Friday Favorites: 'Merica.

So turns out, having a baby takes up a lot of time. I haven't been able to keep up with the blogging as often as I'd like. But, time with Little French Fry is really important and I keep telling myself I'll get to blog when she naps (which lately is for 15-20 mins tops and seriously cuts down on the ability to do much, other than down a coffee cup). Thus, in an effort to blog more often, I'm going to aim to do Friday favorites as frequently (or infrequently) as I can. The posts may be shorter (and not necessarily sweeter), but without further ado, here goes Friday favorite number one.

Every year, my school celebrates our military children during Month of the Military Child.  I like to work on projects that tie into not only celebrating our patriotism, but also connect to my art curriculum.  This year's project involved the Fourth graders studying Peter Max's many versions of Lady Liberty and the Fifth graders working on some pretty rad op art flags.

The Fourth Grade Lady Libs were large tempera paintings (24" x 24") and we used matboard scraps to create the blended backgrounds (channeling our inner abstract expressionist).  Each student then added in text that summed up what the military means to them.

 

 

And my fab Fifth Graders used a limited color palette to create their own op art-inspired waving flag.

 

 Annnnnnnd that's all she wrote, because I hear a baby beckoning for me.  Happy Fourth of July!

The Magritte Goes On.

As Cher says, "the beat goes on," but in Art world that means la dee da dee da, the Magritte goes on.  Earlier (as in months ago), I shared the Surrealist projects my 3rd and 4th grades worked on here and here.

And now, due to a bazillion polar vortex days, slow and steady 5th graders, and a crazy art teacher who  has attention issues and skips around from one project to another without finishing the first project, we are FINALLY finished.  Phewwwwww.

This project seriously took us FOREVER.

I like to do a self portrait unit with every class every year, so that way they've got a permanent collection at home showing their growth as young artists.

My Fifth Graders created their portraits after a TON of planning and practice.  They started by completing the self portrait grid (after a teacher demo of course).

Exhibit A: proportional face grid that resembles a fencing mask...

Students also had to complete the Color Pencil Practice Worksheet and check both sheets with me before moving onto their final portrait paper.  I am embarrassed to admit that I have access to all these fancy schmancy tech tools, and then I still end up drawing the worksheet template with a sharpie.  LAME.

Self portraits were done with pencil, then sharpie, and then finally color pencils.

Students could select whatever fruit they wanted and then they attached them with string and a hole punch.  And what a variety of fruit faces we had!

My original plan was to glue down the fruit onto their little faces, but after all of that hard work, I felt awful covering up their fantastic faces.  I wonder how Magritte created his?  Do you think he painted his whole face and then added the apple on top or just partially painted his face?

I've got them hanging in one of our main hallways, so that whenever someone walks by, the breeze moves the fruit ever so slightly.

Now that's some interactive art!!!

Not gonna lie, after working on these, I have been majorly craving fruit and loaded my grocery cart up with all kinda varieties.  Fruit-tastic!

My Man, Magritte.

So, round 1 of the dress like a crazy commenced today...

Not quite doppelgangers, but I think we look pretty related, right?  Now, my outfit doesn't come close to my blog crush, but I do what I can sans sewing machine.  Hear that hubs?! My birfday will be here soooon.

Lemme tell you what, teaching with an apple in front of my face all day was tricky.  There were many a moment where I ended up rocking the backwards hat look, circa 1990.  Yeah, that's right Justin Bieber, you belong in the 90's.  

Or maybe just not in the United States circa any era, mmmkay?

We kicked off the lesson reading Dinner at Magritte's, which unfortunately is out of print, so track it down if you can!  The author/illustrator does a fabulous job taking inspiration from Magritte and Dali's work, both of whom are characters in the story.

Time Transfixed, 1938

We also looked at a LOT of Magritte's pieces.  My third graders couldn't get enough.  So many smarty arty students couldn't wait to contribute to our class discussion of his work.  When they found out that Time Transfixed was here in Chicago, you woulda thought I told them Bieber was visiting our Art Room.  I had FOUR different parents come up to me after school to tell me that their kiddos couldn't wait to check it out.  Yep, that's right kiddos, get off your sofas and put down your handheld electro boxes, and go look at some art!

Sixteenth of September, 1956

The Sixteenth of September was our piece de resistance and the whole inspiration behind our project.  

Check out the mini Magrittes in progress.  I will post the final products once they're finished...

Suminagashi and Sochi.

I wanted to try this whole suminagashi craze that's been all over Pinterest land.  Suminagashi is the ancient art of Japanese paper marbling.  It is the process of marbling plain paper with ink and water to change it into vibrant and colorful paper.  Delicate, swirled patterns are created on the paper when colors of ink are floated on the surface of the water.  Suminagashi can be traced back to Japan as early as the 12th century.

