2nd Grade- Visual Jazz

In honor of Black History Month, second graders are studying the African American collage artist, Romare Bearden. Bearden lived in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance and was greatly influenced by Jazz Music for his artwork.

In art class, we listened to music from the Harlem Renaissance while using paper, scissors, and glue to make our own collages. Didn't second grade do a brilliant job with their own music-inspired artwork!?

To learn more about Romare Bearden, check out this video:

To discover more of Romare Bearden's legacy, check out his official website:

http://www.beardenfoundation.org/index2.shtml

1st Grade - Torn Tissue Paper Poinsettias

With the holidays quickly approaching, we're preparing ahead of time in the art room so that we can have our artwork out for everyone to see by the Winter Break.

In first grade, we're learning about Poinsettias. Before we began our artwork, on first day of our project, we watched a video adaptation of a traditional Christmas Mexican tale that explains where Poinsettias come from. In this fictional story, a little girl named Dedita learns a valuable lesson about giving your all to something you care about.
To watch the folk story, check out this video:


On the second day of our project, we watched a short documentary about where Poinsettia flowers really come from. Even Mrs. Kingsolver learned something new in this one! Did you know that the red parts of the Poinsettia plant are not flower petals, but leaves? Check it out:


Our artworks are made with torn tissue paper, papier-mâché paste, and oil pastels. Aren't they festive?!

First Grade- Textured Perspective Pumpkins

First graders are getting excited about Thanksgiving and all the festivities involved. For this project we used a major symbol of Thanksgiving- the pumpkin- to learn about perspective and texture.

Perspective can make the same object look different, depending on what angle you are looking at it from. For example, the top of a pumpkin looks much different than the side view.

Texture is all around us. It is the way something feels. Texture is important because it can show us how something feels before we touch it. Texture can even help protect us because if we are able to use visual clues to see the different textures of porcupines and bunny rabbits, for example, we will know which one we'd rather pet.

Once our textured perspective pumpkins were complete, we cut them out and glued them to layered paper to create a still life collage.

Parents, you can learn more about perspective here: http://www.artic.edu/aic/education/sciarttech/2d1.html

And art students can learn more about still life here: http://www.theartgallery.com.au/kidsart/learn/stilllife/

1st Grade- Textured Perspective Pumpkins

After learning how pumpkins grow and where they come from, we practiced drawing them from different viewpoints.

When we look at a 3-Dimensional object, from various angles, the same object looks different depending on how you look at it. This is called perspective.

Next, we used crayons and texture rubbing plates to give these pumpkins the appearance of texture. Then, we used either cut paper or watercolor paint to make a background for our artwork. Finally, we cut out our textured pumpkins and glued them on top of the background to create a collage.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2nd Grade- "Tar Beach" Dreams

We read "Tar Beach" written and illustrated by Faith Ringold, and we discussed how many great things begin with a dream (for example, MLK Jr.).

In Ringold's story, Cassie Louise Lightfoor's father was a hard worker, but he was not allowed to go inside the buildings he built because of his skin color. How ridiculous!

(Click on the book for a special surprise!)
Cassie dreamed of a better future for herself and her family. In her dream, when she flew over her father's constructions, they became hers. We each chose an architectural piece that represents something special to us and drew ourselves flying over it.

Architecture is something that is built by people. Schools, homes, theme parks, and bridges are all forms of architecture.

1st Grade- Texture Town Collage

For this landscape project, we learned about perspective. When something is far away from us, it can often seem much smaller that it would if it was close to us. We kept that in mind as we drew our architecture and landscape.

Then, we used texture rubbing plates to create the illusion of texture on our buildings. This kind of texture is called implied texture.

Texture is all around us. It is the way something feels. Texture is important because it can show us how something feels before we touch it. Texture can even help protect us because if we are able to use visual clues to see the different textures of porcupines and bunny rabbits, for example, we will know which one we'd rather pet.

Once our textured buildings, trees, and plants were complete, we cut them out and glued them to layered paper to create a collage.

For more fun with landscapes, click here: http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/kids/landscape.htm

A.C.E. - 3-D Collage Boxes & Scrap Paper Collages

3-D Collage Boxes

Collage is overlapping paper.  For this project, we recycled tissue boxes and cut symmetrical shapes out of construction paper.  We overlapped the paper and voila!

Scrap Paper Collages 

Not a single piece of paper was wasted in these projects.  We used the shapes that we cut out for the 3-D collage boxes to create a second collage.  Can you tell which scraps came from which box?