1st Grade Snowflake Secrets

 Snowflake secrets revealed!

1.  Start with a circle shape
2.  Use thin paper - in this case, tissue paper
3.  Fold 3 times - we call the folds the taco fold, the
     pizza fold, and the party hat fold
4.  Cut from all 3 sides - don't be afraid to cut out
      large shapes!
5.  Iron snowflakes in between wax paper to protect
     them

This is impressive 1st grade work!  

3rd Grade Weavings

 I was only able to get a few pictures of these impressive weavings before my camera battery died...more later!  Weaving can be difficult for students to master, but a round weaving format seems to make the process fun and easier, but still a bit of a challenge!  Students focused on creating just the right color combinations to make their artwork pop.  Feathers, beads and braids were finishing touches that students could choose to add if they wished.  My 3rd graders noticed right away that these look quite a bit like Native American dream catchers!

2nd Grade Rainbow Fish!

 This project is inspired by the beloved book, The Rainbow Fish. Students were required to use organic shapes to draw their fish, create pattern in the scales, and mix the secondary colors by using only the primary colors.  The finishing touch, beyond the wonderful background details, was a glittering silver scale.  Beautiful!

3rd Grade Owls!

I have been looking for the perfect project to teach 3rd graders about neutral colors, and this is it!  We have also been focusing on texture this year, and everyone was excited to try a new painting technique to create visual texture - painting with small brushstrokes.  These owls have a lot of personality, and are just so cute!  I happen to love owls myself; my family has been collecting them for years, so I have quite a supply of models.  Whoooo doesn't love owls???

Beautiful Birch Trees

 This is one of my favorite projects!  2nd graders were required to choose either warm or cool colors for the sunset background of their paintings.  We looked at some real birch tree bark, and some photos as well, to get an idea of the shape and pattern of these particular trees.  Students worked very hard to control the watercolors and keep color from flowing into their trees.  Many color mixing discoveries were made, and fun was had by all!

Lion Power!

3rd graders used oil pastels to create the texture in these lions.  The focus was on shape, texture, and color; students were able to choose their own color combinations, to wonderful effect!  We had an in- depth discussion about the color wheel, to determine which colors would mix most effectively for the mane.  Many of the finished drawings reflect the emotion of the lion.  Bravo, 3rd graders!

First Grade Line Designs

 After an introduction to the line family (horizontal Harry and vertical Vicky) students created a line design, and then added geometric shapes.  They looked at the work of Mondrian for inspiration, and had great fun creating layers of shapes from small to large.