First Day of Art for Kindergarten

People can tell me how they run their classroom all day long and I do love to hear about it because I am a person who LOVES to try new things. I like to throw EVERYTHING at the art teacherin' wall just to see what sticks. But what REALLY helps me is seeing it in action. Sure I can imagine what Call and Response or a behavior management plan my look like but it's so much better to see it happening. So...that's why I love to share what it looks like in my art room. For that reason, I'll be sharing my first day teaching kindergarten right here!

If this video looks a little familiar that's because...I have been running my first day of kindergarten the very same way FOR YEARS. If it works, stick with it, right? And I'll be adding links to more blog posts with videos here. 

This blog post breaks down the lesson and why I teach certain routines on that first day. 

Want more details on where this lesson goes from here and how it becomes my kindergarten unit on line? Try this post!

If you are craving more First Day videos, here's a compilation of first day lessons with all students. 

If you've never done paper sculptures with your students, they are an absolute blast. ALL kids can have great success right out of the gate. This provides an immediate love for art class which is what we all want, right? I've even done this lesson with my older students as a Getting to Know You activity. 

If you are interested, you could check out my book where I share all of this and so much more!

A Bell-Ringer Idea: Calendar of Gratitude

On my list of Things That I Wish I Did Regularly are the following:

Journaling

Sketching

Gratitude-in'-ing ... or something

And I have MANY a reason why I've never really been able to stick with these habits (top of the list: laziness) UNTIL NOW...Allow me to introduce you to a little something I'm callin' my Calendar of Gratitude. My Cal-itude. My Gratit-dar. Okay, so it's a working title but hopefully you get the idea. Here's a lil video explaining it all:

Here's how it works: 

* You print out a calendar. If you google "free blank calendar", you'll find bunches. For example, here you go. 

* At the end of each day or perhaps the following, you sketch something you are grateful for: a beautiful sunset, fresh fruit, time with family, a cute cat, you get the idea.

* On the reverse, jot down your memory. 

and BOOM! you've just sketched, journaled and shown gratitude all in in under 10 minutes!

Not to mention, you now have a sweet little memory of your gratitude. I get so excited everytime I look at mine. Like happy little postage stamp-sized memories.

I'm also super into matcha right now. Anyone else? Currently I'm a matcha latte lady but hope to graduate up to straight matcha soon. 

Just a sentence or two in lieu of journaling. It does the trick!

Art teachers, I thought this might be great for those students who you see for a semester every day. I've never taught that age group so you'll have to forgive my ignorance...but I just thought it may be a great bell-ringer to get young artists in the mood and mindset. They could use their medium of choice...I have really enjoyed colored pencils for this. 

WANT MORE GRATITUDE PROJECT IDEAS?! 

I got you! Check out this FREE download for the elementary age students here. 

You can also find a lot of gratitude lessons in that post as well. 

First Day in Art with First through Fourth Grade

I know, I know, I can hear you now:

STOP! NO! I DON'T WANNA THINK ABOUT THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL DURING MY SUMMER VACATION!

Juuuuuuuust hear me out: isn't it far less stressful to think of it now, with your feet in the kiddie pool and your bowl of ice cream-for-lunch slowly melting in the summer sun? Instead of, let's say, stressing during those dreadful back-to-school faculty meetings as you count the long list of endless things you need to do before the kids arrive? When you are so busy setting up your room that you lose track of all that you want to cover that very first day? 

See? It's not that bad!

My first day with my first through fourth graders is an easy-peasy one. You'll see it in this video, complete with a breakdown of why I introduce what and when. Please pardon the location placed on the video...it's clear that me and iMovie are still getting to know each other after all these years. Anyway! I know it looks like a bunch fun and games BUT there is a method behind my madness...and that's teaching kids my routines: 

* Our Art Class Greeting

* Our Art Class Catchphrase

* Our Open/Closed sign 

* Our Behavior Management System (not that we call it that!)

* Call and Response and how it works

* Learning my name...and me learning theirs

* Becoming comfortable with making our voice heard

* Learning how to become an active and considerate listener

What's not shown is how we get our seats, practice emergency drills and lining up properly. 

