|
Georgia O'Keefe FlowersThe First graders planted some flowers in March and they have been watching them grow and recording the process as part of their science unit. So, we talked about the most famous artist who painted flowers: Georgia O'Keefe! We especially discussed how she "zoomed in" on the flowers, so each student drew a zoomed in flower using oil pastels, and then we painted them using watercolors. They turned out beautiful!
|
Frottage
We talked about the color wheel in art, as well as frottage! Students chose various color schemes and created crayon rubbing artwork with the textures found around the art trailer.
Brushing Teeth
The students have been learning about dental hygiene in class. In art, we talked about different things you can do to take care of your teeth. The students drew some of their favorite foods to eat on a tooth shape, and then used white paint and a toothbrush to "brush their teeth!"
|
Dr. Seuss Fish!In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday, the first graders created their own Dr. Seuss-inspired fish! They drew and painted the,m, and then created a pattern background for them to swim on.
|
Jim Dine Hearts
In celebration of Valentines Day, we looked at Jim Dine's artwork and created our own, especially focusing on using similar colors for the inside and the outside so the heart would "blend in."
Snowmen at NightThe First graders read Snowmen at Night in class. We looked at the illustrations in art, and discussed what else snowmen might do at night. The students illustrated what they thought the snowmen might do, and added highlights and shadows based on where the moon was in their picture.
|
|
Caroling Self Portraits
In honor of their study of traditions during Christmastime, we drew and painted self portraits as carolers!
Christmas Lights
We talked about making interesting lines in art, and created Christmas lights using black markers and chalk pastels. The students used their fingers to smear the chalk out of the lines so it looked like the lights were glowing!
Change Over Time Desserts
|
The first graders drew their favorite desserts being eaten! They have been learning about sequencing in class, so we talked about our transitions of first, next, then and finally.
|
Paper Bag Season Trees
The first graders have been learning about the seasons and change over time. So we created bag tree sculptures in art using paper lunch bags and tissue paper.
Picasso Witches
The first graders learned about how Picasso created portraits of people showing many views at the same time! We looked at some of his paintings and decided that this method made things look a little bit weird or creepy. So, each student created a Halloween witch inspired by Picasso! They turned out awesome.
Narrative Illustrations
The first graders are starting to learn about narratives this week, so we talked about how illustration can also tell a story in art. The students then illustrated their favorite thing they did this summer as their personal narrative.
Animal Calligrams
Welcome to the start of a new school year! The 1st graders have started off art brushing up on their letters and imagination with calligrams. Students created animals using the letters that spelled that animals name. You can see some cool inspirations by going to the website Bembo's Zoo.
Finished Penguins!
Frottage and Coin Rubbings
To go along with the first graders' study of coins in math, we created some coin rubbings and talked about frottage in art! Frottage was first "coined" by Max Ernst, and is basically gathering different textures on paper to make art. Rubbings are a much older art form, and are used to make a purposeful copy of something, like a coin! The students got to make an artwork using frottage around the classroom, and then created coin rubbings using warm or cool colors.
Penguins!
First grade has been researching penguins in class, so we created our own penguins using clay! Student created pinch pots that they turned upside-down for the body, added a smaller pinch pot for the head, and other details using extra clay and their toothpicks. This week we will glaze them. Woohoo!
Dr. Suess Fish
In celebration of Dr. Suess' birthday, we created Dr. Suess-like fish in art. We first talked about different ways of representing fish in art, and looked at various examples of fish paintings. We finished by looking at the way that Dr. Suess represented fish, and created our own fish using bright colors, and making patterned backgrounds.
|
Measuring Sea CreaturesMany students have asked if we could learn how to draw animals that live in the ocean, so we read a book about different fish and sea-life, and compared the size of many of the creatures. The first graders were learning about measuring, so we tied in our sea creatures to measuring how big a shark is compared to a clown fish, etc.
|
Valentine Abstract Art
We learned about Abstract Art and created abstract Valentine art with crayons and watercolors for Valentines Day. Students looked at works by artists such as Piet Mondrian, Robert Delaunay, Wassily Kandisky and Fernand Leger, and we talked about whether or not abstract art was "good art." Students then drew lines and shapes with crayon, and then painted with watercolor on hearts and backgrounds. They all turned out so unique!
Change Over Time with Desserts!
The first graders were learning about change over time in class, so we looked at various artists who use those concepts in their art. One that we focused on was Claude Monet's Rouen Cathedral. We then talked about how our favorite dessert would change as we ate it, and each student drew a four-picture-sequence of eating their favorite dessert. We really tried hard to make the details stay the same in each picture, and just have the dessert change by eating it!
