Elements of Art

Last year, I decided to try something new.  I always organize my units by one common theme throughout the year.  For example, 1st grade does Elements of Art, 4th grade focuses on Cultures, 3rd grade artists, etc.  Sometimes, especially the littles, they don't really connect our in-class work to our theme.  Back to last year.  I decided to start my first graders off with a 2-day, formal lesson about each element.  Typically I find formal lessons tedious, but I made a worksheet and a Prezi to go with it, including fun videos about color, shapes, etc.  And it worked!  This is one of the best discoveries I have made as a teacher.  When I FORMALLY taught all the elements at once, I had students raising their hands talking about Paul Klee's Castle and Sun, as art that didn't have deep space.  Or they could tell me they saw the primary colors in the art.  Or that nothing looked like it had form, or was round.  Seriously, first graders! Before trying it this way, our conversation would center around the shapes used in Klee's painting, like triangles and squares.  Vast improvement! So I thought I would share my worksheets.  Below are the blank versions (front and back) and a finished example.  I also start the year off this way with 2nd grade, as a review.  

Dancing Sock Monkeys

I found this image while on Pinterest one day - and was instantly "pinspired" to have my students create their own "dancing" sock monkeys.

I gave them a paper with very basic instructions, and they drew their own creative version.  

We colored ours with Crayola Construction Paper Crayons.  I just love the colors and the texture they gave these - more like a cloth sock monkey than marker or paint.

I really wanted ours to look like our inspiration, so I bought some bright copy paper and printed an argyle pattern for our background.  We will add dots to our borders next week.  The kids loved making these.  And, since I was only doing this project with second grade, I got a sub plan out of it, too!

Here are some more, after we finished decorating our borders.  Love these!

Symbols of the United States (aka, MORE patriotic art!)

Here are the final examples of patriotic art.  We learned about some different symbols of the United States, then we created projects using some of those.

Collaged eagles with creative, red, white, and blue backgrounds.

Statue of liberty drawings glued to either a red, white and blue background OR a fireworks background. 

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. 

Lines and Shapes make Patterns

2nd graders have been focusing on the Elements of Art - Line, shape, color, texture, value, space, and form.  We studied how we could combine lines and shapes to create patterns, and also the difference between a simple pattern and acomplex one.  Then we used these ideas to create these awesome patterned leaves - we got the idea from this Artsonia exhibit. 


First we looked at my Prezi on our smartboard about lines and patterns. 

 I also gave students this worksheet to inspire them to create more complex patterns.