3rd Grade Self Portraits

3^rd grade students started by focusing on and sketching the 4 primary facial features of the mouth, eyes, nose, and ears.  Next students used their own photograph, which was cut along the line symmetry to help students focus on drawing one half of their face at time.  Using the skills they had developed while focusing on facial features students made every effort to try and create a realistic drawing of themselves.  The student finished by really trying to capture the way light reflects off their face and how to use light and dark pencil value to make it appear as realistic as possible.

Medium: Pencil and paper

2nd Grade Architectural Design

Second grade students have been learning about the process and artistic aspects that go into the building of a house.  Students learned that all buildings start as a drawing that is then turned into a blueprint that is then used as a guide during the construction process. After looking at lots of architectural examples and elements each student started by drawing out their design in an elevation format.  An elevation drawing is the view of the exterior of the house from the street level. Next each student had to consider what the interior of their home would look like and what rooms they would want to have in their dream home.   To help visualize this each student had to complete a floor plan design using appropriate proportions to make a realistic plan on what their home’s interior will look like. 

Medium: Pencil, paper, ruler, sharpie

Understanding Feelings and Emotions in Faces

The youngster Panthers have been learning about feelings and how our emotions impact the way we look. Below are a couple examples of what our 3 and 4 years olds drew when talked about the feelings of happy, sad, mad, and surprised. 

4th Grade Day of Dead Skeleton Art

Our 4th grade students learned about the Latin American holiday ‘Dia De Los Muertos’ or Day of the Dead.  Although celebrated near the American Holiday of Halloween the Latin American celebrations of Day of the Dead could not be more different in that it really is a celebration of life for those who have passed away.  Students started by learning about the human anatomy of bones learning that we are born with more bones than we end up with as adults.  Once the students had drawn out their skeletons they traced them with ink to highlight the details before carefully cutting them out and mounting them on black paper.  Students then enhanced their skeleton drawings by decorating the skulls in the typical ‘Calavera’ style.  Students finished their art pieces by decorating their skeletons with tissue paper flowers, which are also a part of Dia De Los Muertos  celebration throughout the world.  

Medium: Paper, sharpie, tissue paper, glue

1st Graders Give A Hoot

1st Grade Students created these colorful owls by first learning some important facts about these amazing predatory birds.  Students learned that owls are nocturnal meaning they sleep during they day and are active at night.  Students also learned that owls have very good eye sight and are able to turn their necks almost 360 degrees which help make them effective hunters for prey.  We started this project with a guided drawing lesson for practice and then each student was able to create their own owl drawing before painting using bright colors to high light each owls unique design.

Medium: pencil, sharpie, tempera water cake paints.

Raising Money For Art

It's never fun to being the one in charge of a fund raiser but man do we need new brushes, paint, and markers.  The following are some examples of what my kids came up with for their project. 3-5 had free choice as to what they wanted to make. Kinder did the Jim Dine inspired hearts, 1st grade did George Rodrigue inspired Blue Dogs, and 2nd grade created their own monsters, creatures, or robots.

3rd-5th Free Choice

2nd Grade Monsters

1st grade Blue Dogs 

Kinder Hearts