Cassie Stephens: fourth grade

Showing posts with label fourth grade. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

In the Art Room: Faux Stained Glass Winter Scene

I don't know what y'all call that time between Thanksgiving and winter break but I have been known to call it a naughty name or two. It's that weird in-between time where we are all comin' down from our vacation high and are so exhausted that we need another one. And just knowing that winter break is on the horizon can sometimes just be more than I (and the kids!) can handle.

This week, so far, back to art teacherin' town has been a good one. I'm happy to be back making big messes with little people. One project that seems to have the fourth grade really excited is this Faux Stained Glass Winter Scene.

I used black glue for the very first time in my teaching career last month and I (as well as the third graders) was all WHERE HAS THIS BEEN MY ENTIRE LIFE?! It is so much fun to create with! While they were working with it, I got the idea to introduce my fourth graders to the same media. With my Field Trip! series, I've been introducing the kids to contemporary creatives. Unfortunately, I don't personally know any local stained glass artists to film (any leads would be much appreciated!) so I created this introduction to the art of stained glass with a little iMovie wizardry. The fourth grade watched the first half of the video today and got a good start on their faux stained glass.

The kids were SUPER bummed when I said that we weren't going to work with cut glass (really guys?!) but were excited when I mentioned black glue. I had them move to their seats and silent sketch several ideas for 5-7 minutes.

I really emphasized not creating a Christmas tree knowing that this project just might not be completed until after the holidays. However, I didn't want to limit the kids so I made it optional. Personally, I love that skull tree on the left!

After our sketch time was up, we regrouped on the floor and watched the part of the video where I talk about drawing on large paper and using the puffy paint or black glue.

Puffy paint leaves a better, crisper line but it does take a little extra work to squeeze that bottle. The black glue (made with one part black tempra and two parts Elmer's Glue All) comes out faster but leaves behind a wider, flatter line. I shared with the kids the pros and cons and let them decide which they wanted to use.

All but a handful of kids got to the black glue on the first day. I did change the size of the paper from what was in the video as I thought a 12" X 18" would be easier to manage.

One thing I had to really emphasize was keeping the drawing large. Showing that clip of the stained glass artist really did help them conceptualize the idea of large and enclosed shapes.

Of course, it wouldn't be black glue painting if we didn't have the occasional smearing. We learned to just let it go. The chalk can hide any imperfections.

Gotta love a tree of Hershey Kisses! I'll keep you posted on the progress of this project. I see so many variations: landscapes, abstract designs, etc. I'd love to know if you have used this method. If you do, please drop me a line and share.
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In the Art Room: Romero Britto Inspired Selfies by Fourth

Hey, kids! I'm just back from a FABULOUS conference in Texas that was seriously a whirlwind of fun. I'll be certain to share that experience with you soon but before I do, I thought I'd let you in on how that Romero Britto-inspired selfie project went down. In a word(s): colorfully amazing!

I've been sharing with you a ton of self portrait projects of late as that's what I'm sending away to be framed for our Artome art show. In case you missed, check out the Royal First Grade Self-Portraits, Second Grade Super Hero Selfies and the Third Grader's Sandra Silbertzweig Portraits.

I wanted my fourth graders to learn how to draw a face with correct proportions but with a playful and colorful twist that reflects their personality and interests. And that's how I settled on this Romero Britto-inspired lesson. Complete video'ed lesson here:

By the way, I update my videos multiple times weekly...if you wanna stay up to date, subscribe here.

The video provides a quick introduction to Britto and his work, just enough to give them a taste for how colorful and pattern-y his work is.

The kids really respond well to learning about contemporary artists and pop art seems to be their fave.

This project took us 3 one hour classes to complete. The students used 9" X 12" sheets of drawing paper as that is what the Artome framing format allows. On our first day, we watched the first third of the video. We drew our faces along with the video, traced over our final drawings in Sharpie (I gave the kids plenty of time to return to their seats with mirrors and alter their drawings to their liking) and used lines to break up the background. Here's what we had after day one:

The following art class, we watched the middle portion of the video where I chat about pattern. I really wanted the kids to create patterns that reflected their interests. I did provide idea sheets of simple patterns like the ones Britto uses. After 30 minutes, we watched the final portion of the video and had just enough time to explore color. Here are the results after the second day:

By the third day, we'd watched all of the video and knew what we had to do to complete our masterpiece. I really thought this would be a two-day project...but with all of the details the kids created, it lasted a pinch longer.

We used both colored pencils and Prismacolor Art Stix (a class favorite for their vibrancy) to color. Art Stix are like the lead of colored pencils in oil pastel from. They are richer in color than your average colored pencil. I talk about them somewhere in this clip:

Sorry, not sure when, but I know they are in this clip somewhere!

The kids and I both were really pleased with their hard work. So often, older kids struggle with self-portraits as they want them to look "just right". Doing a self-portrait in a guided drawing format really relieved stress and insured that all selfies looked fabulous.

You know that the 10 year old crowd can sometimes be tough to please...but this one was a crowd-pleaser.

Even my students who sometimes struggle with fine motor skills or sticking with projects for long periods of time shined in this lesson.

You know they feel good about themselves with the "too cool for school" fourthies give you hugs at the end of art class.

My favorite comment: I never knew I could draw like this!

I'm shipping all of these out to Artome tomorrow and our art show is at the start of December. I'll be certain to let you know how that goes. This will be our first Artome show...I'm really excited!

Y'all know we do a HUGE end of the year art show where everything that every kid has made is hung up. I'm super stoked that for this show, I don't have to hang a thing!

I hope y'all have a fabulous week leading up to Turkey Day! I'll be in and out on this here blog with lots to share...so, during your break from stuffing runs, be sure to drop on by.

