Self Portraits
To go along with their study of the Renaissance, we created self portraits using proportions and chiaroscuro shading. For some, this was the first realistic self portraits the students had ever done.
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Minoan-Inspired MuralsThe sixth graders studied Minoan murals in art to go along with their study of Greek and Roman times. We talked about the similar characteristics and style of the murals, especially how the artists painted subjects that were important to their lives. The students made groups based on similar interests, and then painted murals about subjects important to their daily lives.
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Solar System Mixed Media
Imagine if we could all travel through the Solar System! 6th grade students created parts of the solar system using splatter tempera paint and chalk pastels. Can you tell what part of the solar system each student is in?
European Watercolor Landscapes
Students are learning about the various countries in Europe and geography. They have also learned about Non Fiction text features including captions. So, we talked about how to make a successful landscape in art (with the three parts: foreground, middle ground and background), and then the students painted a landscape from a country that they are studying. Can you tell what country is represented without reading the caption?
The Witches!
6th grade was reading The Witches by Roald Dahl, so we talked about the descriptive language that he uses so that you know what a witch looks like, and then the students created their own witch. We used construction paper for the bodies and toilet paper rolls for the faces.
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5th and 6th grade Finished Radon Posters!
Radon Poster Contest
Welcome to the start of a new school year! The 6th graders are starting out by making a poster for a nationwide contest about Radon. There is a preliminary statewide competition followed by a national competition sponsored by Kansas State University. Students have the opportunity to win prize money for themselves and for the school! Check the statewide contest information out here. Check the national contest information out here.
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Romanticism6th grade is about to start their unit on the Industrial Revolution. Artists during this time period reacted to all of the environmental change, and this movement was called Romanticism. A major part of Romanticism was a fascination with nature, which is what we focused on in art. When the weather was nice, classes went outside to draw the nature around us, and when the weather was uncooperative, we drew various plants indoors. The students are now using these skills to create a romantic landscape of their choice.
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Self Portraits
We started a self portrait unit, since the 6th graders are learning about the Renaissance in class. This week we drew blind contour drawings, talked about the proportions of the face, and started sketching out our self-portraits.
Stained Glass Windows
We learned about stained glass windows and each class created their own stained glass window installation in art. Stained glass windows reached their height in the Middle Ages, so it was the perfect time to talk about them since 6th grade was still studying that time period. Each student created a piece for the large window displays that are now hanging in Mrs. Call's and Mrs. Monson's windows!
Illuminated Letters
To go along with 6th grade's study of the Middle Ages, students created an illuminated letter that would go in a manuscript. Details were added to the letter, as well as to the border and around the letter, just like how scribes did it in Medieval times.
Minoan Murals
6th grade was learning about Greece, so we studied Minoan Murals in art. The Minoans really had a particular style with their murals, so we listed various characteristics, and applied those to modern-day murals that the students created in groups of 2-3. The Minoans painted about what was important to them in their daily life, so the students painted things that were important to them in this day. These large-scale murals sadly can't be painted on a wall, but we painted them on big pieces of paper that will then be attached to the wall.
Chinese Brush Painting Landscapes from the Chinese New Year Art Show
Chinese Brush Painting
We are having a school art show February 6-7 (during parent teacher conferences) and the theme of the art show is Chinese New Year! 6th grade learned about Chinese brush painting and practiced getting variety in their line with painting bamboo. The next week we used our skills to create a Chinese Brush Painting landscape for the art show, starting with black and then adding some elements of color.
Ceramic Mugs
Mr. Beckstrand led the 6th grade in creating mugs this week! The students were very excited to get their hands dirty in clay and take advantage of the opportunity for pure creation.
Illustrated Idioms
6th grade learned about idioms, and then illustrated the direct meanings of various idioms in art. They had to go through the artistic process (visually brainstorming at least 3 different ideas and deciding on medium choice) and are in the process of creating their final visual representation of their idiom. We looked at artists' versions of idioms, especially from a contemporary art exhibition of idioms that was created a couple years ago. Here is the website where you can look at the contemporary illustrations!
Egyptian Self Portraits
6th grade has started their Egypt unit! In art, we talked about the Egyptian style, especially their rules and symbols in portraiture. Specifically, we looked at the canon of proportions (the exact measurements a person had to be in art), color symbols, and the hierarchy of scale (the more important you are, the bigger you are!)
Each student then created a 19x11 grid (the grid all Egyptian people were created with) and created a self portrait in the Egyptian style (twisted perspective, etc.) They even used colors that had specific meanings to them and put symbols that described them.
Each student then created a 19x11 grid (the grid all Egyptian people were created with) and created a self portrait in the Egyptian style (twisted perspective, etc.) They even used colors that had specific meanings to them and put symbols that described them.
The Witches
6th grade is reading The Witches by Roald Dahl right now in class. Since Roald Dahl is so great at describing the witches in his book, we decided that we needed to create the witches. Students learned about upcycling and we then created our witches faces out of toilet paper rolls that we have been collecting. We squashed the rolls into faces, and then painted them according to how Dahl described the witches in his book. The next week we made bodies for our witches! They turned out pretty awesome, and just in time for the week of Halloween!
Sensory Imagery in Pastel
The 6th graders were able to finish their chalk pastel drawings of either a classical or action music piece before fall break this past week. They did a great job!
Sensory Imagery in Art
Sensory Imagery is the key phrase for art in the 6th grade. Since they have been focusing on sensory imagery and other literary tools, the art class has taken a different spin and talked about artists who also use sensory imagery. One that we focused on a lot was Wassily Kandinsky, who painted what music looked like. We then listened to music and created drawings of what that music looked like. The final product is going to be a chalk pastel drawing, so we also talked about using chalk pastels and some techniques involved.
Pocket Properties
The 6th graders have become cartographers in art class! Since they are learning about Geography in Social Studies, we have been doing a "Pocket Property Project" in art where the students design their own space like an island or country that include various geography elements through drawing a map. Some students have created fantasy lands, while others have gone a more traditional route. Through this assignment, we have also talked about Andrea Zittel, a contemporary installation artist who has created life-size pocket properties and even lived on them. To learn more about Andrea Zittel and her work, click on the button below. For the second week (Week of 9/10) we learned about the Hudson River School and how those paintings were "advertisements" for settling westward in America. Once students finished their maps, they created an advertisement for their pocket property, keeping in mind images as well as text.