5th grade

November 14, 2013
New Ink Blob Monsters







May 9, 2013
There are 12 days of school left and I am feeling so behind on posts, projects, assessment... everything! Here is some of our latest work, although I feel bad I am not explaining it in great depth like I normally do.  Recently we created endangered animal prints.  Now, we are working on Georgia O'Keeffe inspired flowers.


























April 1, 2013
Self portraits!  My students with diverse needs blew me away with their recent self portraits.  Our goal was to create a portrait in their likeness with proper proportions.  Job well done!












February 22, 2013
We are studying Starry Night!  Students in my class with diverse needs are really enjoying this Starry Night inspired project with shaving cream and cool colors.  More to follow when they are finished!
















February 8, 2013
Maraca making!














February 1, 2013
February already!  My schedule has changed in significant ways this new semester and I am really enjoying the opportunity I have to work with students of many diverse needs, abilities and learning styles.  At Pfeiffer Intermediate I am working on adapting my art lessons for certain classes, while at Edison Middle School I am being challenged with teaching Art 1, a high school level class that students can take to earn early credit.
Recently at Pfeiffer we completed two lessons that I love, Stefan Bucher ink blob monsters and George Rodrigue pets.  Check them both out!  The imaginations of these students is unmatched!

























January 17, 2013
Here are some of our completed zentangle projects.  Last week was the last week of the semester and so with grades being due and common assessments being administered, I got a little behind on all of my posts.  Here's to a  new semester and hopefully some more descriptive posts!






December 21, 2012
ZENTANGLE!
I was just introduced to Zentangle by my colleague Miss Loudon and this website explains it pretty well too!  http://www.zentangle.com/.  Here are some of the projects my students started this week.











December 14, 2012
We are looking at still lives this week and drawing from life.  Currently students are tracing over their lines with glue and will next add chalk to their drawings.  I can't wait to show these mixed media pieces when they are done!









November 30, 2012
Here are our Blue Dog inspired projects completed.  Enjoy:)

















November 21, 2012
It's a new nine weeks!   With my new batch of students I am starting with some of the lessons I previously did this year.  Here is one I am repeating that I love... 

  George Rodrigue created the original Blue Dog with inspiration from a Cajun fairytale.  After spending some time painting portraits, Rodrigue was inspired to try something new.  Blue Dog has become so well known that Rodrigue has created paintings many times in efforts to raise money for causes such as Hurricane Katrina, September 11th, etc.   Sometimes his famous Blue Dog is not always blue.  One thing my fifth grade students loved learning about blue dog is that he can show up anytime, anywhere.  With inspiration from Rodrigue they created either a warm or cool colored pet and concentrated on their understanding of foregroundmiddle ground and background.  A new art media was introduced to them as well throughout the duration of this project—“biggie cakes!”  These are tempera cakes that mix like watercolors but have the boldness and vibrancy of tempera paint.   I love these finished products and I love all of the knowledge my students gained in the process!  To view the video we watched about Rodrigue's work click ---here.















Students in fifth grade started the school year out with a very cool line and color study taking inspiration from ink blob monster artist Stephan Bucher at www.dailymonster.com.  This was a lesson I came upon from my good friend Mrs. Tannert over at www.suffieldart.blogspot.com, who I am pretty sure was inspired by a colleague of hers also.

Stephan Bucher opens up students imaginations like no other.  Art can be anything, anytime, anywhere… including starting with an ink blob.  Bucher has become well-known for his whacky and whimsical monster creations all starting from a blob of ink.   Students first blew their ink with a straw and after it dried viewed it from many directions to see its potential for becoming a monster.  Shape, line and color were all considered as students made their choices in creation.  I love they way they are all so individual and unique!



























November 6, 2012
Pictures really aren't doing these mixed media owls justice.  This was the last project of the last nine weeks and I will have to add some updated photographs once they have the black shoe polish on them. I found this awesome lesson over at www.makeitawonderfullife.blogspot.com.  More on this later...













October 24, 2012
Before and after self portraits complete!  Read below for more on this project...
























