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This is a project from the archives.  I used to teach a combined 5th/6th grade class until this year.  Every year, we made medieval paper mache figures.  The 5/6s studied the Medieval period in their social studies class.  We used newspaper and foil to create the armature of these figures.  Then, we applied paper mache over the body.  Model magic or air dry clay was used to make the heads.  Model magic actually works the best, in my opinion.  Clothes, … Read more… →

First, I want to give a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who follows my blog.  I appreciate your support in reading my blog, leaving comments, pinning images and sharing my posts.  Whenever I get a positive comment or email from a reader, it just MAKES MY DAY and makes all the time worthwhile.  Without this kind of feedback and support, I would not continue blogging! A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who bought resources during the TPT Best Year Ever … Read more… →

It's summer time!  This wrapped up my 10th year of teaching at my current school and 13 1/2 years teaching total.   The good news is that since I was so busy this year, I have a huge backlog of art projects to share with you.  I will probably write them all up this summer and then save some of them for the busy times next school year. Doodle patterns are always good for focus and concentration. This project is also … Read more… →

This project was a huge hit with my 5th/6th grade classes.  There's something about the feel of sand through your fingers that is soothing.  I'm telling you, every kid was very engaged.  I got applause after one of my demonstrations.  Applause!  When was the last time you had your class cheer and applaud after a demonstration? We used Sand-O Adhesive Boards and X-Acto knives to make our pictures.  First, we drew the design with pencil.  Then we carefully cut one … Read more… →

With all the fancy projects an art teacher can find on Pinterest, sometimes it's good to go back to the basics.  Simple drawing and painting of familiar subjects.  This week my students drew art manekins.  You could see much more concentration in the students than while doing other projects.  I was looking through the folders on my computer and found these animal watercolor paintings my students had made last year. For more watercolor lessons, check out these old posts: How … Read more… →

I have something to share with you that I've been working on for a long time.  Well, a couple of months.  It takes forever for me to accomplish anything lately (I have a clingy toddler who doesn't like to sleep) so I work in short spurts whenever I get a chance. Many of you probably know of Ian and Melissa from Apex High School.  They have developed a list of Artistic Behaviors for the high school level.  I have been … Read more… →

Here are some of the Artist Trading Cards my students made for the ATC swap that Nic Hahn is coordinating.  The students filled out a sheet for the back with information about their card. You can download this sheet for free at my TPT shop. Artist Trading Cards are mini works of art, sized at 2.5″ x 3.5″.  They can be traded, collected or given as gifts.  They can be about anything!  Some of the materials my students used were: … Read more… →

Today is Veteran's Day.  A day to remember our history and the people who fought for our freedom and safety. Every year my students create Veteran's Day posters that are displayed at the Senior Center for their Veteran's Day ceremony.  My fifth/sixth grade students go on a trip to the program and sing a few patriotic songs and participate in the ceremony. You can see some of the artwork made in year's past and read more about this lesson in … Read more… →

I read my 5th/6th grade class the book Beautiful Oops, which many art teachers are already familiar with.  It's a great message, but also the interactive parts are very inspiring and fun! We also looked at Barney Saltzberg's other book A Little Bit of Oomph.  Both of these books have parts that fold out, pop out, twist or turn! Here is a video from Workman Publishing about the oomph book.  You can see the pages of the book if you … Read more… →

Sand Painting

I did it!  I made my first sand painting.  After reviewing the book Ice Cream Work by Naoshi, I decided to try out the SUNAE sand painting technique.  You can read my whole review at this previous blog post. The book is very Japanese in style and reminds me of other Japanese cartoons and illustrations.  Her artwork is very colorful, fun and cute!  I really like her style.  You can see the book on Amazon (affiliate link) Ice Cream Work, … Read more… →

After looking at the art of contemporary artist Nicolas Lampert, my students combined two or more different objects or creatures to create hybrid drawings.   Here are the steps to this lesson: 1.  Start by discussing the machine animal collages and the machine insect collages by Nicolas Lampert.  Ask questions such as" How do you think Nicolas made these pictures? How do they make you feel? Why do you think he combined animals or insects with machines? How would these … Read more… →

Medieval Knight Sculptures

Near the end of the school year our 5th/6th grade students put on a Medieval Day for the entire school.  They researched and planned activities including dancing, food sampling, jousting, catapulting, exhibits and displays and of course, ART! My 5th/6th grade classes made paper mache knight sculptures starting with a newspaper armature.  They added Medieval clothes and weapons to accessorize.  Some of the materials we used were cardboard, wood, cloth, leather, raffia, doll hair, yarn and felt. One of my … Read more… →

Our silhouette mural is finished!  It went pretty quickly once we got started.   Each of the figures represents different subject areas at school.  Students in grades 4-6 did most of the painting and I had some students in 7-8 grade do touch-ups, edging and fine details.   I made a video slideshow of the steps we made to paint the mural to show for the whole school.  The school presentation has lots of photos of students in it.  I made … Read more… →

Our school librarian introduced this book to me and I think it is such a sweet story.  This book is called Emily's Blue Period by Cathleen Daly.  The illustrations are lovely. This is a story about Emily, whose parents are divorcing and now she has two homes.  She goes through her own "blue period" of sadness. Emily was learning about Pablo Picasso, his Blue Period and his collages in her art class.   Her art teacher asks the class to … Read more… →

Triangle Collage on Canvas for School Auction

Every year, my 5th/6th grade class carves rubber stamps with symbols they have designed.  This year, we stamped extra prints on tissue paper with acrylic paint to make collaborative artworks.  To stamp, simply use a foam brush to lightly paint acrylic paint on the stamp. Then, the tissue papers were decoupaged (with hard-finish Mod-Podge) on these fun triangular canvases called Squangles.  These are going to be put in our school auction at the end of the year.  We made three … Read more… →