End of the Year One Day Lesson - Origami Bears

This post would be better if I had taken pictures, but my cartoon will have to suffice.  Simply, I demonstrated how to make the origami bear I found on this website in front of my first and second graders.  I also posted each individual step up on the board so kids could follow along as they worked at their own pace.  Then they folded their bear on their own while I circulated and helped table by table.  Anyone who finished quickly helped classmates fold theirs, then we used markers to finish.

2nd Grade - Cartooning Cliff

I've sort of made it an unofficial goal to include some more of my own artistic interests into my lessons this year (I wrote and illustrated this book, and we did a different cartooning project with fourth grade earlier).  Our final second grade project of the school year introduced students to a cartoon character I've invented named Cliff.  Cliff likes to do all sorts of different things, but he doesn't really like to do the same thing twice.  So we worked hard to think of something unique for Cliff to do.  For the lesson, I gave the second graders a step-by-step on how to draw his head, then it was up to them to give him an activity and fill in the background.

Before you take a look at all the new and cool ideas for Cliff from the second graders, make sure you follow him on Instagram.

1st Grade - Seussian Animals

For this fun project, 1st graders looked at the work of a familiar artist, Dr. Seuss.  Put simply, Dr. Seuss invented new animals by combining aspects of different objects or animals.  After discussing the creative process, we tried our hand at it and invented our own animals, giving them a name and a place to live.

Unfortunately, it's the end of the year so our markers have a taken a turn for the worse, but we're working through it.  Take a look at these creative creatures!

1st Grade - Positive and Negative Space

Positive and negative space can be a difficult concept to wrap your brain around, but these first graders did a great job.  Basically, positive space is the subject of the artwork, and negative space is all the stuff in the background and in between spaces.  Our assignment for this one was to draw seven medium-sized shapes around the page, then fill in the negative space with some lines and patterns to color. 

Kindergarten - Pattern Snakes

Kindergartners learned about patterns with this simple snake project.  We started with a spiral, then divided it up and added patterns to each section by using our knowledge of color, line, and shape.  The kids worked hard and came up with interesting designs.  Take a look!