Popscicles

I needed some help testing out markers at the end of the year, so these 1st graders helped me by tracing and overlapping Popsicle sticks on their paper and filling in the resulting shapes.

Wild Things

First Graders read the story Where The Wild Things Are.  We were then inspired to design our own wild things.  Students also drew visual textures on their creatures and added even more texture with texture plates under their work while coloring!

Dragons

First graders learned about Chinese New Year by reading the story PoPo's Lucky New Year.  We also studied the use of dragons in Chinese culture and New Years celebrations.  Students then used symmetry and collage to design their own amazing dragons!!

Eric Carle Sea Horse

1st graders listened to the story Mr. Seahorse by Eric Carle.  Students then used their special paper that explored color mixing to create their own sea horse like Eric Carles's illustations in his book.

Color mixing papers

1st graders are looking at the work of Eric Carle.  Eric Carle creates his famous images -like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by painting tissue paper and using it to create his collages.  We decided to add color to thin paper in a different way.  Students folded a piece of dippity dye paper and dipped the corners into cups of primary colored liquid watercolor.  When the paper was unfolded we noticed the colors joined together to create secondary colors.  Stay tuned because we will soon be using these papers in our own Eric Carle inspired creations...

Color Experiments

First graders have been exploring the elements of art.  For this project we focused on form and texture.  We began by learning how to draw forms (things that appear three dimensional).  Students drew three forms that resembles glass beakers and containers that might be used by scientists. Next we did a little color experimenting of our own inside these drawings.  Using the wet on wet watercolor technique students applied dots of two primary colors of watercolor onto their bottles which they had already painted with water.  The dots spread out on their own and the colors magically mixed to produce secondary colors; orange, green, and purple.  Finally, we observed photographs of bubbles, noting their characteristics- like circle shapes, transparency, rainbow colors....We then used this information to assist us in drawing our own realistic looking bubbles using construction paper crayons on black paper.  Last but not least we cut out our bottles and glued them to our bubbly creations!

Royal Portraits

First Graders worked very hard on these Self-Portraits.  We started by reading The Colors of Us  and then chose paper we thought best represented ourselves.  Students learned how to draw all the parts in a self portraits from head shape, to eyes and mouths.  We carefully cut out our heads, glued them to paper and painted on our hair.  Next, we learned about the history of crowns, looking at various examples from across time and across the world.  We decided to turn our regular portraits into royal portraits by adding our own crowns and clothing which also involved an exploration of lines and shapes to create patterns.