WANTED

This year's Right To Read Week theme was The Wild West.  I incorportated this theme into my lesson plans as well as my wardrobe and music playlist for the week.  For this project I taught the kids about the purpose of WANTED posters in the west, then I taught them face proportion.  Every student was required to put a cowboy hat on their head and I taught the girls how to draw braids and the boys LOVED drawing mustaches, sideburns and stubble.  I then explained to them that they had to make their WANTED poster into something funny/legal/appropriate.  We got some very cute one ones.  Check them out!

Georgia On My Mind

         Portrait of Georgia O'Keefe                                                                   

In Fourth Grade we just finished a project on the famous American Female artist Georgia O'Keefe.  We connected this lesson to science as we discussed the flower works of O'Keefe and the different parts of flowers.  The we read a short bio on her, talked about her move from NYC to New Mexico and how perspective can change something.  I gave the students each a large piece of paper about 2 feet by 2 feet.  They were challenged to draw LARGE as Georgia did.  I kept telling them to SUPER SIZE it.  This was much harder for them than you would imagine.  We then colored them in with crayon, painted over in water color and sprinkled a little salt on the water color a different effect.  They kids liked these so much they took them home for mother's day.  I gave each student the option to bring something else in "natural".  I had a few kids bring in fruit and one artist bring in a peacock feather.

                                                                                                        Sunflower by Erica

                                                          peacock feather by Bailey

Blue Dog

Curtis and I went to New Orleans in December of 2002.  Blue Dog was a celebrity all over town.  George Rodrigue's Gallery is right in the French Quarter and you cannot go to this city without seeing his famous canine.  Since then, I have collected Blue Dog stuff, had a painting of him in my classroom on the wall and love to see what kids think about Blue Dog Paintings.  Recently I had my fifth graders choose between the Mona Lisa, American Gothic, Scream or Blue Dog, to study, and change.  Here are some fantastic examples!  I also just submitted them to Rodrigue's student gallery so keep your fingers crossed we get published!  Check it out:  http://www.georgerodriguefoundation.org/education

These are by: Laney, Hannah, Emma, and McKenzie

Van Gogh Sunflowers

 

My 1st grade students just completed this Van Gogh inspired masterpiece.  We watched a short video on the life an work of Vincent and they love the extra info about the "ear cutting" incident.  We then talk about sunflowers, look at the painting and paint our own.  On the last day of the project we cut burlap out for the middles and spend the day eating seeds and gluing them on the picture for some added flare. They all turn out beautiful. 

An Ode to Liz----Lady Bugs in the Grass

My first year teaching at Milford Main Middle School I was blessed to share a room with an elementary art teacher who taught in the district.  Liz Copfer (Beck) was my mentor for that year and became my friend.  What a gift to have an experienced art teacher to share ideas with during that hard first year. 

Before I started teaching I had had Liz's mother Margaret (who is the guru of all art teachers in the Cincinnati area), as my art education professor at Xavier in college.  Margaret made me more excited about my profession than I had ever been.  Liz had learned from the best.  Well, I had the opportunity reap the knowledge of both Copfer ladies. 

After my first year at the middle school I was to then go to Pattison to teach elementary school.  Liz copied every one of her lesson plans for me, invited me to a day in her classroom, and made a picture album of every project she did and gave it to me.  This was an amazing thing to receive.  She also gave me countless tips on teaching, words to use, and classroom management ideas.  Some of my best lesson plans I owe to Liz.  I look around my classroom, hear myself say "the fold is our friend", or refer to a scissors as an "alligator" and think of Liz all of the time.  Thank you Liz, you were such a gift to me, as I was your student too! 

Here is the lesson I start every year out with given to me by Liz.  It teaches the first graders how to cut, glue, and follow directions. 

Lady Bugs in the Grass

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.

1st Grade:

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
that wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed the fly.
I guess she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a bird.
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
that wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed the fly.
I guess she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a cat.
Imagine that, she swallowed a cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
that wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed the fly.
I guess she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a dog.
My what a hog, to swallow a dog.
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat.
She swallowed the cat, to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
that wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed the fly.
I guess she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a cow.
I don't know how she swallowed a cow.
She swallowed the cow to catch the dog.
She swallowed the dog, to catch the cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
that wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed the fly
I guess she'll die.

I know an old lady who swallowed a horse...

She's dead of course!

Andy Warhol "POP ART"

I guess I teach the most about the artists I love, because Andy too is one of my favorites.  The forerunner of POP ART and his iconic Marilyn and Campbell's soup can prints cannot be beat.  Andy was an individual and that's why I admire him most.  He was unique, creative, and fun.  I take Warhol's work and explain to the students what POP means.  Why we call it POP music and POP art too.  Instead of drawing soup cans, we draw POP Cans  Each student is allowed to bring a can of pop for the class and "drink and draw".  They draw one can and I then copy it four times for them on the copy machine, "a modern day way to print make."  They they color in one can in the traditional can colors and in the spirit of Warhol change the colors of the other three.  We then cut up the pop can and they staple on the pieces along with pop taps for a great frame.  Here are some great pics!  Also below the pics is a link if you would like to know more about Andy Warhol. 

http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95aug/warhol.html