October 18, 2012
Before and After Self Portraits

I developed this project a few years back and find so much value and growth in having students first draw a portrait on their own and then guide them through portraiture a second time concentrating on proper proportions, etc.  Students were shocked on the first day to come in a create a piece of art (their before self portrait) without an help or guidance from me.  What a great pre-assessment!  After I looked over them that night, I could see where my students had strengths and weaknesses and then go from there the next day.  We tied in a lot math using fractions for placement of features on the face and we also added a color relationship component by having students created their two opposing portraits on complementary colors.  Finally oil pastels were added and the results were exciting!


























October 11, 2012
Harvest Still Life Creations


Still life creations can be a somewhat mundane process, but is so valuable in training students to really see line and shape!  For this harvest still life we concentrated extensively on organic line and shape, tint and shade, as well as creating shadows.  Students loved the idea of creating a resist by drawing with glue on black paper.  Students viewed famous still life work by Janet Fish and Paul Cezanne in order to understanding the significance of drawing from true life.  As we scattered around the room each student had a different perspective of the still life which affected their view point and drawing.  Chalk is a fantastic medium for blending color and was much enjoyed by the students!




















October 3, 2012
Dale Chihuly Inspired Sculptures


For our latest art creation we took inspiration from glass blower Dale Chihuly and his famous team.  Chihuly works in the colored glass medium, designing elaborate suspended sculptures that play off of the light around them.  Students were amazed after watching various video clips about how Chihuly goes about his creations and how much work the assembly process takes.  Our materials, which was painted plastic, allows for the same translucency of Chihuly’s work.  Students learned about three- dimensional form for this project and were challenged to include both organic and geometric line in their sculpture.  Please feel free to watch the amazing videos below!


How Dale Chihuly creates his work.
The installation of Dale Chihuly's work.


















September 28, 2012
Blue Dog Complete!

Why is Blue Dog Blue?


         George Rodrigue created the original Blue Dog with inspiration from a Cajun fairytale.  After spending some time painting portraits, Rodrigue was inspired to try something new.  Blue Dog has become so well known that Rodrigue has created paintings many times in efforts to raise money for causes such as Hurricane Katrina, September 11th, etc.   Sometimes his famous Blue Dog is not always blue.  One thing my fifth grade students loved learning about blue dog is that he can show up anytime, anywhere.  With inspiration from Rodrigue they created either a warm or cool colored pet and concentrated on their understanding of foreground, middle ground and background.  A new art media was introduced to them as well throughout the duration of this project—“biggie cakes!”  These are tempera cakes that mix like watercolors but have the boldness and vibrancy of tempera paint.   I love these finished products and I love all of the knowledge my students gained in the process!  To view the video we watched about Rodrigue's work click ---here.












September 19, 2012

We are moving on at the tail-end of this week to study the work of artist George Rodrigue and his Blue Dog.  More on that later, but for now, a few starts...









September 17, 2012
Wayne Thiebaud Inspired Cakes

Thiebaud, a well-known artist who emerged at the tail-end of the Pop Art movement is easily one of my favorites, as he combines two of my favorite things—painting and dessert!  Students soon agreed as we studied his textured and realistic creations.  While looking at Thiebaud’s work students were challenged to create a piece of art that exhibited overlapping and three-dimensional shapes.  Recognizing that food can be art too was especially fun as we brainstormed our ideas about theme cakes and cakes for all kinds of occasions thanks to popular TV shows like Cake Boss and Cupcake Wars.  Fifth graders came up with some imaginative ideas about what makes the most delicious and unique cake, all while learning to manipulative watercolor paint by adding tints and shades.  Nice work!













September 11, 2012

 Students in fifth grade started the school year out with a very cool line and color study taking inspiration from ink blob monster artist Stephan Bucher at www.dailymonster.com.  This was a lesson I came upon from my good friend Mrs. Tannert over at www.suffieldart.blogspot.com, who I am pretty sure was inspired by a colleague of hers also.

Stephan Bucher opens up students imaginations like no other.  Art can be anything, anytime, anywhere… including starting with an ink blob.  Bucher has become well-known for his whacky and whimsical monster creations all starting from a blob of ink.   Students first blew their ink with a straw and after it dried viewed it from many directions to see its potential for becoming a monster.  Shape, line and color were all considered as students made their choices in creation.  I love they way they are all so individual and unique!





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