Oil Pastel Turtle

Description: First, the students learned some new techniques with the oil pastels and got an opportunity to practice them. Some of them were; controlled scribbling, blending, and engraving with a paper clip. Then the teacher modeled all the steps of drawing the turtle and we followed along. We then had to add some geometric shapes to the inside of the shell. Once we had the whole turtle drawn, we had to color the whole thing using three of the oil pastel techniques we used. Then we outlined the whole turtle with our black oil pastel. Lastly, we cut our turtle out.

Extension Activity: For an extension activity, I would have the students make a whole oceanic scene with the oil pastels instead of just one big turtle. They would still have to use three of the oil pastel techniques. The scene could include anything you would find in or near the ocean. I think this would give the students a way to be creative and expand on a topic or idea. They then would mount it on a piece of construction paper.

3D Design

Description: The students first got with a partner or in a small group and put the other person in a position and then had to sketch it on our scratch paper like a stick person. That's how their artist they used did everything was very skinny. We then went to the front of the room with our group and made a group pose while the teacher took a picture. This was a good way to get our brain going and give us some ideas for what we wanted to do for our actual project. We then built our own person with a pose out of pipe cleaners. Next, we wrapped the entire figure in tin foil. Then we stuck the person into a foam block so it would stand up. Lastly, we had to come up with a story for our figure and write it on a notecard.

Extension Activity: For an extension activity, I would relate this project to Social Studies and have them create a significant figure like, a president, founding father, artist, etc. They would then still wrap the whole thing in tin foil, but they would have to give it some features whether its a hat, a belt, or a paint brush in its hand. They would then stick it in the foam block so it stands up. Next, they would right a story about their figure, why they chose to make them and why they are significant. Lastly, they would take turns sharing their figures and their stories with the people at their tables.

Clay

Description: We first learned about ancient people and how artifacts were so important to them. We then had to close our eyes and got a plastic bag and had to guess what was in it by just feeling with our hands. That relates to how architects find fossils and they may not know what it is at first by just seeing it and touching it. Then, we learned how to knead the clay, get the bubbles out, and build walls. Next, we had to practice those techniques and get our clay nice and soft. Once we had our clay soft, we could start practicing engraving or making imprints into the clay. When we had something engraved or an imprint we liked, we had to put our initials on the back and then cut it out into a shape we wanted. After we had our pennant cut out, we smoothed all the sides of the clay with water. Once we got everything finished up and had it the way we wanted it to look, we could start painting. Lastly, we poked a hole through the top of the pennant, put a little ring through it, and attached a string so they can be hung up or worn.

Extended Activity: For an extension activity, I would use this for a Mother's Day project for the kids. I would have them each make one for their mom/ guardian. Instead of having the students just pushing something on their to make an imprint on the clay, I would have them draw something that reminds them of their mom or something they think of when they think of her. This way it would have more meaning. Then the students could still paint them and then either make necklaces or make the string shorter for bracelets.

Eric Carle Craft

Description: The students started by listening to the book Brown Bear by Eric Carle. We then talked about primary colors: blue, yellow, and red, secondary colors: green, purple, and orange, and nouns: a person, place, or thing. Next, we took our 8.5*11 white piece of paper and had to choose one primary color to use. We had to draw at least eight things that were the primary color we choose. For example, I choose blue so, I drew blueberries, water,  a rain drop, etc. Then we had to choose a second primary color and write one more noun than the number of nouns that we drew, so if we drew eight, we had to write nine. For my second color, I choose red and some of the things I wrote were: cherries, strawberries, a stop sign, lipstick, etc. Next, we had to get in line and pick a baggy that had supplies with a secondary color on it along with an egg carton that was already cut and glued together for us. I picked the purple bear. We then had to color the whole egg carton the color that our baggy said with marker. Once we got it all covered in marker, we could start glueing on the eyes, paws, and ears. We could add a mouth and nose if we wanted to. Then we had to write on our notecard, "I see a purple bear staring at me." This would vary to which color and type of animal you had. Lastly, we glued our notecard and animal onto our white piece of paper that had our nouns on it.

Extension Activity: For an extension activity, I would connect it to science and have them do some research on the animal that they made. Instead of the sheet with the nouns being the backdrop for the animal, I would have them find some facts about their animal and write them on their piece of paper and we would use that. I would then have them share with the class three facts about their animals that they found most interesting.

