"Safari September Animals"
The students in 2nd grade picked an animal of choice that you would see on a safari. They could choose a picture and create an observational drawing of their animal or draw from their imagination. They outlined their pencil sketch with sharpie. The last step was to add color with crayon, markers, oil, pastels, and paint. The students could choose one or more of these mediums! Painting was the favorite choice!
"James rizzi inspired silly face cityscapes"
The 2nd graders looked at a slideshare about the artist James Rizzi. They learned that he was a Pop Artist that lived in New York City. The also learned that he is known for silly faces on buildings, bright, bold colors, and simple childlike shapes. We looked at some of his paintings of cityscapes and people. They drew their cityscape with sharpie then colored windows, doors, rooftops, etc with crayon. For the last step, the painted with tempera cakes creating a beautiful crayon resist cityscape.
"Halloween or fall drawings"
2nd graders got a chance to draw with construction paper crayons on black paper. The students could choose to do a "Halloween or Fall Drawing." They had a great time and the pictures turned out so colorful! I love construction paper crayons!
"Fall Scarecrows"
2nd graders listened to the story "The Little Scarecrow Boy" by Margaret Wise Brown. They created a scarecrow of their own. Students could create a girl or boy scarecrow. They had to add a crow somewhere in their picture and make a background with a horizon line. The students used crayons to color small areas and paints for the sky and grass. At the end, the students could collage, buttons, feathers, and straw on their scarecrow. They did a GREAT job!
"symmetry"
The students have been creating a symmetrical design or picture of anything they love to draw. They have been learning about symmetry in math class, as well as in the art room. Once they drew their picture on one half of their paper, they traced over their lines with sharpie. Next the students folded their picture in half, then held their picture up to a window and traced what they had drawn. This step created a symmetrical picture!
"Winter Birch trees with birds"
The 1st day in art after Winter break, the students in 2nd grade created painted paper with patterns and 2 Birch trees on another piece of paper. The next time they came to art, the students drew or traced birds on their painted paper and cut them out. They had to have at least 3 birds in their collage. They cut out their birch trees and glued them to a background color. They used white Kwik Stix to create snow, snowmen, etc. They glued their birds down to their trees. Some students added details to their background with crayons.
"heart weavings"
The students created a symmetrical heart out of construction paper by folding the paper in half and drawing half a heart. After cutting out their hearts, the students cut lines in their hearts. Next, they weaved strips of paper, ribbon, and lace to weave over and under. They did a great job!
"Kandinsky Inspired Abstract art"
The students listened to the story "The Noisy Paintbox" by Barb Rosenstock. The students learned about the artist Wassily Kandinsky, synesthesia, abstract art, and collage. They also learned how to create art inspired by music, feelings, and colors. This is one of my favorite abstract lessons because the students love the process and the results are so BEAUTIFUL!!
"Clay Creatures or animals"
The students in 2nd grade created a creature or animal out of white clay. Using the pinch pot method, they turned their pinch pot on it's side for a creature! They used it as a pot and added a head, arms, legs, etc. to make an animal! Once they were fired in the kiln, the children used fluorescent paints to finish their sculpture. They turned out AWESOME!
"FAMILY PORTRAITS"
In art class, we talked about portraits and self-portraits. We also discussed our family, watched a short video about drawing our family, and i demonstrated how to draw people on the board. The children were encouraged to draw their family large and to think about proportion. They drew with pencil and outlined with sharpie. During the next art class, the students painted their "Family Portraits" with liquid watercolors. Drawing people is very hard, but I think they did a great job!
"Geometric People"
While some of the students were painting their family portraits, the ones that finished started a geometric person or a still-life drawing. We discussed geometric shapes, movement, and proportion. The children choose one color of paper to draw, cut, and create geometric shapes. They glued their shapes to a blue background and tried to make their person in proportion, as well as showing movement/action. Love them!
"Still life Drawings"
Some students chose to do an observational drawing of a still-life with pencil. They paid close attention to size and overlapping objects. They did some AWESOME sketches!
"Pop ART Artist of Choice"
"Spring Flowers"
The students in 2nd grade were introduced to the artist Georgia O'Keeffe and her beautiful close up flowers. Some of the students drew a large flower from their imagination or looked a picture of a flower. They drew with oil pastel and were encouraged to let some of the petals and/or leaves run off the page. This is called cropping and artists do this to make their work more interesting to the viewer. Some students chose a second center were they could make an "Abstract Flower" picture using markers, Kwik Stix tempera paint sticks, and crayons. They drew with markers, added designs and patterns to make their picture abstract. They could also change the colors to help make their picture abstract. For example, a purple sun or a red tree.
"Self-Portraits"
The 2nd graders did a self-portrait of what they want to be when they grow up. Some of the classes chose to do a 3-D self-portrait.