4th Grade Calder Inspired Circus Sculptures- 2nd batch!

This year my elementary school chose a circus theme and I started the school year off with circus themed projects to ease into things. I have most of my elementary classes for a whole semester but 4th graders switched for 2nd quarter. I decided since the first group enjoyed the process so much, I would repeat it with the 2nd group, and I'm SO glad I did. The kids blew it out of the water! They were so engaged and wanted to keep collaborating and adding cool features that it ended up taking the bulk of their art classes. Having class on Friday left them short 2 classes due to Thanksgiving break and Christmas break starting this Friday, but I'd rather have them do a really good job on a couple projects than be rushed through more.

We started pretty much the same way- talking about Alexander Calder's work and watching part of one of his circus performances- I didn't have time to read the book "Sandy's Circus" to the students this time but it is a great book that they enjoyed! I borrowed it from my local library but you can find a read aloud video online or order from Amazon.

If you order from my link I may recieve a small commission at no extra cost to you.

After the video, I showed students the tubs of objects available for them to use. We had pipe cleaners for wire, fabric scraps, yarn, beads, buttons, gems, cardboard, and all the scraps found in the collage center and recycling bin.

This was a collaboration between 2 girls- there is a horse rider in the front and trapeze artist hanging in the back.

One of the students made Dumbo complete a feather!

Bird Man

 

This is the group that discovered the recycling bin

When one group discovered the recycling bin, they maybe went a little overboard. In the next class we talked about transforming objects so that people could understand the new purpose. This group created a tank with someone holding their breath, turned a plastic cup into a stand for the spotlight and operator, made a packing material into a nest for Bird Man, and used a pop can as his perch.

Details of the circus performers

This group became very adept at creating little performers. They would get everything formed and just ask me to hit it with hot glue. I felt more comfortable being the hot glue gun operator. I stationed myself where I could supervise everyone and they just brought pieces to me to glue.

If you have a lot of random "craft" items or found objects taking up cabinet space, this project would be a great way to use some up in a creative way. If you ever want to do wire sculptures with your younger students but don't have the materials to do it safely, pipe cleaners can be an easy substitute!

First Day of School Collaborative Artwork

Here is the large mural displayed above some lockers.

I teach in a really small school where everyone pretty much already knows everyone so instead of a getting to know you activity, I like to start the year with some type of collaborative project. This helps us get some artwork up in the blank hallways quickly, gives the students a chance to interact and helps establish a positive classroom culture. Do you have lots of students switching classes in the first couple days of school? This helps with that issue as well. There were no abandoned projects because of students changing classes.

Here's my room before I moved tables to hold the in-progress murals.

Our StuCo picked "Nobody rides this ship. We all row. We're all in." for a theme for the year so I drew the biggest “mural” out ahead of time based on that saying and had it stretched across 3 tables in the art room. Each class painted and we finished it before the end of the day. The students planned the colors and added more details as they worked. When it became clear that it would be finished before my last class came in, I grabbed some more butcher paper and sketched out another table sized mural. We ended up making a couple more that the students designed and I sketched out under their direction to make it quicker. Next year I may have the students work in groups to completely design and create murals I just did not expect them to finish so quickly this year so I adapted!
We used tempera sticks to sketch and outline details as well as add highlights on top of tempera paint. We’ve gotten so many positive comments on the paintings and I was even asked to send a picture for the district newsletter. This may become our first day of school tradition!

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?

6th Grade Choice

 I've written before about my desire to transition to TAB/Choice. I decided to let my 6th graders design their own projects for their "capstone" experience in elementary art. In a full-blown TAB classroom, there would be centers introduced through the year so that the students would be totally in charge of their projects. Since time travel is not a possibility, I modified it by giving the students an "Independent Project Proposal" form (IPP). The paper explained that they would be designing their own projects, that those projects needed to take thought and effort, and that they could use pretty much any material except for clay (I can only order enough for one clay project per student a year). I asked the students to sketch or describe their idea and get their project approved by me- mainly so I could make sure we had the necessary supplies and have a chance to conference with the students before they started.

