In the Art Room: Best Back to School Projects, Part 1

Oh boy. We're back! In my district, we returned to school last (officially) last Thursday and it's been nonstop action since: professional development, back to school night, room prep, you name it. The one thing, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, that I'm currently consumed with is our first art project of the school year. I love to hit the ground running to build excitement and fun in the art room with a big, fat, hairy paint-y, sticky and colorful project. While I wrack my brain over this year's projects, I thought I'd do a lil series on this here blog titled Best Back to School Projects. These aren't the Best Ever, mind you, these are just the best that can be found here. So take that with a grain o' salt.

That being said, I LOVE to start my school year reading The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. It's got such a great message...one that speaks to children of all ages. In this post, I'm going to share my very favorite Dot Day projects that I've done over the years with my kindergarten through fourth grade kiddos. I'm including links to blog posts with lesson details and videos. I really started to use videos in my art room last year...so that's why not every project has a vid. By the way, feel free to subscribe here to view newly loaded videos. 

So, without further jibber-jabber, let's get started!

One year, my first grade students created this dot-inspired mural...with a heavy influence by the folk artist Heather Galler. They not only painted the plates but created the painted papers used as the flower petals and the papers used in the background landscape. This one is definitely one of my faves. You can find the lesson details here and here. 

This fun and quick project can be found in more detail here. This was one of those quickie projects where everyone in the school created the same thing: a marker design on a coffee filter. Once each design was complete, the filters were sprayed with water and allowed to dry on plastic. Each was hung by paperclips. This was a show stopper at our Open House...and so stinkin' easy!

My second graders created these reversible dot paintings one year on pizza rounds I purchased via Amazon. This was a fun project and another were I could display the work mobile style. You can find out more info here. 

Can you tell I have a thing for hanging things in front of our window? Before you ask: yes, the kids DO touch them and we have had a few fall down. The teachers and I stay on top of reminding them that most art is for looking and not touching but, you know. They are curious kiddos!

Last year, second grade created these fun textured dots! I love this project as it really teaches children so much about texture. I've done various takes on this project. More details here. 

You are more than welcome to use my videos in your art teacherin' world!

A couple years ago, my third graders created these dotted relief sculptures with Styrofoam plates and aluminum foil. I love shiny and reflective surfaces for the kid's creations. And they do to. The Sharpies used really take on a new life. 

Project details here. 

Last year my third grade created these amazing dots! This project was a huge hit with the kids. It also sparked a lot of conversation in the halls that started with, "How did they make this?!" Third grade project can be found here. 

Using pre-cut tissue paper found at The Dollar Tree REALLY saved on prep time!

I've been a big fan of string art since 5th grade when my teacher introduced me to it. I still have my string art example that I share with the kids. This project is a FAVORITE of theirs, it's so much fun. You can find lesson details here. 

Having a video really helps with a project like this!

Radial printing project with fourth grade can be found here. Again, we used pizza rounds for this project and it was a great way to kick off the school year. The kids really enjoyed working with the foam stickers to create their designs. 

I did question my sanity doing printmaking with 35 fourth graders during the first month of school but they really loved it. 

Printmaking is always action-packed tho, am I right? 

Once printmaking was complete, we covered the boards in aluminum foil (again, see a pattern here?).

This was a fun way to allow those early finishers to continue creating while my other students were still printing. Full lesson here. 

 I don't usually repeat projects but when I do, it's projects I've done with kindergarten that I know are successful. One project I ALWAYS do on that very first day in kindergarten is have them create line sculptures. 

I begin by introducing them to line with his poem.

And then we dive in. This is one of my favorite days of the school year! I promise you, the kinder kiddies will love this project. You can check out more dot stuff here but you might enjoy this unit I created about LINE for kindergarten. 

I promise you, y'all will have the best time with this project! 

I'd love to hear your fave Dot Day projects. International Dot Day is on September 15-ish and you can read all about it here. Last year, to celebrate, some of my classes made Shrinkie Dink Dots! More details here. 

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Art Teacherin' 101: Episode 18

Not even gonna lie to you: no matter how "prepared" I am, I spend most of my plan time running around like a crazy person prepping supplies, setting up the room, getting videos cued up or visuals displayed. I call it the Art Teacherin' Hustle. And most of the time, my hustle is spent SEARCHING for stuff. From my luke warm coffee to my half eaten Lara bar to the Sharpie markers or the funky monkey scissors, the hustle is strong with this one, y'all. But NOT for grade level examples and visuals. Nope. I always know where that stuff is, thanks to today's Art Teacherin' 101 tip:

How's that for easy? I'm a firm believer in Keep It Simple, Stupid cuz I'm pretty heavy on the stupid. But, you gotta admit, keeping up with all of this art biz is tough! I'm currently digging myself out of all things Dot Day and putting them up on the walls...(or, in the case of the very first photo, putting them around necks. My students also made Dot Day shrink plastic necklaces!)

 In case you missed these snaps over on my Instagram, here is just a sprinkling of all the projects (and project examples) that I attempt to keep up with using my lil system. By the way, you can find this lesson with video here. 

I've always wanted to do this extension project with printing plates. More on this process later this week. I love when a project lends it self to more fun lessons!

 By the way, my second graders framed out their texture relief pieces with some painted cardboard pizza rounds. I did notice that their texture pieces were looking a little lackluster. So I had them brush a thin coat of ModPodge over them and I'm super happy with how much they pop now.

And this third grade lesson can be found here! 

I swear one of these days I'm gonna get FUR REALZ organized...but until then, I'll keep offering y'all my super simple tips. Have a great week, kids!

