3rd grade Landacapes

One of my demos for 3rd grade before Covid-19 was about landscapes. We first watched the PBS Bob Ross Remix because I knew some of the kids liked Bob Ross and because I really appreciate some of his ideas like "this is your world, you're the creator, find freedom on the canvas."

I also just love the video. My husband seriously played the song for me a few times when I was in labor with my 3rd kid! I find it very relaxing. Students do too, high school students still ask me if we can listen to after I play it for them when we talk landscapes!

Next we looked at photos of landscapes and talked about foreground, middle ground, and background, the horizon line, and the element of space. Students who decided to make a landscape (I think all of them did) spent the rest of the first class period sketching out their ideas in pencil.

In the second class period, I demonstrated procedures for watercolor paint and for liquid tempera. We talked about the differences between the two mediums and then the students chose which they wanted to use. Most preferred tempera, but probably 1/3rd chose watercolor. 

Most students spent about 3 class periods on their landscapes, some longer. In the 3rd class, I talked about how to tell if your work is finished and showed how you can add other media like oil pastels or colored pencils on top of paintings if you want.

I really enjoyed seeing what students chose to put in their landscapes. A few represented a real place they had been but most chose to use their imaginations and to make a place they would like to visit.

Starting with Standards- 3rd Grade Special Place

I spent a lot of time over the summer going through and writing "I Can" statements for each of the new National Arts Standards so that I would be organized for the school year. I wasn't sure how often I would see the elementary classes since my schedule has one elementary slot a day but I knew at most it would be every other week. Right before school started I found out that my new district was going to try having some of the elementary art classes in quarters. This school year, I will see PreK and Kindergarten about 18 times, 1st and 2nd grade about 12 times, 5th and 6th grade about 9 times, and 3rd and 4th grade either 9 or 12 times. When you see the number of classes, it really makes you focus on what is most important to cover!

For 3rd grade, I decided to start with standard VA:Cr2.3.3- "Individually or collaboratively construct representations, diagrams, or maps of places that are part of everyday life", which my former art PLC and I had turned into "I can represent places from my life in artwork on my own or collaboratively."

The question I asked them on the first day of art class is "Where do artists get ideas?" We brainstormed a lot of ideas and I made sure they realized that ideas can come from the world around us. I told the students that I wanted them to focus on special places in their lives for the first project. I gave each student a planning sheet to help them think of ideas. Condensed version:

Name:_______________________

Special Place Planning Sheet

Brainstorm some places in your life that are special to you and list them below:

Circle one place that stands out the most.

What is special about the place?

What does it look like? Describe it using adjectives and specific details.

After students had planned their ideas, they were given paper and the option of using any drawing media or collage to complete their work. As students worked, I went around the room giving feedback and helping to solve problems. I just tried to help them figure out how to best carry out their ideas.





Some students made artwork about a place they went on vacation or for a special day with their family.

Some students made artwork about a place they compete like the softball field and rodeo below.

Some students realized that places might be special because of the people we spend time with there, like the student who represented baking cookies with her mom.

When the projects were finished, students were asked to write an artist statement about their work, which was kept pretty simple for their first artist statement- what's going on in your picture and why did you choose this place?

We packed a lot of standards in to this lesson but the students still had choices. With such a small number of class periods for some grades, starting with the standards really helped me focus. I'm always trying to find the right balance of hitting standards and empowering students to work like artists.

"I Can" statements for this lesson:

VA:Cr2.3.3

I can represent places from my life in artwork on my own or collaboratively.

VA:Cr2.2.3

I can use tools and materials safely for a variety of artistic processes.

VA:Cr3.1.3

I can add details to my artwork to enhance the meaning.

VA:Cr2.1.3

I can create artwork that I am proud of using different processes and materials.

VA:Pr5.1.3

I can prepare an artist statement.

Primary Weaving- Collaborative & Choice

I introduced a weaving concept to each grade at my primary school.

Kindergarten- Basic idea of weaving- over-under/ collaboration

1st Grade- Paper Weaving options

2nd Grade- Embellishing options for paper weaving

3rd Grade- Yarn weaving

Instead of asking each Kindergarten student to complete their own weaving project, I really just wanted them to understand what weaving is and to practice the over-under pattern. My first idea was to have each Kindergartener take a short break from their choice project to come to my table and practice weaving one strip in one of the large paper looms (12x18 inches) I'd cut for each class. After each student finished his/her strip, they wrote their name on one of the squares they'd created.

