, the kids learned about wax resist, warm/cool colors and watercoloring a skyscape. Each student created a warm and cool colored sky (with a sprinkle of salt for added effect!). * Finally, each kid got back their warm and cool skies along with their prints. They then assembled their printed, painted and collaged landscapes with a layer of cardboard in-between for added depth. This resulted in TWO finished pieces by each student, as you see above!
This was such a fun and successful project for all students. Here's a list of supplies we used:
* Scratch-Art Foam (tho styro plates would work in a pinch...they'd just create a rounded landscape which could be totally amazing!)
I hope these videos are useful as I'm too tired to type out the directions (lazy much?). I have found that all kids can be successful with printmaking IF you teach them correctly and IF you are a stickler for proper printmaking techniques. I found that having the kids work in pairs really helped them hold each other accountable, even the littles.
For example, we learned that you don't need a barren to rub the back of the print, just use a good back massage. No pounding necessary. Unless you wanna take a time-out break (eyebrow-raise, head-tilt, teacher-face).
Every print pulled was magic. However, not gonna lie, the first prints are usually stinkers. Not enough ink, not enough "massaging" the back of the paper, etc. I told the kids to NEVER throw a way a print. If they didn't like it, they were to figure out what was wrong with it and learn from it. Blurry? Then you moved it accidentally. Can't see your lines? You used too much ink. Faded looking? Not enough ink. That's why we did a million prints. So we'd at least have a handful of successful ones.
In other news, I cannot take any credit for this perspective drawing or that amazing use of letter reversal. This kid's just rockin' it!
Once all the prints were made and backgrounds painted, the kids were given a 9" X 12" piece of paper. They attached their paintings to the top and were told to CUT OUT their skyscape. Oh, the whining, y'all! "I can't cut out all those small shapes!", "This is gonna take forever!", "My hand is cramping, can you help me?!" Nope. You do it.
And then they did.
I threw the option of adding a rectangle of cardboard between the cities out there. Most kids opted to do it as they loved the depth it added.
I think if I were to ask them what one of their fave things this year has been, they'd def say printmaking. The magic of it is addictive!
Next up: rolling their printing plates thru the slab roller with clay! I'll keep you posted on how their ceramic cities turn out. Til then, what are some of your fave printing projects, y'all?
Squidward Monday: I scored this Artists Only Squidward shirt at a resale shop and love it as did the kids. It was the perfect comfy thing to wear on a Monday because, let's face it, Mon-daze are no bueno. top: Buffalo Exchange but also available at Forever21; Matisse-inspired skirt: estate sale; tights: Target; shoes: Fluevog
Sup, buddies?! I do believe it's been a good coupla weeks since I've shown y'all what I've been a-wearing but it's totes not my fault. I've not worked a full week since the holidays, I swear! And it currently seems like I'm buried under my To-Do lists, swimming upstream from the piles of student artwork, stacks of personal projects and just mounds of STUFF. Every weekend, I try and catch up and every Monday, I'm all...
But, whateves. We're all busy, right? It's just a matter of managing the messes. Which, as it turns out, I'm suck-tastic at doing. Oh well. I take heart in knowing that I've got another shot at getting my life together every Monday. Wish me luck, y'all!
Crayon-tastic Tuesday: My fourth graders are in the middle of some crayon-inspired projects. They are making three-dimensional papier mache'd crayons as well as team-work collaborative two-dimensional designs. That lesson (with video!) will be up on my blog this week. I wore this lil ensemble for some inspo! crayon sweater: made by me, DIY here; crazy art teacherin' skirt: made by me, DIY here
Honest speaking: I don't do many team projects. Okay so maybe I've NEVER done a team project. Mostly cuz I didn't know how it would pan out...would the kids get along, would I need to intervene, would they be able to pick their teams, etc. Well, I gotta say, I'm a convert! This has been such a success so far. I only had to step in to tell 'em to stop and clean up! Like I said, this lesson will be up on Tuesday this week so stay tuned (but if you wanna see the lesson video now, go here)!
