2nd Grade - Mood Mask

One of my favorite second grade projects, mood masks have been another staple in my room since the beginning.  The last few years, I've used them as part of the learning process for my SLO, where we learn to interpret line and color as they make sense for mood.

So everyone receives a colored piece of paper and has to decide what "mood" that color represents.  Then, we make a mask collage where the goal is to get the face to look like that particular mood.  Afterwards, we have a class critique where we learn to describe why an the mask looks like it might be feeling that way.  A healthy dose of "because."

On top of it all, the second graders do a really nice job adding details with nothing but cut paper.

4th Grade - GRINCH MUSIC VIDEO!!

I get really excited about a lot of our projects, but these music videos are some of my favorite things.  Having an extra day with Ms. Gertz's fourth graders (and a handful of Mr. Hayes' fifth graders) this quarter provided the perfect opportunity to tackle another song.  I give each kid a piece of paper with the lyrics printed on the bottom, then they draw what they think they lyric is supposed to look like.  Check out our other videos here.

This year, we did "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," with mostly 4th graders and a handful of 5th graders.  Enjoy!

1st Grade - Class Creatures

Class Creatures is one of my favorite projects for a lot of reasons, and almost none of them have anything to do with how the product turns out.  This one's all about interpretation and how we can challenge ourselves to make each artwork as unique as possible.  First, each class votes on some characteristics that all of their creatures will share.  Color, size, habitat, etc.  Then, we focus on drawing a creature that has all of those characteristics while also working hard to make sure that we add some stuff in to make our drawing completely different from everyone else's.

Sure, we voted for our creature to live on land, but where on land?  Some land creatures might live in a house, or a cave, or a volcano, or in the art room.  The project leaves tons of room for the kids to come up with their own ideas while still sharing with their classmates.  They also get super excited about some of the differences they come up with that are totally random and often hilarious.  Check out a few examples!

3rd Grade - Ink Monsters

Stefan Bucher's Daily Monster channel on YouTube is the inspiration for this project with 3rd grade.  Also something we've been doing in my room for a long time, I probably enjoy this as much as the kids do.

We spend the first class trying to figure out how Bucher makes his monsters just by looking at his finished art work.  Then, I spread some ink on their papers using a toothbrush, and the third graders use a straw to blow the ink around and make a funky shape.  Then our job is to use that shape as part of a monster we make up.  Maybe the shape is hair or feathers or a mouth or something.

By the end, we take it step further by making up some context for the project.  We fill out a questionnaire asking a bunch of random questions that prove the third graders are thinking about their artwork beyond just what it looks like.

1st Grade - Class Creatures

Another one of my favorite lessons, class creatures have made their way to Reading.  For this project, first graders focus on each other's creative differences while they create an artwork based on similar traits.  Each class votes on what they want their "creature" to look like - what color it will be, how big it is, where it lives, and so on.  Once we've decided on the common characteristics, the first graders draw their own creature with the voted-on characteristics.  The project concludes with a sharing day, where students tour around the room and compare their artwork with classmates, writing down the similarities and differences they see in each other's work.  Check out this video from the sharing session, then some examples from each class.

2nd Grade - Title Interpretations

Very much inspired by the previous post, this project focused on interpretation and originality stemming from a common starting point.  I have seven tables of usually 3 second graders at Central, and I gave each table an unfinished sentence - something like "Be careful with those _____, they're haunted," or "_____ have taken over our school!"  It's then the second graders job to take the sentence and come up with something original, or at least different from their tablemates.

This was another project that we squeezed in before winter break, and so some of them went unfinished, but their core is there, and often hilarious.