Monthly Archives: December 2011

Dear Santa: can I have your old calendars?

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Photo calendars = Reference photos!

OK…December is here. Now, before all your colleagues go home for winter break….write the following on the lunch room whiteboard:

“Can I please have your old photo calendars?’

All art teachers should have a bunch of reference photos. I can’t tell you how often a kid comes up to me and asks what a coyote/gorilla/panda/dolphin looks like.

Calendars are a great free source of reference photos. Don’t let your friends throw them away! You want 12 months of horses, dogs, dolphins, flowers, etc. You will separate the pages and sort them

A lot of people have art calendars featuring 12 months of Monet, Van Gogh, etc.

You will get a second chance to build your reference photo collection in late January: all the new calendars will go on sale! By February, any leftover photo calendars should be dirt cheap.

Molas of Panama

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The 4th grade studied fabulous, colorful molas. Molas are intricate, multi-layered textiles made by the Kuna Indians, of San Blas Island, Panama.

Panamanian Mola textile. Photo by galenfrysinger.com

 

Luckily we had a tour guide. Ms O’Brien came to the art room, talked to us about the Kuna and shared her extensive mola collection with us. We are so lucky to have Ms. O’Brien at our school!

This paper toucan mola looks like the one on Ms. O'Brien's shirt

Our resident mola expert! 1st grade teacher Sharon O'Brien lived in Panama for over 20 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kids were fascinated! They loved turning the bright colored molas to the back and looking at the tiny stitches.

For the art project, we used the lesson plan found in the excellent book Dynamic Art Projects for Children by Denise M. Logan. This year I made (optional!) paper templates enlarged from the drawing aid page in the book. Kids focused on making intricate designs and colors. Art is finished with colorful paper strips glued down to simulate textile cut-outs.

This project was perfect for the 4th graders. Some used the templates, some didn’t. All the student art turned out vibrant and colorful. A highly successful art project.  This is a popular art project for kids around the world!  Click here to see paper molas from some talented Australian kids.

Armadillo mola

A+ Elementary Weaving Videos

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Tayli’s YouTube video: ‘Weaving on a Cardboard Loom’

It’s a new era for an ancient art!

Tayli posted a series of elementary weaving videos on YouTube. If you teach weaving to kids, YOU MUST SEE THEM. If you can show them in the classroom, even better.

I LOVE this primary weaving video for beginning weavers. The great part: the cardboard loom is warped with two alternate colors of yarn. If you have ever taught weaving to kids, you probably know some of them don’t ‘get it’ right away. Our fourth graders watched this video, and we have be following the directions step by step. Now they get it!

Tayli also posted a fast weaving video. Only 1:44 long, this video shows real elementary students making their own cardboard looms, warping, and weaving. This would be a good intro video on day 1 of the project.

Next comes Tayli’s weaving on a cardboard loom video. Amazing! The video shows a three color weaving featuring blocks of color and rya knots. Last year, I showed this video over and over to my fourth graders.  The more advanced students ‘got it’ right away and were soon making elaborate weavings.

 

 

Two Part Shoe Art

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The fourth grade recently completed their shoe art.  We did a two part project.

Students drew their shoes and took crayon rubbings of the soles

Part 1: shoe drawing. We started with each kid taking off a shoe and putting it on the table. Kids traced the shoe contour onto white drawing paper. Then students moved into observational drawing mode and added the shoe stripes/logos/dots to the drawings. We colored the shoes – kids could use realistic or imaginative colors.

Part 2: sole texture rubbing. Shoe off and on the table!  This time, we did a texture rubbing of the shoe sole.  We used newsprint and peeled crayons.  Kids were encouraged to to multiple rubbings of their shoe in different colors, and then trade shoes with friends.  So much fun!  It was like collecting autographs, but of your friends’ shoes….

Last step: cut out the shoe drawing from part 1 and glue it on the texture rubbing.

Wow!!!  Super successful project.  Just be sure do this one when its dry outside or you will have mud on the tables.

Inspiration for the shoe contour lesson comes from long, long ago, when I was a parent volunteer in Jenny Luce’s art room. The sole rubbing portion of the lesson comes from the book ‘Make Prints!’ by Kim Solga.

Watercolor Resist Castles for First Grade

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First graders completed their watercolor resist castles. We started out by looking at photos of real castles, focusing on the roofline, moat, towers, and drawbridge. I modeled a castle drawing. Students were free to draw along with me or create their own castles. We started with pencil, then outlined in black crayon. Kids colored the castle with crayons. They had the option of using white crayons to make swirls or stars in the sky above their castles. We then painted using watercolors. Here are the results:

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This is the second part of our “royal art” unit. We have now made castles AND clay dragons to guard them. Next we go on to our royal self-portraits and knights in shining armor project.

Does anyone have suggestions for fairy tale or other literature as a wrap up to this unit?

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