If you follow me here, you've already seen a sneak preview of how these are turning out!
Hump Day!: My mission of late is to be as comfy as possible so this sweatshirt and stretch pencil skirt is the new yoga pant, says me. Also, I'm totes on a combat boot bender, y'all. I've bought two in the last month. I love the stacked heal but also the comfort. It also reminds me of my 1990's alternative-dressin' days! Keith Haring top: Forever 21; skirt: old, Target; boots: Aldo
I shared my firsties Mad Scientist lesson with y'all here. Here was our final installment of the lesson: bubble printing! It was just about the most funnest thing ever and reminded me about everything I love about teaching art. Lemme tell you how we did it...
Firsties at their finest!
To make the bubble printing paint use the following: aluminum pie pans, dish soap, water and paint. I add about two table spoons of soap to the pan with nearly a 1/4 cup of paint. Then stir in about 1-2 cups of water. There really isn't any exact science to it, I just dumped stuff in but for those of you that like measurements, there you go. Stir it around and it's ready! I had four students at each table with four different colors in each spot: red, blue, black and yellow. The kids were armed with a straw and a piece of construction paper (any thicker stock paper would work).
I then told the kids our routine. When I hit my chime once, they place their paper in the corner of their table and blow into the pan in front of them. When I hit the chime again (10 seconds or so later), they were to "Smash Them Bubbles!" which quickly became our new chat. Then I would say, "Move to the right, move to the right, take your paper and your stray and move to the right, show me you're ready!". The kids would place their paper in the corner of their table again, bend down in front of their new pan and wait for the chime. It worked great! The next day, I spent about 10 minutes gluing their artwork to their new frames. They look fab, says moi!
We're Almost There, Thursday: So the rumors went to flying about bubble printing! My kindergarteners came in asking if they were going to do it because their sibs had told them all about it. Made me so happy! AND I had totes planned on them doing it as well so they were thrilled! sweater: Boden, thrifted; dress: Modcloth; boots: Frye; necklace: Paper Source; belt: Amazon
Finally Friday!: By the way, if you are curious as to why I am standing in front of the same stinkin' back drop this week, it's because my art room has become the armpit of the school. Between bubble printing, papier mache, printmaking, chalking, painting and collage, the art room looks like, well, an art room. But I thought I'd spare you the gory. sweater: old, H&M; paint drip scarf: flea market; scissor skirt: old, Modcloth; boots: Frye; palette hair clip: DIY, here
Just in case you were wondering what my cabinet said! You can take a tour of my art room if you are interested here!
Thank you so much for the positive feedback on the printmaking videos, y'all! I'm so glad you liked them, found them helpful and, most importantly, had tips and tricks of your own to add. I love our great, big, fat hairy art teacherin' sharing-is-caring community! To keep up with more videos, feel free to subscribe here. Today my first grade students wrapped up their printmaking adventure with these LOVE-ly lil Robert Indiana-inspired printed and collaged pieces.
Y'all. It's January. I cannot even believe that I've gotten a Valentines-esque project knocked out already. I know some folks are all, "I don't do holiday themed projects" and I usually go ahead and nod my head but not cuz I agree (honestly, Ima go all Switzerland on that debate and stay neutral)...but cuz I can NEVER get my act together early enough to have anything ready! I mean, 'member that big We Have Heart mural we made last year? Dudes. We, like, started that on Feb 10th. But not this time...
CONFESSION: I had no idea what the kids were going to do with the piles of prints they were making...until seeing this piece again recently. And then I was all, yaaaazzzzz! Which, by the way, is the new Eureka!
It's gotten around the school that the firsties have been printing maniacs in the art room. We spent two 30 minute art classes making at least 4 printed pieces. One day we worked with blue inks and the following, yellow and red.
