"I AM..."
4th grade did a lesson describing themselves with only positive adjectives to start our year off in art. We discussed traits we all have that are a part of us and our personalities! We also discussed being positive, maybe a little silly, and what an adjective means. The students drew around 6-8 wavy lines across their page using pencil. They wrote "I Am... at the top of the page with pencil. Their challenge was to try to make there letters go from the top of one line to the bottom of the other. This was so we could read them and so they went with the wave of their lines. After choosing positive adjectives and including commas, they wrote I Am with their name at the bottom of the page. They outlined over their pencil with black sharpie and then painted over with liquid watercolors. I loved this lesson because I learned a lot more about each of my 4th grade students!
"Ndebele Painted Houses"
The students in 4th grade learned about the artist Esther Mahlangu and the beautiful painted houses she created in the Ndebele community of South Africa. The students watched a short video about the Ndebele houses and we discussed the shapes and symbols they used in their paintings. The students could choose to use a template for their house or draw their own. They added lines and geometric patterns to their house with pencil and a ruler. Next, the students outlined their house and background with a black sharpie. For the last step, the students used liquid tempera paint to add the bright colors to their house and sky. Their houses turned out very colorful and beautiful!
"Hundertwasser Inspired Face Houses"
The students in 4th grade watched a PPT on Friedensreich Hundertwasser. They learned that he was a painter, as well as an architect. We looked at some of his buildings, including "the Ronald McDonald House in Germany. The students looked at his paintings and noticed his use of faces in them. We also talked about his use of swirly trees ,irregular shapes, and bright colors that are found in his paintings. The children could make a silly house with a face or a haunted house with a face. They sketched their house with a white crayon on dark paper. They colored their houses with construction paper crayons and also decorated their background. I love the outcome with just using crayons on dark paper! Some students did outline their house at the very end with a black oil pastel.
"Shading Techniques"
The students in 4th grade spent several weeks on the different shading techniques of hatching, cross-hatching, and stippling. Some of the students chose to do an observational drawing of an apple or an orange, while other students chose to do a "Cool as a Moon, Warm as a Sun Drawing." We discussed shading from light to dark-value. We also discussed blending colors together, as well as the shading techniques of hatching and cross-hatching For stippling, the students could draw anything of choice. Next, the students used markers or paint to dot the color on their picture.
"Clay Sculptures"
The students in 4th grade were shown various clay techniques. The students could make a 3-d sculpture of choice using white clay. After air drying for at least a week, their sculptures were fired in the kiln. Next the students glazed their sculptures and they were fired one more time in the kiln. We have some amazing 3-d artists!