Cool Snowflakes

Students in grades 4-6 created these cool colored snowflakes. We began by looking at snowflake designs and creating a similar design on a small triangle. These were then traced on the back and transferred onto a larger paper to create a "snowflake." This design was then colored with cool colors- various shades of blue, green and violet. A great winter project that teaches the math concept of radial symmetry along with balance and color theory!

Sunflowers in SchoolArts

The February issue of SchoolArts magazine is out and features my ClipCard for the PreK/Kinder project Sunflowers. This is a great project to introduce students to the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh and ties in nicely with the science curriculum.

View an online version of the magazine or order copies here: http://www.davisart.com/portal/schoolarts/sadefault.aspx

Polar Bears

 

These polar bears were created by Montessori students in grades 1-3. We began by painting a wavy line pattern with the cool colors blue and violet. Next, students watched a video to learn about polar bears and their young. We cut paper and made the polar bears almost entirely from circles and half circles. The final touch was some stamped snowflakes in the background made from cut cardboard and straws. This was a great project for the winter months and taught students about patterns, colors and shapes!

Elmer

Elmer is a wonderful children's story about appreciating people's differences. I enjoy teaching this lesson to PreK and Kinder classes and the kids love the story. Elmer discovers that when he tries to change his appearance in order to 'blend in' with the other elephants, they no longer recognize him, or accept him as one of their own. This makes Elmer sad, and he experiences how it feels to be treated like an outcast, after being ostracized by his old friends. It's only when it begins to rain, and the grey paint that Elmer has covered himself with starts to disappear, that Elmer's 'true color's are revealed, much to the surprise and delight of his friends, who preferred his multicolored and fun loving persona. Following their happy reunion, the elephants reassure Elmer that they love him because of his differences, and not in spite of them, and they celebrate by painting themselves in multi-colored paint, in recognition of Elmer's unique appearance and personality.

We began by using a glue and water mixture and brushing it over squares of tissue paper to attach it to a white paper. During the next class, we drew an elephant shape on the back of that paper and cut it out to create the Elmer. All you need to add is an eye and an ear with black crayon or marker. We glued our elephants onto a torn paper background of palm trees.