Kindergarten Secondary Shapes

So this past week, two of my three kindergarten classes finished up their Secondary Shapes project.   I run this project similar to my Primary Lines project and since I added the silver paper aspect this year, I decided to do the same and added a gold paper aspect this year as well!

Again, this project is ran as a two day project.  On the first day, we review the primary colors and see if everyone can remember how to make the secondary colors.  Color mixing with play dough is very powerful!  I'd say 80% of the kids remembered how to make the secondary colors from the beginning of the year...pretty good for kindergarten!  Then, we talk about shapes.  Right now I just touch on basic geometric shapes, like squares, circles, rectangles, and triangles.  I hang out a shape worksheet that has three of each shape on it and have the students trace the shapes and then draw the shape on their own.  Common Core Alert!: We also look at the word for each shape and figure out what letter it starts with and we make the sound of that letter.  Quite a few students then connect that letter with their name if their name has that letter in it.

While we wait for everyone to catch up, I have them turn their papers over and practice drawing any other shapes they may know how to draw, like hearts and stars.  The nice part about doing it this way is that if there are any students who don't have the motor skills to control a pencil well enough to draw a geometric shape, I can then explain to them about organic shapes!  It's a win-win! ;)

Also on the first day of this project, we then paint our shapes with tempera paint.  I used to do this project with watercolor paint, but since I am not happy with the washable watercolors I bought this year, I decided to go with tempera again and use it as a review of how to paint with tempera paint.  I think I will continue doing it this way...the kids have really got the hang of how to rinse off the brushes and use the paint.  I'll save watercolor for a different time.  

About half way through their work time, I then put my example up on the board and we talk about composition, in terms of filling up the entire piece of paper with painted shapes...not just paint small shapes in the middle.  Unfortunately, this led to quite a few students copying some of my painting aspects, but not too badly.

Would you believe that this is how all the tables looked after the kids were done cleaning???  And this is before we cleaned up!  I think using the tempera twice in a row really helped...I also think this just happens to be a more talented and conscientious group of kindergartners   Or maybe I'm delivering the idea of being neat painters a little bit better this year.  Who knows!  I'd like to say it's a combination of all three! 

Okay, on day two, the last day of this project, I had the students cut out shapes from secondary colored construction paper and gold paper.  I told them they had to cut out two shapes from each of the secondary colors and they could cut out as many as they wanted from the gold paper.  They did a really nice job with these!  Much better with shapes than with lines, I think.  After our next unit, we may have to revisit lines again with another project.

Anti-Bullying Projects

Well, tonight was parent teacher conferences night at our school...and boy oh boy was it a slow night!  We had early dismissal at 11:30 and then teachers had to be back from 3:30-7:30.  I think tonight was the poorest showing of people in my two years there so far!  

Either way, I was able to visit with about 10 new parents, of whom I snagged into my room to give them their student's Artsonia slips.  I was also able to catch up on my grading today AND put up all of those anti-bullying projects we did from the beginning of the year!  

6th Graders:  "Cougars are here to stay so bullies run away!"  

I'm missing a letter "A"...not sure where it went...my superintendent suggested taking the "A" from "are" to replace the "A" in "away" that is missing and then get rid of the "E"...I was a little shocked that she suggested that "texting grammar" but I guess I'll go with it since she suggested it! ;)

6th Graders:  "Bullies beware...the cougars are everywhere!"

If you can't tell already, our school mascot is a cougar!  For this project, I broke students up into groups and had them brainstorm anti-bullying slogans.  Then they picked their best one to write on the board and they voted on one.  A fellow teacher cut out all the letters for me on her Cricut.  Next time I do this project, I'm going to make sure the students color a little darker on the letters...some of them don't stand out very well against the brick.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last stanza from The Crayon Box That Talked.

K-1 Self-Portraits...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following are the slogans the 5th graders came up with.  They worked in groups of 3-4 to brainstorm and pick their favorite slogan.  Then we spent two days photographing objects for all our letters.  The photographs turned out really great!  I'm not to thrilled with the way some of them chose to display them, but I also didn't give them much guidance on that either so I guess beggars can't be choosers!  I've got a lot of positive praise about them from teachers already, so I guess I can live with them!

 Be a brother, help each other.

Don't stand by and let others cry.

Bully Free Zone in our EK home.

Bullies drool and cougars rule.

I actually really like this one!  This group really added some creativity to the presentation of their slogan.

Stomp Out Bullying

I have 7 more that need to be mounted on paper to be displayed...more pictures to come once they are finished!

4th Grade Value Cities

I touched on this project a post ago or two, but I've been asked to share the value worksheet I use in class with the kids.  My 4th graders learned about form vs. shape, and how to create the illusion of 3-D forms on paper.  The first class, I showed them a power point and we discussed the difference between the two.  Then, I did a quick demo on how to draw 3D cubes, cylindars, etc. (most already knew how from math class in 3rd grade).

The second class, I gave them the following value worksheet.

The value scale part is the front of the worksheet.  We first do the blending value scale together, talking about pencil pressure and how dark we shade.  Then, we flip over the sheet to look at various shading techniques.  I ask the students to do their second value scale using hatching or cross hatching, and give a quick demo.  Most of them really enjoy using stippling with a marker, so I have them do the third value scale with stippling.  You can see some of the finished value scales in my previous post here.

This is the back of the worksheet.  I can't take credit for it...I found it on the internet a few years ago but can't remember where I got it!  If this is yours please tell me so I can give credit where it is due!

On the third day of this unit, I give students the following worksheet to practice creating value on a form.  It's one thing for them to be able to shade in 8 squares, but it's another to figure out how to create a smooth transition between 8 values on a little space!  We talk about having a light source and what that means to our shading process.

Currently, I will be giving my students 3 days to work on their cities.  They've only had one day so far and are working on drawing them out.  Some are doing pretty well with the concept of 3D forms on paper, others are not...but the true test will come when they start shading!  That's the part I'm excited about!  At first, they moaned and groaned about the project, but once they saw how cool and realistic their drawings become when they start shading, they got really into it!  I was originally going to give them 2 days for the drawing, but if they are doing a good job and taking their time, I will extend it for them, which they seemed happy about!  

This group of 4th graders is actually one of my favorite grade levels to work with...there are some pretty talented students in this grade level...as well as students who are talented and just don't know it yet!  I always love being able to surprise them with their talent!

I borrowed this idea for this drawing project from Art is Basic.  Here is the rubric that I will be grading the students on as well.  More pictures to come in a week or so after they have finished up!