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In the Art Room: Dot Day Radial Designs by 3rd Grade

Hey, kids! Today I'm sharing with you the follow up to a lesson I shared a coupla weeks ago: Tissue Paper Relief. Because of the delicate nature of these tissue paper reliefs, I knew the kids would need to back them on something. So, after a review of radial balance and design, as well as the elements of art, we created these colorful backgrounds, added our tissue creations to them and, viola! Third grade successfully created their dot designs for Dot Day!  

Aren't they so spectacularly colorful? I swear they practically glow in the dark! In case you missed it, here is the video I created to introduce the kids to radial balance and design as well as the process of making the tissue reliefs:

BIG SHOUT OUT to AOE and Blick for sharing this lesson at the most recent online conference. 

Surprisingly, this project was a quick one. We spent one day creating our tissue reliefs which needed a day (or more) to completely dry before popping out.

Once dry, I popped the designs out as they are pretty delicate and I didn't want the kids to accidentally tear them. The following art class, they were given 10" cardboard rounds. They traced their tissue relief in pencil and then created a radial design in black marker.

I reminded them to keep their designs big because they would be coloring with these bad boys:

So I'm a sucker for all things fluorescent. And so are the kids. I love these Gallery brand oil pastels which you can find in most of your art supply catalogs and Amazon. 

Creating and coloring the design took them just under an hour. Enough time to attach our tissue reliefs to the center and have them ready for a display in the hall! 

What I love about this project is that it reinforced our study of radial balance...

Gave us the chance to work with a variety of art supplies...

And create something really cool! Definitely a project I see myself teaching again in the future. 

I'm not usually a repeat offender when it comes to art projects but for this one, I might have to make an exception.

I know several of you purchased the rubbing plates after hearing about it from AOE. I'd love to see where you take this project!

Until then, have a super bright week, y'all! 

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In the Art Room: Radial Design Printmaking

I love art teachers because they have the best ideas and are super sweet about sharing them. This idea comes courtesy of art teacher Jeanna Pena (who you can follow on Facebook and Twitter for all of her art adventures). When she shared this lesson in the Art Teachers Facebook group, I immediately decided to scrap the lesson I had planned for my fourth grader's Dot Day project and go with this one. And I'm so glad I did. It was such a smash hit of a lesson (with still one more round to go as we'll be covering these printing plates and burnishing them next week, a la this project) that I just can't thank Jeanna enough for sharing. So, with her permission, I'm sharing my version of her lesson here!

But first, a word about Jeanna. She's pretty stinkin' awesome. I noticed from a wee bit of Facebook stalking that she seemed to be quite the adventurer. Here's what she had to say: I came up with this idea after I traveled to Cuba last fall. I was attempting to translate the radial tile patterns that I saw in some amazing old buildings.

I applied for the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship with National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions and it has been a whirlwind! They are sending me to Antarctica in December. They brought our group together in DC and we had photography lessons at NatGeo HQ, naturalist updates, and classes with the Google Educational Engagement folks. I'm the only art teacher. They're looking for adversity in content areas! I highly recommend it!

How awesome is Jeanna?! If you have a moment to show her some love in the comments for this awesome lesson, please do so. AND if you have any questions about her travels, you can find her on those social media links above.

Now, let's talk about this project. It was our first for the new school year, right after we wrapped the Escape Game and the Monochromatic Selfies. Jeanna had mentioned she did this project with her older students...so I wasn't sure how my kids would do being brand new fourth graders and all. But they knocked it out of the park! Here is the video they viewed on the first day.

Supplies:

* Cardboard. We used cardboard rounds because of our Dot Day focus which were purchased from Amazon. However, any cardboard or mat board would work. 

* Foam Sheets and/or Shapes with Adhesive Back. I found that Michael's had the best selection where Joann's fell short. I did purchase foam sheets because I knew some kids would want to explore creating their own shapes. Some foam sheets were not adhesive backed so the kids glued them on. Those we found did not stick super well when it came to printmaking. When they came off, I just had the kids bring their board to me and I hot glued them back on.

If you follow me on Insta then you've seen our progress. I had my early finishers recreate their design on scratch paper (also purchased via Amazon) and write about what they learned. 

The following art class, we printed! And, with about 35 fourth graders in the room it was, well, busy. We'll just call it busy.

* Printing Ink. Y'all. ALWAYS buy water soluble Speedball. I have had the same jars of ink forever. I just keep adding water, stirring and it still works great. Unlike the "house" brands that the art supply vendors sell which harden in the tube. 

* Inking Trays. You can purchase these through your art supply vendor. However, with this many kids, I did run out so I simply cut my Gelli Arts plastic containers in half and used those. I'm sure something could be found at the Dollar Tree for this item.

* Paint. We used tempra paint for rolling on texture/color on the background.

* Brayers. I happened to have one per kid so there was no wait time. 

* Paper. We  used 14" squares that I had cut down from large paper. 

Day two's video: honest speaking, I didn't show the entire start of the video to my second group of fourth graders. Knowing that they are a group that likes to move, I knew I'd need to get them working right away. So I started the video just before the demo portion. 

And then they went to work! They had a BLAST.

And the prints turned out so colorful and fun just like the artists. 

A little "before" action. Don't ask me what the aftermath looked like. I've blocked it out.

I had a couple of kids double stack their shapes which I wasn't sure just how that was going to turn out...but I really dig it. Check out the triangles. 

I can really see so much potential with this printing project: a lesson on architecture, a portrait project, floral creations...the possibilities are endless!

Yeah, ya did.

For now I'm just gonna keep taking them off the drying rack and saying Ooooooh and Aaaaaah. Stay tuned for what happens next with these beauties.

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