Free Time

When I first started teaching, I had no clue what to do with students who finished early.  I started with simple drawing papers, and over the years have expanded to other activities.  This has been one of the more popular activities, esp. for boys.  I went to Wal-Mart and bought some magnetic white boards that came with double-sided tape to adhere them to the wall.  I also ordered magnetic shapes - some are foam and some are the fractiles, which are flat, and placed them on the boards.  They are hung under my white board, and I have the following rules for them:

   

           1. Only 2 students allowed per board

2. You may not use magnets from another board - even if they have more

3. No throwing magnets

 

 

 

 

 

 

I order one of these Foam Magnet sets and they last me all year.  They come apart easily, but once I tacky glue them back together they STAY.

 

I also order one of these per year or every other year, if I have the money.  The kids love the booklet they come with that shows design ideas. 

What Presdents are Made of

 See what I mean?  MORE patriotic art.  I have to admit, these were so fun!  We read the book, What Presidents are Made of.  Then students traced the outline or silhouette of their president of choice (I only gave them 3 options).  After that, they painted a patriotic background in red, white, and blue.  The next week we painted our presidents using neutrals and skin-tone.  Finally, I let them loose with buttons, yarn, paper and fabric scraps, and other fun collage items to create their faces and other details.  The kids really seemed to enjoy making these and they came up with some creative ideas.  These were just a few of my early finishers. 

PATRIOTIC ART

I have never done SO MANY patriotic-themed projects, but that seems to be all I have done with my students for the last month.  It's weird how that happens.  Here are some samplings from 2nd grade.  

 

 

 

I gave these students a shape printout and let them use red, white, and blue papers to collage a patriotic design into their shape.  Then we cut them out and glued them to a black background. 

 

Two classes drew uncle sam, just in different ways.  Then we used the same collage papers as the other 2nd grade classes to create a dynamic border. 

More Birds

More Birds

I actually teach at two schools and tend to try out the same projects in different ways.  I love these birds, too.  We drew them on white paper and painted them using tempera cakes.  I did this with 3rd and 5th grade - two of these are third graders artworks....wow!  Good luck guessing which ones.  I teach the MOST talented kiddos.

This student actually used chalk

Illuminated Letters

4th graders learned about illuminated letters.  We looked at this presentation, already made for us and everything.  Then we drew our own illuminated letter and used gold glue to outline our designs.  This glue was previously made using old glue bottles, gold paint, and basic washable glue (I had a Watchdog Dad do this for me, since I have NO hand strength). Finally, we colored these using markers, colored pencils, and crayons.  

BIRDS

In an effort to do projects that are less cookie-cutter, I have been working on giving students more choice in their art.  So this project came about because there are SO MANY BIRDS circulating on pinterest.  I printed out all the "how-to" drawing pages plus posted a ton of bird images on my smartboard screen to inspire the kids.  They were allowed to choose one bird to draw -  emphasis on one bird, drawn well, with plenty of details.  Then they got to choose their paper size - 9x12, 12x18, or 12x15.  They drew their birds in pencil, traced them in glue, then colored with chalk.  I laminated them.  NEXT year I will buy some extra Elmers Gel Glue - they made the most aaaaamazing shiny lines.  I had 4 bottles sitting around that some of them used.  I bet you can tell which ones!

Group of birds (already laminated, excuse the glare)

Gel glue

Normal glue, but still beautiful

Gel glue

Normal glue (you see what I mean)

 1st Grade learned about 3 major artists last week - Georgia O'Keeffe, Vincent van Gogh, and Andy Warhol.  They compared how each artist painted the same subject: flowers.  Then they created their own flower paintings.  Here is my first class to complete their flower "canvas" (packing styrofoam that a parent donates to us).  I painted the edges black to finish them off.