I have art class with my students for 30 minutes twice a week. We manage to knock out ALL of that in the first 30 minutes. And, you may notice in the video, the kids already seem to know a lot of the routines. That's because I taught them in kindergarten. And even though my first day with kindergarten looks a lot different...we do eventually cover all of these things. 

AND if you just want more...I wrote a whole book on this topic! I lay it all out for you in my book Art Teacherin' 101. It has ALL that you need for a successful year no matter your teaching situation. You can find it right here. 

I also have a TON of videos on this topic on my YouTube channel. If you subscribe, you can stay posted because with it being 'the season', I'll be adding a lot more video content on back to school soon. 

Art Room Ideas: Finish the Drawing!

Have I got something for you, y'all! Check this out: Finish the Drawing! I explain it real quick in this video but more details on the supplies used and how it works below...

I got this idea because of the following:

* I got lots of paper scraps. Like, LOTS. So this helps me not waste any of that paper!

* I got lots of kids who wanna do Free Draw but LOOK HERE: my art classes are 30 minutes long! And we all know how they be treatin' that paper that they draw on for a minute and then toss in the trash. 

* I got the desire to have kids create...with each other! BUT lack the time to make it happen. This, THIS can make my art teacherin' dreams come true, y'all!

Supplies:

* The pencil is from Chris Uphues. I added the wording to it with my Cricut. BUT you don't need a fancy sign! You're an art teacher, you can make it yourself!

* The frames came from the thrift store, Dollar Tree and my storage closet.

* The clips I picked up from Amazon.

* Paper from the scrap bin!

The premise is simple: pick a piece of paper and draw on it for as long or as short as you'd like! Then, sign it and hang it back up.

OR...pick an unfinished drawing that you'd like to add to. Be kind, considerate and do your best. It is someone's drawing, afterall. Then, of course, sign it. Hang it back up!

Finished pieces get hung in our Masterpiece Gallery or we just keep the fun going by having the work returned to the wall for more artists to add to it!

I hope you give it a shot! You and your kids will love it!

Top Tips and Lessons for Using Chalk in your Art Room!

Hello!

Last week I dumped everything I could think of into one video all about watercolor painting with kids. I hope you got something out of that video and enjoyed it! I made it just for you (and your sanity.

This week, I thought I'd share all things chalk! I know a lot of art teachers avoid chalk because of the mess. I'm going to encourage you to give this video a watch and try some of these tips on for size. I think you'll find it helpful...and maybe even fall in love with using chalk with your students! 

Also in this post, I'm throwing in all of my very favorite chalk lessons and projects. All are free for you and your students to enjoy. 

I shared several projects in that video so I thought I'd place them and the links below for you to use!

Always a hit! This one is done with the liquid starch and chalk hack I shared. Here's the video. And here is a blog post of the finished results!

This project was done with the same method of starch and chalk. It's a huge hit with the kids. Video lesson is included here!

Another method for liquid starch and chalk is this one I did with my fourth grade! Video lesson included here. 

One of my most popular lessons of all time is this one! BUT don't do what I did: don't make black glue! Instead, follow my demo in the video and go the much easier route of using Elmer's Glue All and black marker. 

Here's a blog post with the finished results. This one is always a crowd pleaser!

Here's another one inspired by the artist Sandra Silberzweig! Video lesson included here. 

Yet another glue and chalk combo! Lesson video here. 

Before tackling their butterfly ceiling tile project, one second grade class created these beauties! A fun project for the end of the school year. 

Looking for a quick chalk project that introduces a contemporary artist? Try this one! 

I have a LOT of videos and blog posts on our annual chalked event but this blog post breaks it all down for you, if interested!

This lesson is fun to show kids how to use stencils with chalk! Full lesson and artist reference included in this blog post (with video!).

Floating chalk prints is ALWAYS a huge hit! And this year, I did it with kindergarten. Independently! You can read the details here. 

Still want more?! I got you! Check out even more chalk pastel lessons here and have fun!