Show me the Symmetry!

Before Greg Percy visited, I made a point to use one of his songs with each grade level. 4th graders listened to the song about symmetry (I think it's called "I'm Beside Myself" but I don't have the CD with me to check.) The songs covers two kinds of symmetry- bilateral and rotational. The 4th graders were excited to tell me that they had just been reviewing symmetry in math class so I guess the timing was good! After the song and a PowerPoint I made with images for both kinds of symmetry, the students' assignment was to "show me the symmetry!" They could make anything they wanted as long as it somehow showed a type of symmetry. The overall composition could have been symmetrical or the object the drew could have been symmetrical.

We all know that student combinations can lead to classes with very different personalities... three out of my five 4th grade classes were excited, got ideas right away and jumped right into their projects. I encouraged them to play with some geometric shape tiles I inherited if they were stuck on coming up with an idea. Two classes needed a little more guidance to get started. I showed them how they could fold a paper in half, draw a shape on one side starting from the fold, cut, and open to have a symmetrical shape to turn into something. I showed the same concept but with their name forming the shape and that was a popular option. 

 Some students stuck to formal compositions made entirely out of geometric shapes while others figured out how to represent something that's important to them... like Dr.Who!

5th grade Venn Diagram Projects

 This project is similar to the 4th grade Description lesson I posted a couple days ago. Instead of using descriptors of one piece of Art for their inspiration, the students compared 2 different works, then drew their inspiration from the similarities. The students did not know what they would be using the Venn Diagram for in the beginning. I thought it would get too complicated if they knew ahead of time. I just encouraged the students to choose different artwork than their friends. 

As far as the similarities go, I didn't tell them a minimum number of similarities they had to use and the similarities could have been anything from a symmetrical composition to a certain color scheme or type of shape. The first class period was for filling out the Venn Diagram and then planning their idea, and getting it approved by me. The next 2 class periods were spent completing their work.

I REALLY wish this student hadn't missed a class period because I would have LOVED to see this finished. One of her inspiration pieces was an Aboriginal print my friends brought me from Australia.

Once again, prints featuring geometric shapes and patterns were popular. I think these 2 students chose an Op Art painting and an Amish Quilt to compare.

One of the artworks this student described was by Remedios Varo.

ATC Swap with Mrs.Knight's Smartest Artists

A while back (like, way back I just can't remember when) I saw a post on Mrs.Knight's Smartest Artists looking for schools to swap ATCs with. I love ATCs and my students do, too, so I jumped at the chance and emailed her. My 3rd and 4th grade students made Fall or Sunflower themed Artist Trading Cards to send to 3rd and 4th grade students in Georgia. They were pumped to be sending something to students in another state.  Each student created a series of 3 ATCs- 1 to keep, 1 to trade with a student in their class, and 1 to send to Georgia. I encouraged them to send their best card to Mrs.Knight's students, something they would be excited to receive. The students got to choose and use several techniques including regular drawing with crayons or markers, collage, wax resist, or regular watercolor. Here are some results!  

I thought this was cute.

"This is a pumpkin and it is orange and it is going to gorgia. From Giavonni."

I wanted to put the work on Artsonia but not photograph 3 times as many projects as usual. To solve the problem, I took a piece of white paper big enough for 3 cards to fit on top, arranged their series of ATCs on top, and only took one photograph.

Here are the super cool cards we got in return! 

Thank you, Hope!