Kindergarten - Dice Monsters

To celebrate Halloween in a unique way, kindergarten played a game I call "Dice Monsters."  I've seen a bunch of variations before, but basically our version works like this:

I put dice in small condiment containers with a clear lid, then assign a facial feature to each number on the die.  The kindergartners shake their cup and see what number pops up, and that tells them what to add to their face.  A one is an eye.  A two is a nose.  A three is a mouth.  A four is an ear.  A five is a horn.  A six is wild.

The kids have an absolute blast with this project and love to share their crazy monster faces.  Here are a few shots of them in action:

3rd Grade - Blown Ink Monsters

A perennial favorite, blown ink monsters have become a staple in third grade.  First, we look at a few examples from artist Stefan G. Bucher on YouTube.  Then, I spritz a little ink on the middle of a piece of paper and the third graders blow it around with a straw.  Their job is to then use the squiggles and random lines from the blown ink to include in a monster of their own.  We finish it with color and background and the result is artwork that is always unique and a lot of fun.

Opening Projects - Goofing Up

Starting in new district presents its own challenges in a variety of ways, and I think a big one is setting expectations.  I am a firm believer in developing creativity and a positive relationship with art and ideas in my classroom.  I teach skills and techniques, for sure, and certainly see the value of teaching the elements and principles, but I stress to my students that what I'm most interested in is their ideas, originality, and effort.

So to start the year, our very first projects with each grade had lot to do with taking ownership of their artwork and problem solving.  The first and second graders fixed "mistakes" that I made for them by walking around the room and making marks on their papers.  Their job was to turn that mark into something else that made sense with their pictures.  

The third graders drew a portrait with their opposite hands, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth graders drew portraits of their classmates without looking at their paper.  The point being that we understand it's okay to make mistakes, as long as we don't give up on our artwork.  

My students are probably tired of hearing me say it, but in the art room, we don't mess up.  We just give ourselves new problems we need to solve.

4th Grade - Blind Contour

Similar to the second grade project "Making Mistakes," this fourth grade lesson was mainly about putting yourself in a hole and figuring your way out of it.  First, the kids made a blind contour drawing of the person sitting across from them by drawing with a Sharpie marker on a clipboard under the table.  Not being able see makes drawing a face accurately nearly impossible, so we talked a lot about letting our expectations go; whatever happens you'll just have to deal with.  Once the drawing was done, then the "fixing" could begin.  A lot of fourth graders tried many different strategies to complete their artwork with markers.  Some embraced how bizarre their faces looked, others covered it up or changed their ideas completely.  Below are some outstanding examples of students not giving up on their ideas, but working through problems.  Art is a process after all.