I approved almost every idea, asking questions to get a few students to think more about their ideas when I felt they were just trying to pick something easy.

One of the questions I got right away was if the students could work with a partner. I was torn on this at first. I know that collaboration is important but I worried about how my 6th graders would handle it at this point in the school year when lots of attitudes were getting extra "fun". I told them that if it was a project that required a two-person amount of work, something that two people could actually work on at the same time, and as long as the two partners were a good choice- someone they could work productively with and hadn't been in trouble with- it was ok. Two girls made eye contact with each other in a silent agreement to work together. I was hoping they would get the hint when I threw in that I wouldn't approve partners who had been in trouble together but they made me tell them no. These were two students who had been in trouble in multiple classes, separated in their classroom, and even kicked out of an after school club for being so disrespectful. Thankfully after they pouted for a couple minutes they got to work on their own ideas and ended up doing a great job.

Though I was a little unsure of how the freedom and responsibility would go over with the 6th graders' attitudes, and though several people told me I was brave or crazy for trying it, I think it was actually a perfect time. The level of engagement and motivation was at the highest point all year. I found that the couple of students who had their minds made up to not enjoy and not try all year were the same even with the choice to make whatever they wanted, but I figure one or two students out of more than 130 was a pretty darn good ratio.

Most of the issues with this process were due to classroom organization. I didn't have a ton of storage for 3D projects so a couple disappeared- I think they weren't very far along and others thought they were scrap pieces up for grabs. Another issue was some students not taking care of the excess supplies- partly a normal experience in art class, and partly that I didn't have a good process worked out for storing some of the new supplies we were using. Finding a hot glue stick or other unused supplies in the trash can is just from someone being lazy or getting in a hurry, but cardboard scraps left in a big pile on the floor is from not having a good procedure in place.

 Besides students working together on the same project, there was a ton of peer tutoring and collaboration happening in other forms. When students were trying to find solutions to problems, other students around would throw out ideas for them to try. Could you tape it? Could you make a handle? I was really proud of them helping each other and coming up with interesting solutions.

The variety of projects, if put into one post, would take you hours to read. So, I've tried to split up my photos so that I can share everything I want to in more manageable chunks. For the rest of this post, I'll focus on students working with partners.

The two girls working on this project started off with a rough idea- they wanted to make something about being best friends. As they worked and thought more, they decided to make a picture of BFF necklaces. They wanted to splatter paint but I suggested a slightly less messy version- spraying diluted tempera paint onto paper instead of flicking it. They painted the hearts, cut out magazine letters to spell their names, and used buttons to form the chain. If you click on the picture to make it bigger, you'll notice that it looks a bit fuzzy and this is because they covered it with tulle. The project left the art room in one piece, but I think they were going to cut it in half to share.

 Drawings are a bit harder for students to work on together. The 6th grade idea of this is to take turns drawing so one person ends up sitting and watching half the time. I wasn't ok with that, so after the basic line drawing was completed, I asked them to find a way for both to work on it at the same time. I wish I would have taken a picture of the drawing that the students thought was finished so I could show them later. The drawing above was the final product, which admittedly could have been pushed further had they not run out of time. The main things I asked the students to keep working on was blending colors and adding value. The toxic waste can was one thing they improved with shading. The photo is not great, I need to remember to check my white balance when I move between buildings!

I told you that I approved project ideas before students started working... well, I should have signed their paper or something for proof because there were a few ideas that I do NOT remember approving. For example, two students that wanted to work together on the same 4x6 inch foam print. When I caught up with them again, I suggested that they make their prints go together but they each have their own physical print to work on. They ended up with the duo below, a decent solution, I think.

In upcoming posts, I'll share some other big categories of the choice artwork- construction, sports, 2D, 3D, and yarn.