Photo Booth Frogs

I saw this photo circulating on Pinterest and it gave me an idea for our last 3rd grade project.  Their teachers asked if I could do a project about frogs with the students, so I thought this photo booth project would be a great way to review the life cycle of the frog!

This project took about three and a half days total.  At the end of our last project, students had to pair up and fill out this worksheet as best as possible (I found this through a google search).  I didn't grade it, only wanted to see what they could remember about the frog life cycle since they learned about it in 1st grade and had just started the unit in class.  I did alter this worksheet a tad bit by place plain white boxes over the words and printing it out for the students.  Then I made a version in the smart notebook program so I could just move the white box out of the way to show the answer when we reviewed the worksheet.


On the first full day, we measured out the boxes.  This was quite a challenge for some students, but very easy for others.  I took large drawing paper and cut it vertically into three strips.  First we measured a 1/2" border around the outside.  Then, we measured and marked at 3" and 3 1/2".  I showed students how to measure and mark on both sides and then connect the dots to make their perfect box.  Then, we relined up the ruler and marked again at 3" and 3 1/2".  If students measured correctly, they had five boxes at the finish.

On the 2nd and 3rd day, students drew and colored their frogs.  Students were allowed to make their frogs look realistic or cartoon-y, but most of which copied the frogs almost exactly from the worksheet.  At this point, we had just enough time to finish this project before the end of the year, so I didn't pull out examples of frogs for students to draw from. Students had to draw out each stage of the frog and then they were allowed to use either colored pencils or shade with drawing pencil.  I really like the black and white versions a lot.  I think if I do this next year, I will have the students do a value scale so they can get the feel of using different pressures on the pencil and then everyone will have to use drawing pencil.

Popsicle Stick Drawings

I've already shared one of my end-of-the-year staple Kindergarten projects, the rainbow cities, and here is the second!  I started this one my first year of teaching as the last project the kiddos do, and it has stuck.  I like to use it because by this point, the kids are crazy and excited about summer vacation and I'm often trying to get my room organized and get artwork passed back to students to take home.

On the first day, I give students about 15 minutes and a handful of Popsicle sticks.  They aren't allowed any glue yet.  We talk about using the sticks to make a skeleton of their drawing.  They can create a realistic picture (houses, people fences, etc.) or an abstract picture full of shapes and colors.  They get 15 minutes to rearrange the sticks and then when I approve their design, they get to glue the Popsicle sticks down.  (Also, they aren't allowed to stack the sticks tall on the paper.)

I think this Popsicle stick drawing was the most creative one this year!  First time I've had a student think about doing a rocket ship!  Love it!

On the second day, they finish their drawings.  We use markers to color the Popsicle sticks and crayons for the background.  A lot of the time, some of these are just random scribbles and leaning more towards the abstract side, but I can always tell which students are really into art, their composition and still willing to be creative and think about their project at the end of the year based on their designs!

6th Grade Aboriginal Sand Paintings

I had posted previously that the last unit in 6th grade was going to be an Indigenous Cultures unit.  We just BARELY finished!  One class completely finished their projects and the other class has one more art class this week to finish their sand paintings!  (Check out some samples of this project that I did with Studio Art when I did my student teaching.)

Students designed their sand paintings using one Australian animal and at least 3 Aboriginal symbols on 6"x 6" Masonite board.  We primed the board with gesso and then when dry, transferred the design on the board.  I had the students do one color of sand at a time.  They squeezed the glue onto the designs (and used a paintbrush to spread it if need be), sprinkled the sand on, dumped the extras onto a folded piece of tag board, and then dumped it back into the sand bottle.  They did the background last, and then glued on beans, split peas, etc. if wanted.

I was hoping to have enough time to get into a Dreamtime story or two, but we won't this year, however I still wanted to share the awesome website I found that deals with Aboriginal Dreamtime stories.  It's called Dust Echoes. There are video versions of each story on-line that you can watch, or you can print out the PDF study guide for each story.  The study guide contains the story with teacher notes on the side to explain what the story is about.  It has a page of classroom activities that can be done with the story, as well as student worksheets that have a variety of questions and activities.  Definitely take the time to check out this website...it is so worth it!