In the Art Room: Romero Britto Inspired Self Portraits

If you follow me here, then you already know that all my kids are currently creating self-portraits for our upcoming winter art show with Artome. I shared what my third graders are up to here (Y'ALL. THEY ARE TURNING OUT SO AMAZING). My second graders are making a variation of this Super Hero Selfie project that I did with my fourth grade last year...I'll be certain to share those with you soon. My firsties are becoming royal with these Royal Self Portraits while kindergarten is doing a variation of Ain't Gonna Paint No More selfies. Because the Artome frames fit 9" X 12" artwork and I usually have my kids work twice that size, I've had to really rethink and adjust some of these projects. I'll be sure to share them with you in the near future. To get the ball rolling, I thought I'd share with you this videoed Romero Britto lesson and the fourth graders' results.

In case you don't know, Romero Britto is a Brazilian neo-pop artist who lives in Miami. I have shared his colorful work with my students when we did this project:

My fourth grade kids are so great at creating colorful designs and patterns that I thought this project would be perfect for them.

But I had to give 'em a little inspo first...

Before diving in to the video:

Here's what we cranked out the first day!

They did a bang up job and were pretty stinkin' proud. I teach doubled up fourth grade classes (meaning there are about 35 kids in the room). After doing the first portion of the video independently at our seats, we returned to the floor with clipboards, our papers and pencils to do a guided drawing together. I really liked having them watch the video as there were less interruptions. I did pause it every now and then to reexplain or allow the kids to catch up.

Once we were finished drawing on the floor together, the kids had mirrors at their seats. I told them that the guided drawing was a kind of template for them that they should alter and change once at their seats. I encouraged them to really study their faces, freckles, glasses and details and add them to their selfies. Once completed in pencil, they traced over their lines in Sharpie.

I really thought the kids would get further along than this...but they were so into drawing their likeness that I didn't want to rush them ahead. Next up, I'll provide them with some pattern idea sheets for them to draw their designs before adding color.

I really can't wait to see how these turn out!

I have noticed that teaching self portrait drawing to older kids is pretty tough. Not cuz they can't handle it but because they are so hard on themselves! So I really REALLY discourage any erasing until they are back at their seats. I tell them that it is "just practice" and that they are learning something new...and to go easy on themselves. Only when they return to their seats are they allowed to change and erase...but I don't allow them to get another piece of paper. When I had a students say, "I don't like mine," I asked, "what do you not like?" When she replied with an "everything!" I told her to pick one thing she liked the least and we worked on that. Then we picked the next thing and we worked on that. Within five minutes, she was much happier with her drawing. It's a process with this age group. You gotta do what works without letting them throw in the towel.

Next up, we'll add patterns of things that interest us (I used paint splatters and music notes in mine to give them some ideas) as well as color.

I'll be sure to share our progress! Until then, feel free to use this video and lesson in your art teacherin' world. I'd love to see what your kids create! Shoot me an email if you do.
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In the Art Room: Spooky Starry Night

Before I chat about this lesson, I gotta give a big ole shout out to fellow Art Scout Troop Leader and good buddy Ginger Pacer. When I saw a version of this project on her Instagram (her's is super cool and involves a lot of paint exploration which I love), I knew I wanted to give it a go. However, I'm under a pinch of a time constraint with this project so I knew I needed to adapt and make it work for me. For that reason, I decided to go with a smaller format than we normally work with (these bad boys will be 9" X 12") and use an oil pastel resist. Here's the complete video'ed lesson (my apologies for the title being left out at the beginning. The kids had a good laugh at that!):

In a one hour session, my fourth graders each got their photo snapped with these wings, watched the first half of the video, drew their skies, watched the second half, painted and some even had time to sketch ideas onto dry erase boards. It was action backed...despite the fact that I was battling a monster migraine that caused me to lose sight in my eye (anyone else get these?). Since my 6 Advil and migraine meds were not kicking in, I was so thankful to have the video to do the work for me. However, it did mean that my usual Wednesday night Art Teacherin' 101 will be postponed until tomorrow. So, y'all come back now, ya hear?!

I do have a SUPER HOT tip for you until then...every fall, I bust out my Haunted Mansion CD that was originally recorded in 1969 and sold at Disney as a souvenir for the ride. We play this over and again in my room in the fall for my older classes and you can seriously hear a pin DROP. The kids LOVE the slightly spooky and silly tale that lasts about 30 minutes. I noticed that during their free time, my kids were illustrating the story and I thought, HOT DOG! We need a haunted house project. So, when I saw what Ginger was up to, I was super stoked to heavily borrow her idea.

So here was my little example I cooked up.

Side note: I used to read chapter books to my students as they worked and they loved it. Their favorite are the choose your own adventure types. However, it was hard for me to help kids and provide feedback while reading. So switching to audio books has been a game changer in my room. I've recently invested in more (the Radio Theatre series is a fave) and I'm excited to play The Legend of Squanto to my students as we approach Thanksgiving. I'll keep you posted on that one, I've got to do a teacher preview first.

Back to the project! True story: when I mentioned the use of puffy paint in the video today, the kids literally cheered. They truly are my artists, I tell ya.

Here's what they managed to knock out today.

This kid cracked me up: "We used watercolor in my old art class but salt!? No one ever told me about SALT! Look at it!"

Apparently, I say the words, "I say 'Go For It'" a lot in my art room because in the video, where I do say it a couple of times, the kids said it along with me.

I was thrilled to see the variety of takes on this project: vertical or horizontal format; round stars or star shapes; variety of mark making. You give them fluorescent oil pastels and they'll go to town, these kids.