That proved to be a time consuming venture. After two days, a better idea came to me. After the introduction in my last Kindergarten classes, I sent students back to their tables where they worked with their groups to weave strips through 9x12 inch paper looms I'd precut. Not only was it faster, there was teamwork and problem solving. Only one student wove at a time, but they helped each other remember the pattern.

Other than in Kindergarten and 1st grade, weaving projects were optional for the students. Not all of the 2nd graders chose to weave paper, but I think all but a few 3rd graders did because they were SO excited about using yarn. I've found that the easiest looms for students to use are made from foam trays. The space between the suspended yarn and the bottom of the tray makes it easier for students than weaving on a flat surface. We displayed the yarn weaving projects by stapling the piece to a 6x9 inch piece of paper labeled with the student's  name.

Many students tried cutting different designs in the planning of their paper looms. The students who wanted a more traditional grid-like weaving used a precut 1 inch strip to trace the lines they would soon cut.

 Some 1st graders used their paper weavings as an interesting background for something else.

 Here are some 2nd grade projects exploring more ideas for embellishing weavings. From left to right, there is a weaving project with a handprint, weaving through painted paper, weaving through a marker drawing of tie-dye, and circles collaged on top with the letters of the student's name on top.

 Weaving projects with stamped paint on top.

More students want to do extra work outside of class on yarn weaving than on any other project. This student stuck to the rainbow pattern for the entire project. She worked on it in art class for a few weeks before taking scraps to finish it during recess.

Weaving has proven to be a very engaging project for my students over the last few years. Weaving is also one of the lowest cost projects. The looms were made either from meat trays I saved and sanitized at home or from recycled cardboard or mat board. I've also picked up 2 trash bags full of yarn at garage sales for under $5 total. It lasts a long time! I did buy some plastic weaving needles and though they were also very affordable, they are not necessary. Students can weave just using their fingers.

Over the summer I hope to try weaving a pouch. I've seem some lessons online but haven't yet had time to give it a go.

Do your students love weaving as much as mine?

Recycled Art Challenge (Continued)

In honor of Earth Day, my 2nd and 3rd grade students participated in a "Recycled Art Challenge" where they had 2 class periods and a ton of different "recycled" materials with which to make something. The project could be 2D or 3D, but most went 3D. We saw lots of collaboration and creativity. I already shared a few photos a few weeks ago (see here) but I wanted to share some more photos of the students' art as well as a list of their favorite materials (at the bottom of this post).

Above we have a pop monster and a collaborative Minnie and Mickey Mouse project. The pop monster (my term) was made of a pop can, 6 bottle caps, a bunch of pop tabs, curling ribbon, tissue paper, and cardboard. Mickey and Minnie were made by two friends. One student made each figure but they worked to make their sculptures match. They used paper towel tubes for the bodies and juice can lids (tons were donated) for the heads. The idea came to them after seeing the red and white polka dotted wrapping paper scraps I brought in. The bow was made from tissue paper and Mickey's shorts were made from scrap paper in the collage center.

There were probably 6 students working on the landscape theme. Some worked with partners and a couple worked individually. They used old file folders as a base and tissue paper, ribbon, can lids, and watercolor wells for the flowers and trees. The nest in the tree on the left was made from leftover shredded newspaper from the Bird Nest lesson I taught 4 years ago. Yes, that's a long time to keep shredded paper, but I bet some of you have held on to random supplies longer than that! :)

Here we have a textured collage and an alligator or crocodile, whichever does not show its teeth with a closed mouth. The alligator/crocodile was made from egg cartons, cardboard, tissue paper, and bottle caps.

 An art creature and glass of lemonade... The art creature has colored pencil stub legs and watercolor well eyes. The lemonade gets color from tissue paper.

One of my ASD students is kind of obsessed with computers. He was always asking if I had any computer magazines for collages and wanted to spend any time he could get away with talking about computers. I was not surprised when he whipped this laptop out for his project. He used a piece of drawing paper for the base, bubble wrap for the keyboard, and some foam packing sheets for the screen. He used cereal boxes to make the frame and buttons.

