Shape Chain

This lesson is great because it covers so many elements of design -shape, line, color, form... We start off using pencil to draw different shapes starting at the bottom of the page all the way to the top. Each one needs to be touching in some way, as to create a chain connecting the bottom of the page to the top. Students then have the option to create holes/cut-outs in the shapes. They then draw in the shadows on the side of each letter and inside each hole. Students then go over all of their pencil lines with permanent marker and then create different line design in the background. Now they are ready to color in each shape using bright colored markers. By leaving the background in black and white and adding the shadow to the shapes, it really makes them pop!

The Dot

I love Peter Reynolds. We read the book The Dot and then created our own dot paintings. We began by using permanent markers (because you can't erase any mistakes this way). The kids drew a dot somewhere on the page and then just went with it. They filled their whole page and then painted it in with watercolors. This is a great lesson for helping students get over perfectionist anxieties:)

Read Across America!

As part of Read Across America, our school had a door decorating contest. We had to use Dr. Seuss characters. I had a lot of fun creating mine. Because of all of the focus on Dr. Seuss that week, I decided we had to do an art project that incorporated some of his work.

So, for a few classes, we looked at and discussed the fish in One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.We then created a background in the Dr's style using strips of bright colored tissue paper and then created our own fish, similar to the ones in the book. I showed them step-by-step how to make a swimming fish and a standing-up fish. They drew and colored them in using oil pastels. They were then cut out and glued to the background. This was a lot of fun and, as you'll see, the first graders were very proud of their work:)

Positive/ Negative Space Bouquet

After a PowerPoint on positive and negative space, my third graders began this project. I had them begin with an 8 1/2 x 11 white sheet of paper and a half sheet of back paper. They then cut a square out of the top of the back sheet and place it on the white paper right above where it was cut out of. They then drew a black vase in the newly-created white square and the flowers in the black square.

Complmentary Color Turn About

This project was used as part of a color unit for my 3rd graders. They each made theirs with their choice of a complimentary color pair. They also got practice with cutting multiple pieces of paper at the same time. I got the idea for this from this book.

O'Keefe Flowers

My unfinished example

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A student's work (just needs a background)

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After learning about Georgia O'keefe and looking at some of her work, our class made large flowers with oil pastels in O'keefe's style. This was a good practice with oil pastels. The kids really enjoyed blending the colors.

Line Leaves

This project is great for a lesson on line and it looks great when it's complete. Simply sketch out leaves in pencil and then go over the lines in marker without coloring the outline of the leaves. Erase the pencil and you're done! Encourage students to overlap some some of the leaves and fill the whole page.