Polar Bear Portraits

We completed a one day project with my second graders today. We discussed what a portrait was and fun facts about polar bears. Usually we draw snowman portraits, but I thought it would be fun for a little change.

These are the steps for this drawing. I showed students each step and they first drew together with pencil on light blue paper. Then traced with black crayon. We drew "rainbow" lines for ears, two circle eyes, an upside down triangle nose, and a smile.

Students colored their scarves with patterns. Patterns were colored with construction paper crayons (love them!). Then students colored in the body and drew snowflakes with a white oil pastel. I have used white crayon for the coloring before, but white pastel really does turn out so bright!

We completed these drawings in one forty-minute class. I love the way these turned out. Each one is unique!

One quick pointer, when coloring oil pastel emphasize the importance to color 'around' the face detail with the oil pastel and not on top. That oil pastel can cover up all that hard work quickly if done without notice.

Materials:

9 x 12" light blue paper (although you could use any color)

Pencils and erasers

Construction paper crayons

Black crayons (could substitue with permanent markers)

white oil pastels (or white crayons)



Winter Collage

Winter time is here which makes for excellent subject matter!

This week at the primary level I have students creating "Snovals". Typically one thinks of a snowman being created from circles, but we are trying to make our snowmen unique with an oval instead. This idea came from an Arts and Activties lesson I saw several years ago.

I like this project because its another opportunity to recycle. I love wrapping paper especially for the variety of prints and ease to cut.
We begin by reading Snowmen at Night. Excellent book! And I point out the variety of shapes in the snowmens' clothing. Then we then practice drawing an oval in the air by "stretching" a circle. When they have the hang of it in the air, then we draw it on a 9 x 12" piece of white paper (although smaller can work too). Students cut out their oval then draw two black circles for coal eyes and additional circles for the mouth.

After that students use a scrap of orange paper to cut and glue on a carrot nose (triangle). Then the fun begins. I tell all students to create special clothes to keep their snowmen warm on cold nights. This can include mittens, scarves, hats, boots, etc. Students use scrap wall paper and wrapping paper to clothe their snowman. Students could also draw on buttons with black crayon or cut out of color paper.
Each one is unique and incredibly fun! I did this with K, 1st, and 2nd graders.

Love the hat on this one!

Materials:
scissors
 glue
 white paper
black crayons
orange construction scrap and all sorts of fun printed papers (wrapping paper is great after the holidays)

This project can take 1 to 2 forty minute classes depending on how you present it.

Next week, I originally planned to create snowman portraits... but I'm thinking of changing it a bit. Polar bear portraits may add a bit of variety to our usual subjects. They appear very much the same other than changing the face and a few other details. Yes... Polarbear Portraits seems like a fun venue.

This looks great with construction paper crayons and white oil pastel. We draw out the shapes first with pencil, then trace with black crayon and color. This project is great for discussing portraits and perspective/view.  

Gearing up for Fall

This fall has definitely turned into much more of a wild ride than I expected. I have tons of projects going on with all my grade levels, prepping for my state conference in November, photographing, hanging works, updating my school webpage, and dealing with a new health problem that has led to allergy shots... Sheesh. Boredom isn't part of my vocabulary. :) 

I have a couple of new projects to share that turned out rather nicely with my 3rd and 4th grade students that are a perfect sign of the season.

My third grade students created Warm and Cool Color Pumpkin Drawings. We discussed the three warm colors (red, yellow, and orange) and the three cool colors (blue, green, and purple). Students drew a simplified pumpkin shape (a template can be used here), drew a grid with horizontal and vertical lines (we used straight edges), then traced with a black sharpie. Then students had to take their time and carefully color inside their pumpkins with warm colors (this part definitely requires a lot of thought). We pressed hard so that our crayon would be slick and shiny! Lastly, we did the same with the cool colors. One of our goals was to make the pumpkins look like a patchwork quilt -- same colors weren't side by side. I love how these turned out. This project could be done with lots of other shapes as well.

My fourth graders also created pumpkins recently, however ours involved creating a variety of values. This idea I came across on another art teacher's blog. We started drawing on light green 9 x 12" construction paper. Outlined the shape of a pumpkin with pencil. Students traced with brown oil pastel, colored in with yellow oil pastel, then slowly blended in orange then red. These are super! I am not a fan of oil pastel for the fact I inevitably have students to get it on their clothes, but this will be a repeat project. Also, progressing from green to yellow then orange was a rather fun way to connect to the natural growth of a pumpkin.

    

A fun story book to connect to this project would be: The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll although this is more of a Prek -2nd level book.

This next week we will be wrapping up a few other things and getting 2 days off for fall break! Yay! Then I'm looking ahead to Gee's Bend, Symmetrical Insects, and perhaps some snakes!

Adobe Pueblos!! A total fav!!

I have discovered a website that has become a real treasure in my classroom. http://www.deepspacesparkle.com

And this awesome lesson came from this site.

Materials:

1. 12 x 18" construction paper (I used old ugly color paper)

2. Pencils and erasers

3. Chalk pastels in a variety of colors

4. Black oil pastels.

This is the first time I have used chalk pastels with my students (Whoa! Really???) and I was really hesitant for the sake of a dusty mess. I found this lesson is well worth it.

I started off introducing my students to the country of Mexico. We looked at a powerpoint I whipped up about the country in relation to the U.S. -- We discussed differences in climate and why northern Mexico's desert makes for an excellent place to build adobe houses.

Then we began drawing. First we folded the construction paper in half hamburger-style. We drew on one side and the other became a 'cover' to protect the drawing.

Students drew with pencil to create an Adobe building composition. Started at the bottom of our paper and worked our way up to the top ended with a hillside and a rising/setting sun. This is a good stopping point.

Next class students began coloring the pencil drawing with chalk pastels. Students smudged with fingers help that chalk press into the paper. The students weren't crazy about the art work being all smeary though. I told them to "go with it" and that we could clean it up in the end.

When compositions were complete, we outlined EVERYTHING with a black oil pastel. It gave all parts a really nice clean edge and students were much more content with their drawings.

I hung a ton of these up this year. So proud.