Printmaking

Description: Students started by studying printmaking and some forms of it like, monoprinting which we did in class. We also learned about Andy Warhol and some of his printmaking projects such as, the Campbell's Tomato Soup Label and Mickey Mouse print that was life-size. Next, we sketched something that described us or that we liked onto sketch paper and then cut it out. I drew a cross because that signifies my faith and how important it is to me. We learned about the proper ways to roll the paint onto the gel pad and slowly peel off the paper. We had to have two textures, our sketch of our drawing, and another stencil that had to have two colors in it. Then we had to cut the four prints out and glue them on a piece of construction paper. We also had to attach an exit slip which included three facts that we learned about Andy Warhol.

Extension Activity: For an extension activity I would have them use shapes instead of stencils or sketches. This would be for younger students. This would give them an opportunity to practice their shapes and say what they are. I would have them paint the gel pad and then grab a shape that I call out and they would have to roll over it and then put it on a piece of paper, like it we did in our original project. Lastly, I would have them cut out all their shapes, glue them on a piece of construction paper, and label each shape.

Tree of Life

Description: We drew a Tree of Life on a black piece of construction paper. The tree had many swirls that come off of the trunk that signify the branches. We then painted it with metallic paint, I used gold. After that was dried we had to cut out pieces of scrapbooking paper that represented each member of our family. The box with the butterflies on it represents my mom, the box with the fish on it represents my dad; I painted silver angel wings beside his box because he passed away nine years ago. The polka dot circle represents myself and the circle with the fish represents my twin sister, which why I made our circles the same size.

Extension Activity: For an extension activity I would have them make the tree and then instead of using scrapbook paper to represent each family member, they would cut our a picture of each of their faces and glue it on the tree. Then I would have them think of a personality or hobby that signifies each of their family member and have them think of a way that they would display that on the tree using any media.

Georgia O'Keefe Flower

Description: We got a piece of white water color paper where we drew any flower we wanted, the bigger and more emphasis, the better. Once we had our flower drawn, we used several different water color techniques to paint it. I used blotting, drawing with the end of the paintbrush, resistance, and salt painting. The blotting is where you paint the spot you want and then blot it with either a paper towel or saran wrap. Drawing with the end of your paint brush is where you paint and then draw with the other end. Resistance is where you use oil pastels and then paint over it and the pastels resist through. Salt painting is where you paint and then pour salt over it and it looks as if the flower has real texture, that and blotting were my two favorite painting techniques. Once we were done with painting it, we glued it on a piece of colored construction paper.

Extension Activity: For an extension activity I would have them do a scavenger hunt. I would make a list of different types of flowers and their descriptions of what they look like. The students would have to go find them and then take a picture with their ipad of each flower and mark which one they think it is. This would give them a chance to learn about flowers and incorporate some biology into art. They would then pick their favorite flower that they found on the scavenger hunt and then draw it and water color it using some of the same water color techniques.

Peer Teaching- Line Landscapes

Description: For our drawing media, we chose to do a Line Landscapes Project. We went over Vincent Van Gogh and his paintings. We talked about where the horizon lines were in each painting and where each "ground" was. We discussed some vocabulary terms and how they related to this drawing project. Students got a piece of white water color paper. On that they drew a line landscape, where they needed a horizon line, at least 4 types of lines, an object/tree, and be able to differentiate between the foreground, middle ground, and background. We started by having them think of different sceneries they could possibly draw and then what kinds of trees and objects could go in those sceneries. We had them first draw a horizon line, whether it was arched, straight, or curvy. Then they drew a tree or an object such as, a barn, windmill, tractor, etc. Once they had their whole scenery drawn, they put lines everywhere possible from zig-zag to polka dots to diagonal lines. They had to have a minimum of at least 4 different types. As soon as they got all four of their lines drawn, they had to outline everything in their sharpie. One of the last steps was to water color their Line Landscape. We told them about proper painting techniques and also used this time as a lesson closing and again go over what we talked about and learned today. Lastly, they mounted their drawing on a piece of colored construction paper and filled out their rubric/ peer evaluation.

Extension Activity: For an extension activity for this project, I think I would have them do a creative writing assignment. I would have them imagine that they visited the place that they drew in their Line Landscape and they would have to be very detailed. They would have to include all senses like, what does it smell like, look like, feel like, sound like, and what does the food from around there taste like. They would have to write about the horizon line, foreground, middle ground, background, and what the trees and objects are like. They could also talk about any kind of lines they see, whether in a tree bark, on a shed, or on a cactus.

Van Gogh Silhouette

Description: In this project, we started with a black piece of construction paper where we glued various colors, sizes, and shapes of tissue paper on. We then went over the whole thing with a gel medium that when it dried it looked shiny. We then made patterns of movement all over the paper with all different colors of oil pastels. We had to be sure to use hard so the movements looked real and bold. Lastly, we made a silhouette of our choice on another black piece of construction paper and glued it on the bottom of the original construction paper. With this assignment we had to put a golden ticket with it that had three interesting facts on it that we learned about Vincent Van Gogh.