I told the kids "at least" because some of them just enjoyed the printing process so much that they wanted to print again and again. It's so magical! Others were well over it after the fourth print on the second day and they moved on to greener, less print-ier, pastures.
Now, I will say, I hustled today to get the prints to the point that they could be created into these collages. I have jury duty for the next two weeks (can you hear the excitement in my typed voice? Me neither) and I didn't want any UFO's lingering around for me to return to (UFO: Un-Finished Objects). So today I trimmed all the prints at the paper cutter, organized them by kiddo and prepped the LOVE letters...
Normally I wouldn't do that much work on behalf of the kids (and my sanity...right now is the first time I've sat down all day) but, like I said, I don't like me no UFO's. To prep the letters, I made them in such a way that the kids would have minimal amount of cutting (thirty minutes, people. Thirty. Minutes). I wrote the letters in reverse so the kids could cut along those lines...but put the glue on the back (we did a little ditty: The Lines are in Black and That's the Back!). The reason behind this was I didn't want the black lines to show...but clean, crisp white letters.
The kids also had to hustle. They had to lay out their prints and decide upon a good design, glue those down, cut out their letters and glue that as well. We might have been 3 minutes late to P.E. (sorry, ladies!).
But, oohhhhhh, the results. I mean, is it just me or are these not the most swoon-worthy thing ever?
(Shhh, don't tell: this is my personal fave). And now I can go off on my jury duty adventure knowing that I don't have any UFO's in first grade floating around! Love to hear about your printmaking adventures, y'all!
Well, welcome back, my fave art teacherin' friends! I know most of y'all are back to schoolin' even if the kids aren't there. My most amazing school district has decided that we ease back into the routine by providing with us three days of professional development before The Return (of the Chillins). Today, one of my favorite art teacherin' buds Daryle Grenead came and demonstrated two awesome projects to bring back to the art room: I Am books (shown in this here post) and 3-D letter making (to come on Thursday, stay tuned).
These books are a barrel of fun and so easy to make...not to mention they tie in so much literacy, it's enough to make your reading specialist's heart grow three times it's size! Daryle recommended doing this project with the fourth grade and up set. I can't wait to give it a-go with my favorite wee artists.
Let's start with the best part of this here accordion-style book: the cover. We used the same relief-style method that I've shared in this blog post where we used leaves.
To start, we each had two pieces of square 5 1/2" pieces of matte board. Very thin poster board (or heavy weight paper would work as well) was used and a collaged design was glued into place with good ole Elmers.
Once finished, we used 8" X 8" pieces of foil. DULL SIDE UP (that's super duper importante, hence the ALL CAPZ), spray adhesive was applied to the foil and our collaged piece was placed face down. The edges of the foil were then wrapped around the backside of the matte board.
Using a cotton ball, the surface was rubbed until our design appeared. To get into those hard-to-reach places, a q-tip was used.
BOOM, y'all! Because heavy-ish gauge foil was used, designed could then be drawn into the foil with a dull pencil. And no foil was harmed in the process...an art makin' miracle!
Look, maw, no punctured foil!
Using that super cheapo $1 black matte spray paint from your fave hardware joint, lightly dust those bad boys.
And buff off the spray paint to reveal your incredible design. Prepare yourself for the oooohhhhssss and ahhhhhhssss, y'all. Cuz they're coming...
Like, right? I done tole you.
Now, let's talk about that writing portion. Daryle provided us with an I Am poem prompt that inspired our narratives.
There are truck loads of examples of I Am poems online. If you ask Mr. Google, he can help you out.
Now, prepare yourself as I share my poem-writing soul with you. You're welcome.
We used heavy duty watercolor paper for this portion. The paper was 5" X 30" (me thinks. Don't quote me on this. I'll deny everything).
Read on, my poetry skillz are pretty much unmatched.
Just got the memo, I've been named Poet Laureate. Who is Laureate, anyways?
And there you have it! Have y'all done these kind of books with your students? I'd love some more ideas. And Happy Back to Art Teacherin'!
