"Henri Rousseu Inspired collages"
The students in 2nd grade watched a short video on artist Henri Rousseau and his painting Surprised, 1891. They created plants, bushes, trees, etc. out of scrap paper and cut them out. The students created a wild cat of their choice with paint. They made a symmetrical cat face by folding their paper in half and painting half of a cat face. Next, the children folded and rubbed their paper. Once they open up their paper, they had created a symmetrical face. The students made their cat hiding in the grass behind their plants. I love their final collages!
"symmetry"
2nd graders did a simple lesson on symmetry. They folded their paper into 2 rectangles or 4 squares. The students drew anything they wanted in their rectangle or square with a black crayon. Next they folded their paper in half and rubbed over their drawing with a craft stick to transfer their image. They continued to transfer their picture and then retraced over the lines with their black crayon. Lastly the students used crayons to add color!
"Silly Monsters"
The 2nd graders listened to a story about monsters and then created a couple of their own monsters. They had handouts with different shape bodies, eyes, etc. to look at for a starting point. They could create a monster Mom, Dad, kid, dog, etc. with construction paper crayons on dark colors of construction paper. Once they colored their 2 monsters, they glued them to a different background color to frame them. They created some really silly, scary, and very fun monsters!
"Cats at night"
The students listened to the story "The Cat at Night" by Dahlov Ipcar. We discussed all the places the cat went at night and the children drew their own cats with patterns. They had to decide the location of their cats and create a background. The students drew with pencil, then outlined with sharpie. They used crayons to color their cats, stars, etc. For the last step, the students painted with tempera cakes.
"James Rizzi Inspired Cityscapes"
The students in 2nd grade watched a very short video on the artist James Rizzi. They learned that he lived in New York City and his paintings were very simple and child like. He used lots of bright colors, repeating patterns, and he loved to put faces in his artwork. The children drew first with a pencil and ruler to make their cityscape. Next, they used black sharpie to outline their city. The children colored the windows and doors with crayon, before they painted with liquid watercolor. They turned out very silly and colorful!
"Clay tepees"
The students are always excited to use clay and this time was no different! They were introduced to the slab method and they created their own tepee. The students also used tools to create texture and patterns on their clay tepees. Their clay air-dried for at least a week and then was fired in the kiln. Next, the students used glaze to paint their tepees and they were fired in the kiln one more time! Oh, so hard to wait! But they did and they turned out AWESOME!
"Heart weaving"
The students learned about warm and cool colors in art. First, the students painted a white piece of paper with the warm colors and then a second piece of paper with the cool colors. The next time they came to art, they traced half of a heart with a template on each of their painted papers. Then, they cut out each half of their heart. They also cut 3-4 lines up their heart halves partway. Next, the children wove their 2 halves together making a heart. They trimmed any extra paper on the ends and glued down the edges. They really enjoyed this process and the hearts turned out so BEAUTIFUL!
"Romare Bearden Inspired collages"
The children were introduced to the African American artist Romare Bearden and his wonderful collages. We discussed how he was inspired by Jazz musicians, while living in New York City. While creating their "Jazz Collage," we listened to Miles Davis-"Kind of Blue." They children used a music note page and tore it up and glued it to their background paper. Next, they glued on tissue paper, so we could still see the music sheet notes underneath. For the last step, the children looked at handouts with musical instruments, notes, etc. and drew on scrap paper. Then they cut out and glued these instruments on their tissue paper. Some students used a black sharpie to write jazz, music notes, lines, etc. These turned out so original and colorful! I think this is my favorite project that the children have done this school year! They really enjoyed doing this collage!