Extension Activity: I would have the students use a piece of black construction paper and instead of gluing on pieces of tissue paper I would have them glue on pictures of their family members. They could still go over the pictures with the gel medium. Also they could still do the movement patterns around and through the pictures. After they got done with that, I would have them write a short summary about each family member and what makes them special. Lastly, they would display their project with their summaries of their family members.

The Dot

Description: This project was called the Dot. The story behind it was; this kid was supposed to draw something in class and he couldn't draw. He sat there for a few days and after a while he just made a dot on his paper. The teacher couldn't believe how beautiful it was and told him to put his name on it. We used a coffee filter where we wrote our name on it and then used all types of medias to decorate it.  This will be a great way to show students that we are all unique and different in how we decorate our dot.

Extension Activity: For an extended activity, I would have students get in pairs of two with a partner and not show each other their dot they made. Each student would make a dot for their partner based on how they think their partner would make it, based on personality, attitude, etc. They then could discuss with each other why they put the things they did on each other's dot. This would be a good activity to do at the beginning of the school year to really get to know their partners.

Mrs. Preszler's 50 min Lesson

Description: During Mrs. Preszler's 50 minute elementary art lesson, we learned how to draw upside down, made glasses, and refreshed on our warm and cool colors. For our pre assessment, she gave us a sheet where we practiced upside drawing. Then she modeled for us how to make the red glasses that we used to look at our final projects. We then picked a picture that we wanted to draw to scale on the paper upside down with light blue, which is a cool color. We had to remember to draw the picture lightly. We then drew over the drawing with a pattern made up of warm colors, red, orange, and yellow. We then could look through our glasses and see the picture that we had drawn with our light blue. The glasses drew out the warm colors and we were able to see the cool color. We then put our drawing on a piece of paper with three facts about that animal. This way, when it is on display, the facts can help the people guess the animal before they use the glasses.

Extension Activity: For an extension activity, I would have the students write a short story about their safari animal they drew. They would have to be specific and use lots of adjectives. I would make sure they incorporated some of the elements of principle and design, like, rhythm, movement, pattern, color, value, etc. This writing would get the kids really engaged and excited about what they are writing about. I would be sure to tell them to make sure they also write about what they can see, smell, hear, touch, and feel, it's important to include the five senses. When they are done writing their story, they would share it with the class.

Elements of Principles and Designs

Definition of Assignment: For this assignment, we had to take a picture of something we thought was each one of the principles and designs. We had to be the photographer, so the students would know that they could take the pictures too. We then had to put our pictures along with the definition of each principle and design on either a powerpoint or prezi so we could present it to the class. When we were presenting ours to the class, we just focused on the pictures that we took. It was fun trying to think of what pictures I could take for each principle and design.

Extension Activity: For an extension activity, I would have the students go out and take pictures for each element and principle, but then I would also have them draw each one also. I think that we learn best when we are the ones doing the writing/drawing, so if they take the picture and then draw something that could fit for each principle and element, I think they would learn them really fast and not forget them. When they are done taking pictures and drawing, they would present the drawings and pictures together to the class.

Rhythm/ Movement, Color, Shape, Emphasis, Value

Foot Print Introduction

Description: For this Foot Print Introduction, we had to trace our foot or feet and then introduce ourself on it by putting objects or drawings that described who we are. We had to use a minimum of three mediums, construction paper, stickers, magazines, objects, markers, etc. The foot had to be smudge free and the edges had to be nicely trimmed. We also had to be sure the foot was equally balanced and definitely proportionate. The picture of my sister and mom- family is very important to me and I wouldn't be who I am today without them, the blocks and apple- my dream of becoming a future teacher, Philippians 4:13- my faith is also very important to me and this is my favorite verse, Folgers- I love coffee, Nick- I am an avid fan of the Bachelor and the Bachelorette, Angel Wings- in memory of my dad who I lost when I was twelve years old, heart- I am always happy and love everybody, and lastly the canning lid- I love to can in the fall as my grandma taught me how before she passed from cancer.

Extension Activity: I think the Foot Introductions are a great way for one to introduce themselves and have them share those things with the class. For my extension activity, I would send these instructions home with the students and have each one of their family members do a foot print. I think family time is taken for granted in some homes, so I think this would be a good way for the whole family to sit down and all do a foot print. For those who don't have the best family life, they could pick a teacher or principal and do the foot print activity with them to better understand them and know who they are. I really enjoyed doing this and I think this would be a great way for elementary kids to introduce themselves, the possibilities are endless.