Endangered Species Prints

This was a popular lesson with my 7th graders. They learned about Andy Warhol's Endangered Species prints and researched the Endangered Species Act before choosing a species that is currently threatened or endangered to focus their artwork. 

I uploaded the lesson plan and all the resources on the smARTteacher!

We used polyfoam plates and students engraved their designs with a wood stylus. They tried out printing with markers and with relief ink.

To print with markers, color directly on the foam plate, wet your drawing paper with a damp sponge, then place the paper damp side down on top of the plate and rub the back to transfer the image.

Next, the students used relief ink. They could do one color or multiple. The students got really in to printmaking! Some that finished their first prints early and became the class experts, helping others. They wanted to do printmaking the rest of the year!

The last part of the assignment was to create a display that had a photo of and facts about their animal, an artist statement, and their best print.

7th Grade Weather Data Visualization

This unit was super fun and one that I would definitely do again! This spring I needed to structure my middle school classes a lot differently due to seeing the students every other day so I was basically coming up with all new lessons. I found out that they were going to be doing a weather unit in science and after a workshop on data visualization at the Virtual NAEA Convention it all came together!

We started by watching the Art Made of Storms TED Talk by artist Nathalie Miebach and discussed how she turned different points of data into visual elements. The students brainstormed and selected two different pieces of weather-related data they could collect based on their observations of our weather over the month of April. I gave them a few minutes at the beginning of each class to track their data.

In May, the students explored more artists whose work visualizes data and came up with a plan for a work of art. Their artwork was only limited to available materials in the classroom or from home. It was really fun to see all the different solutions

This student tracked the temperature and her mood

 then made the piece below.

This student used the transparency of the paint to express one of her data points.

The color of each ring on the shirt represents the temperature range.

 

Mixed Media & Digital Postage Stamp Artwork

Here's another lesson that is planned for half hands-on in my classroom and half computer-based when the students were in another room. This would work for a hybrid situation!

The students all got the same basic information to start with- the history of postage stamps and videos about the art and design of stamps. 

Next, the students in my classroom chose one or more vintage postage stamps and came up with an idea for how to incorporate them into a work of art! Any two-dimensional media was allowed and a lot of students tried new processes. Some also incorporated vintage photos that I saved from a dumpster.

Here are some photos of the hands-on artwork!

Here is some of the digital artwork:

Non-Traditional Mosaic 2 Ways

In the spring semester, I had too many 7th graders to fit in my room and follow Covid protocols. The solution was to divide them into two groups and they would switch every other day between my room and another teacher with a free period's classroom. I had the choice of synchronous or asynchronous and decided that I would rather do asynchronous than try to teach on zoom and in my classroom at the same time. I tried to design a digital project for the group in the other classroom that would coordinate with what was happening in the art room. We weren't able to get as much choice as a normal semester but I think it was the best solution given the circumstances.

This is one example from 7th grade art! The digital project was a Google Drawing mosaic and the project in my room was a paint chip mosaic collage. Below are some of the digital mosaic artworks:

This also reminds me I need to send pictures to the local farm and home that donated all the paint chips! I saw an old display and asked if they were getting rid of it. They gave me a whole bag full of outdated chips!

The mosaic collages proved to be a challenge for some students mainly with time management. Some didn't quite pay attention to the size suggestion and cut their paint chips too small or chose an image that was too detailed. The students who put in the effort to finish did an awesome job.

Students could choose any color background that would show through as the "grout". I tried to use rail board or something sturdy when we could.

7th Grade Art of Conservation

Every year my 7th grade class, which runs second semester, makes artwork for either the Jr Duck Stamp Program or the State Fish Art Contest. Both programs teach about conservation through art and pull in a lot of science. We are able to cover a lot of drawing skills as well and it tends to build confidence so I love starting with it. 

On the first day of the unit, I ask students to draw a duck/goose or a fish and I don’t give much more instruction than that. I tell students it is their pre-assessment so I don’t offer any help or advice other than “do your best”. It’s so much fun to look at the before and after for each student at the end of the unit. It’s not usually the same animal but you can still see so much growth!

Here are the finished artworks from last January! The situation will be a little different this year but I'm going to figure out how to make it work.

This drawing placed in the State Fish Art Contest last year!