 Several students wanted to make rooms. The top left shows a folded paper base with magazine cut out pop-ups. The top right is a bathroom. I like the sink the best. He found one of those flattened blue marbles (my elementary school counselor called them dragon tears) for water and used watercolor wells for all the basins after constructing the walls from cardboard.

 Here's another room. The student would have added more details if she hadn't run out of time.

 I should have taken a photo of this project from another angle. She spent a lot of time wrapping the different parts in tissue paper. The stem is a paper towel tube and the leaf is cut cardboard.

 There were lots of "machine" models made. Lots of cars, tanks, cannons, etc. The student who made the above tank figured out how to make it "shoot" marker caps. When he pushes a new cap through, the front cap shoots out!

Here are my students' Top 10 Favorite Materials for the Recycled Art Challenge

1. Cardboard tubes (paper towel and toilet paper)
2. Egg cartons
3. Can lids (with smooth edges, of course)
4. Bottle caps
5. Pop tabs
6. Tissue paper (saved from holidays and birthdays)
7. Cardboard (saved from boxes)
8. Bubble wrap (saved from shipments)
9. Play-doh lids
10. Parts from old watercolor trays- the wells and the "ladders"

Another favorite material that was not exactly recycled, but was leftover from some project and donated, was burlap! We had it in blue, green, yellow, and red. It was really fun for them. I wish I would have thought to bring more fabric scraps from home.

Recycled Art Challenge

In honor of Earth Day, my 2nd and 3rd grade students participated in a "Recycled Art Challenge". We started by looking at this self-portrait gif on Tom Deininger's website and talking about why an artist would choose to make art out of trash. Next, we scrolled through some examples I'd collected on my Recycled Art Pinterest board. I had a buffet of materials from which they could choose- cardboard, toilet paper tubes, tissue paper I saved from gifts, bottle caps, and a variety of other items- and after explaining how the supplies were set up and that they'd have two class periods, the students set to work.

 The students worked REALLY hard on this project. I didn't see a single student slacking. There was a lot of collaboration, a lot of advice-giving, problem solving, creativity, and excitement. Several students finished and immediately asked if they could make another recycled project.

 This student wanted to make a park with trash to try to get people to pick up litter and recycle. She even used a glue stick cap as a trashcan and tied up trash inside a teeny tiny little bag.

 I used a hot glue gun to attach some things when students were having a hard time keeping it steady long enough to dry.

I loved this simple dog! The burlap scraps someone donated were very popular. The eyes are made out of watercolor wells.

This student also used watercolor wells to make the eyes and mouth. Instead of gluing them to the flat surface, he cut holes in the cardboard and poked them through.

I think this challenge will be repeated next year at my new school!
I posted this lesson in a bit more detail on the smARTteacher- check it out!

3rd Grade 2nd 9 Weeks

We're taking a break from choice-based art as my student teacher has different requirements for her student teaching experience so I thought it would be nice to look back at some examples of projects my 3rd graders were working on in the 2nd 9 weeks of school. I get excited when I can see the students using concepts we practiced on their own, like when we talked about showing "space" in artwork. The student above made a wax resist painting of a mama and baby horse with patterns, depth, and shadows.

Next, we have two more examples of depth. The flag has layers in the landscape behind and the second project uses depth to create the illusion of form. I don't remember the exact story, but I'm thinking it had something to do with Minecraft.

Students reflect on choice projects with artist statements. The forms work well for most students, but some get a little repetitive.

I made... I made a self portrait.

Something I want everyone to notice is... I made a self portrait. It's a picture of myself.

I have a different form for 4th-6th grade students, but I give them the choice of using the form or writing a paragraph. Some kids want specific questions to answer, others prefer to write with a looser prompt of "tell me about your artwork". The kids who choose to write a paragraph usually finish a lot faster than those following the form. I will probably keep tweaking the form to make sure they are being thorough but try to expedite the process. 

Here's a cool layered fantasy landscape with crayons and watercolors. Love that colorful dragon!

 I'm pretty sure this painting was inspired by Big Hero 6. This student really worked to improve his craftsmanship after our first critique.

 This student practiced using a delicate touch and a tiny paintbrush to add blades of grass around her bunny and flowers.

These two artists both love to make detailed pencil drawings and add color with crayons. Their art usually tells some sort of a story, either as a freeze frame or arrows to direct the action. One usually draws animals, the other often wants to draw Godzilla. I'm anxious to see what they create with my student teacher.