"Zentangle letters"
After choosing the letter of their first or last name, 4th grade students made small square sections on their letter to fill with intricate pattern known as zentangles. Students enjoyed learning more about zentangles and also how relaxing it is to tangle.
"OP art"
4th graders looked at Op artwork and artists. They then folded a square piece of paper to make 8 sections. Next the drew a line to show movement in one section of the square. Then they made a different line in the next section. Lastly, they went back to creating the first line, then the 2nd line in every other section. They colored with markers and had some AWESOME results!
"winter Cardinals"
Students were shown how to draw a bird and branches. They drew their own bird, branches, nest, etc. with a pencil. Next, they outlined their drawing with a sharpie. Lastly, they painted their picture with tempera paints.
"Koru Spiral plants"
The students in 4th grade watched a Power Point about the Koru plant found in New Zealand and the artist Raewyn Harris, whose paintings are inspired by the plant. The students had to create at least one spiral plant and any other plants, leaves, designs, etc. to their picture. They painted their final drawing with liquid watercolors. We also had a very productive critique about each others work!
"clay slab birds"
4th graders were introduced to the "slab method" in clay. They were showed how to create a bird with basic shapes. They created their bird and then they air dried for 2 weeks. Next they were fired in the kiln. The 1st firing is called a bisque firing. The students painted their bisque bird with glaze. The birds were fired again in a glaze firing. Clay is always a big hit!
"positive and negative space designs"
After a discussion and demo on Positive and Negative Space, the 4th graders created a paper cut design. The students chose two contrasting colors of paper in two different sizes. On the smaller piece of paper (which was half the size of the bigger piece), the students drew shapes on both sides of the paper. They were told to make sure to leave space between the shapes. Next, they cut out their shapes and then put their pieces back together like a puzzle. The last step was to glue the small shapes( positive space) down in the puzzle frame and then put glue on the top of the frame and flip it over to the other side of paper. Sounds complicated, but I was amazed at how well the students did on their designs! The space left around the objects is the negative space, while positive space is the space an object occupies.
"Ping pong critique"
Students in 4th grade have been learning to discuss each others work in art. Students chose a ping pong ball with a question about an element of art used in the picture. The students did a great job answering the questions and expressing their thoughts and ideas. We will continue to have more critiques about their art work.
"Mexican Bark Painting"
4th grade watched a short video on Mexican Bark Painting. We discussed the type of imagery and colors they saw in the video. Students drew their picture on brown Kraft paper. Next they added color with markers and paint. They did a beautiful job on this lesson!
"Mexican Adobes"
Students viewed and discussed two styles of Mexican Architecture. We discussed Adobe homes and Villas. We talked about the differences and similarities and viewed several of each style. The students created an adobe home and background using oil pastels.
"Protractor Designs"
Students viewed and discussed the "Protractor Series" of Frank Stella. The next step was to create their own design using protractors and rulers. They used pattern, overlapping, created shapes and made an abstract design. Student's also did a written critique ( based upon specific questions) about a classmate's artwork. They did an EXCELLENT job!
"Hundertwasser's Flowers"
Students watched a video about Friedenreich Hundertwasser and his work. The students created trees and flowers in his style, which look like lollipops. They used concentric circles to make their trees and added whatever else they wanted to their picture. Some students even put a face somewhere in their picture, which was a trademark of Hundertwassers.
2016 ArtWork
"Hopes & Dreams Self-Portraits"
Students wrote out their "Hopes & Dreams" for art and then created a self-portrait.
"Op art"
Students in 4th grade watched a powerpoint about Op Art. We discussed several different ways to make an Op Art design. I demonstrated one way to make a design and the children could make theirs like my example or make up their own Op Art design.