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This is an image from a first grade bulletin board that I hung. We made hot air balloon drawings. I gave students a blue paper with four different sized circles on them. We looked at images of hot air balloons and discussed what shapes we needed to complete our drawings. Students used different designs, lines and shapes to decorate their balloons.
3rd graders made cherry blossom collage/prints inspired by Van Gogh's Cherry Blossom painting. We discussed his composition- how he doesn't show the whole tree- just a section of branches and flowers. Students started by drawing and cutting out a branch to glue on a light blue background- this surprisingly took an entire class for most students. The next week we discussed printmaking and cut a flower shape out of sticky backed foam (thank you yet again Rhode Island Recycling Center) which we stuck onto a piece of cardboard to create our printing plate. We also used this time to draw and cut out some birds to include on our brances. The third week students misxed their own shades of pink and painted their printing plates which they used to stamp their flowers. I saw a similar lesson on a blog where the flowers were also collaged. My students really enjoyed the printmaking process!
Kindergarteners looked at images of Van Gogh's Sunflowers. We discussed what shapes and colors we saw. We started by cutting out symmetrcial vases- students folded their papers in half and were instructed to draw a number 3 starting at the fold. They cut them out and decorated them with oil pastel creating different patterns and designs. The next class we glued brown strips to the bottom of our papers and our vases on top of that- we talked about overlapping our vase on the brown paper instead of having it sit right on top of it. Students then traced and cut out 3 circles using whatever combination of yellow and orange they chose. they drew dark circles in the center and cut fringes around the edges to simulate petals. They were glued at different heights about the vase. The next week THey painted green stems and leaves connecting the flowers to the vases. This lesson took about 2 and a half classes- my K classes are only 30 min. If I had longer I could have finished this in 2 classes.
We looked at Andy Warhols flower prints and discussed how the flowers were abstract based on the colors used and how the lines and color don't exactly match up. We then created our "backwards" painting- instead of starting with a drawing and then painting, we painted first. Students were instructed to begin by painting different sized circles with different colors. They then painted around the circles with green. The next week they used black sarpie to draw their details. We talked about several different ways to draw flowers and what other details they could add around them- grass, leaves, bugs, etc. This lesson takes about 1 1/2 classes. On the second day we read Lois Ehlerts' "Painting a Rainbow" which is about planting a garden of different colored flowers.
We looked at different examples of stained glass and discussed how it was made. We tried to mimic the look of it but using black paint to create thick lines to outline our drawings. Students drew a picture on scrap paper- the theme for this lesson was bugs, students had to zoom in on a bug and foliage (plant, flower, tree, etc). They then placed a transparency sheet over it and traced their drawing with black paint. The next week when the paint was dry they flipped them over so the paint was on the back and colored in the different areas with a variety of colors using colored sharpies. It is important to remind students not to use too much paint- if there is too thick an application it will peel off when dry.
1st grade students were instructed how to draw a birdhouse using crayon before painting their drawings with tempra cakes. Students traced and cut out a bird shape, beak and eyes which they glued together and onto the birdhouse.
2nd grade students created tree house collages. They began by painting a green strip at the bottom of their paper and a green cloud shape at the top of their paper. Next they used brown paint to connect the two areas with a "Y" shaped tree trunk. Students folded a brown piece of paper in half with the fold at the top and cut off the upper corners to make their tree house. The glued it onto the tree and used markers to add details to the inside and outside of the tree house as well as to the rest of the picture.
Another fun spring lesson from last year, Kindergarteners created gardens after reading Lois Ehlert's "Planting a Rainbow". THey traced, decorated and cut out a watering can. on a 12x18 sheet of paper students drew a garden with various flowers and other details. They glued their watering can onto an upper corner and added blue yarn or tissue paper from the spout.
This was a fun end of the year project I did with 1st graders last year. We read the story "Jump Frog Jump" to begin. Students were given two different shades of green paper. On one they traced a large oval and cut out a triangle shape to create a lily pad. On the other they were to trace a frog pattern. Students used oil pastels to add details to their frogs as well as watery details to a blue piece of construction paper such as waves, fish, plants, etc. They then glued the lily pad in the center and taped their frog onto the lily pad so that it popped up. Red strips were curled around a pencil and taped underneath the frog's face. Model magic was used to make a small fly which they colored with marker to glue onto the tongue.
This is a great spring lesson. Kindergarteners begin by tracing a jar shape. They then draw details- lid, branch, leaves, flowers and fingerpaint various colored dots throughout their jar. When the paint is dry, students can use sharpie to add details to their bugs such as legs, faces, antennae, etc.