True suminagashi uses carageenan or powderized seaweed, which creates a booger-y substance.    But, when I was scrambling to pull together a lesson for my 5th graders on Monday morning after realizing they had already finished their current project (hate when that happens), I also realized I unfortunately do not have a back-up supply of seaweed. Now, this is what we in the teaching "biz" call a punt.  So, don your best cleats and kick away!

I grabbed a tub of chalk, a plastic knife, and filled one of the many metal lunchroom trays I have hoarded with a tiny bit of water.

We used the knife to gently scrape chalk dust into our metal trays.  I did not stir the water and if bits of chalk happened to fall into the tray, warn students to just leave it, as movement can disturb the water tension.

Gently set your paper on top of the water's surface for about 30 seconds and then pick it up.

I would recommend keeping a tray or tagboard next to the water trays so that you can immediately set your suminagashi paper down and prevent dripping.

I can't get enough of these beautiful colors.  They look so galactic!

Now, what to do with all these beautiful papers???  My students could probably have made these papers for the next few classes, but on day 2, we put 'em to use.

I found these cool Sochi Olympic pictograms on Pinterest and was thrilled.  We've started a unit on Keith Haring and these have a Haring vibe about them.

Students selected their top 3 Olympic sports and practiced drawing them before deciding on a final sport.

Figures and details were drawn, cut, and glued.

The student titled this one "I Believe I Can Fly."  Ohhhh, R. Kelly, you even influence the youth of America today.

This bobsled team is rocking some awesome Keith Haring-esque lines of motion.

I call this one "Nancy and Tonya."  The top figure just needs a metal baton in her hand...

I hope you are enjoying the Sochi Olympics as much as I am.  It's a nice way to unwind at the day's end!

Dia de los Muertos.

Been to World Market lately?  Or how 'bout Pinterest?  Dia de los Muertos and skeleton images are everywhere.  I love Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead as we call it here in the states. This traditional Mexican holiday is a celebration taking place October 31, November 1, and November 2.  The holiday focuses on families gathering together to remember loved ones who have passed away.  Celebrations involve music, costumes, ofrendas or private altars, calaveras de azucar (sugar skulls), marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed as gifts left on graves.  I think the holiday is such a neat idea and a wonderful way to remember those who have passed away.

I have a large population of students in my building who are enrolled in the district's dual language program.  Many of the students have familial connections to Mexico and still celebrate Dia de los Muertos here.  When I started my Art position a few years ago, I was so excited to learn more about this celebration as there are many inspiring art connections.

Here a few examples of projects and the texts I have used:

1) Marigolds of Dia de los Muertos with 2nd Grade

I read aloud Maria Molina and the Days of the Dead by Kathleen Krull.  Students and I analyzed each illustration of this wonderful text looking at the symbols of Dia de los Muertos.  I also brought in some marigolds in a pot and added a spotlight next to it, so that we could study the lights and darks created by the light.  Here are some of the 2nd graders' marvelous marigolds.  I LOVED this project and so did the kids.  But, be prepared for a whole lot of chalk EVERYWHERE.  Seriously, I was finding chalk remnants around my room for weeks afterwards.

In case you were wondering, YES, this is what a tired art teacher looks like at the day's end.
Lucky for you, I made a pit stop at the bathroom to remove the purple paint from my face pre-picture.  Don't ask.

 2) Calaveras de azúcar with 4th Grade

My 4th graders created these from clay.  We used acrylics and modge podge instead of glaze so that students could paint in details successfully.  Final gemstones were added for a bedazzled effect.

3) Calacas with 3rd Grade

Calacas are the skeleton images seen frequently during Dia de los Muertos, often on the skeleton puppets sold at the local markets.  We read Clatter Bash: A Day of the Dead Celebration.  Students practiced drawing a skeleton step by step while following a guided drawing of mine on the Promethean Board.  This lesson is a great tie-in with the PE teachers who do a unit on bones in our body at this time too!  After lots of practice, the next class students painted their skeleton pieces step by step using only black paint.  At our third art session, students cut out each piece, hole punched the pieces, and assembled them using brass fasteners.  I've done this project a few years in a row and always love how much personality each skellie has.

 

4) La Calavera Catrina with 5th Grade

The text used for this lesson is Day of the Dead by Linda Lowery.  This text is more of a factual description of the Mexican celebration.  For this particular project, we also studied the history behind "La Calavera Catrina," a skeletal woman made popular by the artist Jose Guadalupe Posada.  I put together a flipchart showing images of Catrina in works such as those by Diego Rivera.

This is just a portion of the mural Diego Rivera painted, which measures about 15 meters long.

The 5th graders used all recycled objects to create their own Calavera Catrina Dolls.

Dancing Catrina Dolls

Feliz día de los muertos to all and to all a good night!