Fans from the Chinese New Year Art Show
Snowmen at NightWe read snowmen at night in art and learned how to make something look 3D using highlights and shadows. Each student decided what their snowmen would do at night and illustrated that using chalk pastel. They then added highlights and shadows based on where their moon was in the picture.
|
Chinese Fans
We are going to have a school art show! It will be February 6-7 (during parent teacher conferences) and the theme is Chinese New Year. Each grade is in the process of creating a chinese- themed artwork, and 1st grade is creating fans out of painted paper. First each student painted two pieces of paper using different symbols and colors that are important in Chinese culture (red to keep evil away and yellow for prosperity, etc.) The next week we folded and attached the two papers to create our Chinese fans!
|
Germs!1st grade has been learning about germs in class. So in art, we looked at real pictures of germs and talked about how we can avoid sharing germs, and especially about how we cannot see germs with just our eyes. Each student then drew lots of different germs on a white paper with white crayon...so you could not see the germs! We then used watercolor to paint over the germs, and then we could see them! This art technique is called wax resist.
|
Christmas lights
As a review of lines and letters, and also as a project for the spirit of the season, we created Christmas lights using different lines, and chalk pastel to make them glow. We started off class talking about different lines that can be made in art both looking at different art works as well as seeing how many lines we could create in 3 minutes. We also talked about the different lines that are used to make letters (and in the Chinese Immersion classes, we looked at Chinese characters as well!)
We then created a moving line across our page and lights to fill the strand. The students used chalk pastels to fill in the lights, giving them a glowing effect when smudged.
We then created a moving line across our page and lights to fill the strand. The students used chalk pastels to fill in the lights, giving them a glowing effect when smudged.
Tessellations
First grade is learning about 2D geometric shapes right now, especially squares, rectangles, triangles, and trapezoids. In art, we learned about tessellations, both in art and existing all around us. We also learned about M.C. Escher, a dutch artist who is very famous for his tessellations. Each first grader then created a tessellation using one of the 4 shapes they have been learning about. After filling their paper with shape, they used their knowledge of warm and cool colors to make a patterned color scheme.
|
Season TreesFirst grade was learning about the seasons this week. So we created season trees (particularly fall trees) using paper bags and tissue paper. They turned out to be really neat sculptures and the students had a lot of fun adding to their tree sculptures to celebrate fall.
|
Illustrated NarrativesFirst grade has been working on writing narratives in class. So, in art we learned about illustrations, especially what makes illustrations successful. Each student then used a narratives that they had previously written and illustrated each page, as well as made a cover page for their book. At the end of class, we shared our stories in our table groups. Everyone did a wonderful job!
|
|
Spooky Mosaics
In honor of our Halloween week, we created spooky mosaics! First we learned what mosaics were, and looked at some pictures of very old mosaics. Then students created spooky ghost mosaics using hole punches!
Picasso Witches
To get ready for Halloween next week, we created Picasso-inspired witches in 1st grade art. Students learned about how Picasso painted people from multiple views at the same time, and then created paper witches using 2 different views of a face. They turned out awesome!
|
Similar and Different Pop ArtWeek of 10/15 - 1st grade was learning about similarities and differences in their classes, so we looked at Andy Warhol's screen prints of Queen Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe and talked about how he made them, and the similarities and differences between the many prints. Then students got to create pop art using their faces and try to make them have similarities and differences with their various color choices.
|
Leaf Rubbings
The first graders have been doing leaf rubbings in art just in time for Fall! In the spirit of learning about things that are similar and different, we focused on using both color and the shapes of the leaves to create rubbings that were similar and different. With color, we learned about warm and cool colors, and then tried to create one paper with warm colors, and one with cool. They were terrific!
Oceans with Watercolor
In a two-part project for Columbus Day, the first graders learned about watercolor techniques and created an ocean that we will create boats for. The students really got into the paint and did a great job! The next time we learned about origami and made Columbus' three boats, the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria out of origami. The students were then able to decorate their boats and put them on their oceans!
Eric Carle Illustrations
Week of 9/17 - We began talking about illustrations this week, which will eventually lead to each first grader illustrating their own personal narrative. However, this week we read "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, said the Sloth" in art, and then learned about how illustrators create their illustrations. We especially focused on Eric Carle, and each student created an illustration for the last sentence of the book: "I like to do things slowly, slowly, slowly" using the method of collage.
Narrative Comics
Week of 9/10- The first graders have started to learn about writing narratives in their classrooms, so we started working on art that related to narratives this week. This first lesson, we talked about different types of art that could be narrative (illustrations, paintings, graphic novels, comics) and then they created comics that told a story about their hero.
Calligrams
For our second time in art, we learned how to make art using letters in the alphabet! We looked at examples of calligrams, both using arabic (where calligrams started) and using letters from the alphabet that we recognize. We also watched calligrams be made on a fun website called Bembo's Zoo. I would encourage you to check it out at home as well! Just click on the picture below and it will take you to the website. Students then had the opportunity to make their own animals out of letters. We practiced with making animals out of any letters, and then tried to make some animals out of the letters that they are spelled with. Those first graders were smart cookies!