The Dot, by Peter Reynolds
For the first lesson this year, I read The Dot by Peter Reynolds. It is a story about a little girl named Vashti who thinks she can't draw. Her art teacher tells her "to make a mark and see where it takes you" She then jabs the paper with her pencil. Next art class Vashti finds that her teacher has framed her dot in "swirly gold" From here she is inspired to create many kinds of dots.
Fourth grade students created their own dots. As a class we discussed line and pattern. Then they filled their dots using Sharpie.
Fourth grade students created their own dots. As a class we discussed line and pattern. Then they filled their dots using Sharpie.
Día de los Muertos
Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have passed away. A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (in Spanish calavera), which celebrants represent in masks, called calacas.
Students viewed examples of calacas. We talked about symmetry and symbolism. The children planned out their designs on paper in color. They were given Styrofoam covered with art foil, and they taped the drawings to it. Students went over their designs in pencil, lifted their drawings, and went over the indentations with pencil again. They used Sharpies to color their skulls. They were very happy with the results!
Perspective Drawings
Day 1
Students worked so hard on this challenging lesson! First, we talked about using line to create the illusion of depth. Then we all worked together to draw a house in perspective. As I demonstrated for the students, they also received hand-outs detailing each step. They all measured so carefully! It was also so nice to see the children helping each other.
Students worked so hard on this challenging lesson! First, we talked about using line to create the illusion of depth. Then we all worked together to draw a house in perspective. As I demonstrated for the students, they also received hand-outs detailing each step. They all measured so carefully! It was also so nice to see the children helping each other.
Day 2
We talked about revising our drawings. Students went back and double checked their measurements. Then we discussed foreground and background. Their job was to create two trees in their drawings. One in the foreground, and one in the background. Once that was accomplished they could add any other details as long as they were thinking about size and where the object was on the picture plane.
Day 3
We practiced talking about art by looking at drawings done by other fourth grade classes. I hung work on the chalkboard and children came up to look at each piece in small groups. They were asked to think about what they thought each artist did well. Once back at their seats, students were asked to comment using the art vocabulary we had discussed earlier. Then they went back to add more details to their work.
We talked about revising our drawings. Students went back and double checked their measurements. Then we discussed foreground and background. Their job was to create two trees in their drawings. One in the foreground, and one in the background. Once that was accomplished they could add any other details as long as they were thinking about size and where the object was on the picture plane.
Day 3
We practiced talking about art by looking at drawings done by other fourth grade classes. I hung work on the chalkboard and children came up to look at each piece in small groups. They were asked to think about what they thought each artist did well. Once back at their seats, students were asked to comment using the art vocabulary we had discussed earlier. Then they went back to add more details to their work.
Day 3
Students went over their drawings with Sharpie, then painted with tempera cakes.
Students went over their drawings with Sharpie, then painted with tempera cakes.