Line, Color, Shape Review: A Colorful Village Collage!

Hey, friends! I'm coming to you from a snowed and iced in middle Tennessee! I hope you are staying warm and cozy where you are. We lost power for several hours on Sunday but thankfully (due to the hard work of those linemen and county workers) we are back, baby! Just in time to share this new lesson with you: A Line and Shape City Collage Review!

For this lesson, I'm using the latest product I created with my friends over at Prang: The Dry Erase Spinner!  A couple of years ago, I created my own spinners for my students to do a line review. I used cardboard and they worked fine...but what I really wanted was one that was long-lasting and I could change the theme of. So I chatted with my friends at Prang and they made it happen! You can check out how I used the original spinner in this LINE lesson here. 

Now if this lesson looks familiar that's because it's an extention of one that I shared recently! It was a simple drawing lesson but I decided to elevate it. You can check out the orginal lesson here. 

I always find that after the holidays is a fun time to do an Elements of Art review. That's why I incoorporated lines, shapes and color into the lesson. Here's a peak into my book on SHAPES!

And now...for the lesson video:

Did you know that I always post my videos to YouTube first? If you'd like to be alerted to when new videos are shared, you might want to subscribe!

Did I mention that this lesson comes with a free download? You can access it here!

If you prefer a typed up version of this lesson plan, Prang always shares 'em! You can find it here. 

AND if you'd like to take a closer look at my book on SHAPES, check it out here!

For my book on LINES, you can check it out here!

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Why You NEED Modeling Clay in your Art Room!

When I first started teaching my art room had NOTHING in it but a bowling pin, a Leonardo da Vinci board game with the pieces missing, a coffee can of broken crayons and...a TON of modeling clay. I cast the clay aside not thinking I'd ever have use for it. But when my curriculum called for a "clay unit"...and I had no kiln and no budget, this stuff came in super handy. Turns out, my students and I loved it and used it to explore more than just sculpting. It became a vital tool for learning lines, shape, texture and more. Here's how:

I love using modeling clay for early finishers, lesson review, preview to sculpture and more! I created these clay sheets just for you! Please feel free to use them in your art room. 

Also, I know a lot of you need to turn in lesson plans. My friends at Prang created one for you! You can download it here!

To purchase your modeling clay, here's what I'm using. 

Here you go:

This is a great sheet to use to introduce clay to your students! You can find all of these downloads here. 

I use this sheet after introducing line or when I'm doing a line review with my students. Of course, I read my book Larry the Line and this follow-up activity ties in perfectly! You can find my book Larry the Line here. 

I'm closing in on nearly 200 five-star reviews of my book Larry the Line! I love to see Larry in your art rooms...thank you so much! Get yourself a copy here.

Once my students learn about lines, we move on to shape...so I created these sheets so students can see how to use lines to create shapes. These sheets can be found here!

Of course, my book Alfred the Ape Knows his Shapes is the perfect companion to these shape sheets.

You can pick up a copy of Alfred the Ape Knows his Shapes here!

Thanks, y'all! Enjoy!

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In the Art Room: Getting to Know You Paper Sculptures

Hey, friends! Today I'm sharing what my students, all of 'em, kindergarten through fourth grade, are working on to kick off the school year. I am calling them our Getting to Know You Sculptures!

If you follow me on Instagram, than you know I've been sharing a lot of info about this. I've gotten a TON of requests for the sheet...so I thought I'd share it with you.

I know this sheet has been unavailable for some time...the link has been fixed! You can get two sheets now! 

Here's one!

Here's the other! 

I wanted to create a lesson that the kids would love, would be easy for all to be successful at and help me out...I have to be absent for the next couple of days. So I knew I'd want something that would be easy and fun for my sub. I created a video for my sub (I always do...it just makes for much smoother sailing) and I thought I'd share it with you...just so you could see how I explain this lesson to my students. 

Note: I WILL NOT be using the sheet with my kindergarteners. Here is the lesson that I do with them...very similar but without the sheet of paper as their guide:

So far the kids have been LOVING this project and I am enjoying getting to know them! They've also been chatting to each other about why they picked what and it's so fun to hear them talk about it. I cannot wait to share with you how this lesson will progress...so stay tuned.

You might have noticed that I DO NOT use glue bottles. You can find out why here. 

Not gonna lie, storage is gonna be an issue until we get these hung up! I'm having some classes do theirs on a white background 12" square paper and others on black. For open house night, I plan to hang them in a checkerboard patter. The strips of paper are cut frmo copy paper.

In an attempt to stay organized, I'm keeping them clipped according to table colors. 

PLEASE NOTE...I love sharing lessons with you all and I do so for free. All I ask in return is that, if you use ANY of my lessons, please give credit where it's due. If you share on social media, please let folks know where you go the lesson from...this way they can benefit from the free resources as well. THANK YOU!

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