Elementary Students Pastel and Watercolor Musical Instruments

School ended a few weeks ago so I'm late posting this but I figure better late than never.  

I make an effort to connect my art lessons to the learning objectives of each grade level.  The sixth graders theme was music.  After some thought I decided to use musical instruments as my tie in. We began the first session of the unit with a review of the elements and principles of art and then looked at artwork that included musical instruments.   We discussed the elements of art and the art media used in each example.  

The second week the students practiced drawing instruments from photographs and then created a final design focusing on one or two of the art elements.  By the third week most were ready to start their final project. After a necessarily brief demonstration on how to use pastels and watercolors the students were allowed to choose the media that best suited their design. 

The entire project took 4 one hour sessions.  The end result was a fabulous mix of colorful, abstract designs.  I was very impressed with the variety and creativity of the final projects.

Slideshow Overview of My Earl Warren Elementary Student's Artwork 2012

Here's a slideshow overview of the projects my Earl Warren Elementary School students just finished.  Each classroom received 4 lessons.  The classes ranged from Kindergarten to Sixth grade.  Take a few minutes and check it out.  They did some awesome work.  I am so proud of them!

Kindergarten: Colorful Watercolor Fish

The Kindergarteners were learning about the sea so I decided to do a lesson on fish.  We spent two lessons learning about color and line before working on our fish project.

On the first day of the fish project we looked at pictures of different kinds of fish then had a discussion. What does a fish look like?  How are they the same? How are they different? What shapes and colors can they be?  I modeled how to draw a basic fish to help them understand the parts and placement of the fins, tail etc...but encouraged each student to create their own fish by changing the shape and size of the parts.  I also encouraged them to make their fish LARGE.  Next we talked about what they could add to create an environment for their fish.

After they finished their practice drawings I passed out watercolor paper and they either redrew their fish or created a new one on the watercolor paper.  When they finished their drawings they went to a "gluing station"  to trace their pencil lines with black glue.  The project was left to dry until the following week.

The  students used watercolor pencils activated with water to add color to everything but the blue background which was a tempera paint wash applied at the very end of class.

 

Last Day at Kemble Elementary

It's been a busy couple of weeks.  Thursday was my last day of teaching at Kemble Elementary, at least for this school year.  Hopefully I will be returning next spring.  Other than Earl Warren I don't know what I'll be doing or where I'll be when school starts again.  The life of a contracted teaching artist is somewhat nomadic.  We go where the opportunities are.  Unfortunately when budgets dry up the opportunities go too.  I had a very enjoyable experience at Earl Warren and look forward to working with the students and teachers again.  Now that my schedule has calmed down I have the time to post some of the our projects.

K-6 Jim Dine Inspired Hearts

 

My K-6 students have been learning about different media and techniques.  They created a series of four hearts inspired by the artwork of Jim Dine.  The focus of the first heart was contrast and patterning using a black sharpie pen on white card stock.  For the second heart the students used water color pencils to create patterns and then activated the pencils with water.   For the third heart they used oil pastels on black paper to create dramatic designs.  The fourth and final heart of the series was created using paper collage techniques.

Watercolor pencil

Oil Pastel on Black

Oil Pastel On Black

Watercolor Pencil

Four Heart Series 1

Four Heart Series 2

Four Heart Series 3

Fourth Grade Geometric Collage

This project was a continuation of a unit on Geometry.  The students were given pre-cut circles, squares and rectangles.  The shapes were black, white and greys so we could focus on value and contrast.  The students were encouraged to use their imaginations to create works of art using only these shapes.