There's a Bass in my Art Room!

My primary and intermediate kids have just finished their artwork for either the Jr. Duck Stamp program or the State Fish Art contest. Snow days messed up the scheduling a bit so I had to extend the deadline for some of my 1st-3rd grade students to this week. We have a teacher work day on Friday and the majority of my time will be spent photographing and preparing the artwork to mail in. I felt like I was able to be more thorough in my instruction this year after I learned so much at the Jr. Duck Stamp ambassador workshop in Utah last September. (Read about that here and here.) I was able to add many more reference photos to my collection.

My addition to the fish program was to borrow the Catfish my dad caught when I was 19 months old! Phyl may have a dragon in her art room, but I have a Channel Catfish in mine! There were a couple awkward attempts to explain how taxidermy works, and a few students thought the fish was "gross", but the main reaction was interest and awe. Most of my students have never had the opportunity to go fishing so they haven't seen a real fish outside of a zoo or aquarium. I left the fish out for a couple days but after it got knocked over- twice- and the tail cracked, I realized the students just weren't aware enough to keep their distance. The fish retired to my closet and was just brought out for specific students who were brave enough to draw from it instead of a photo.

I had a table set up with reference photos for each contest, organized by species. The State Fish Art website has cool fact sheets about each species that helps remind students of what would make an appropriate habitat for the background of their artwork and also helped with essays.

Fish photos are pretty easy to keep organized since I only chose the 3 species the students would be most familiar with in our par of Kansas. I have many more duck reference photos and last year simple stacks were too hard for the students to keep organized. This year, I taped labels to the table thinking that if the students couldn't recognize the proper place from their photo, they could read the species name labeled on the back of the photos and match them up. This helped a bit... or maybe after the second class period that I made the students go fix the mess they created, they just started to pay more attention. To help with habitat, I printed a bunch of reference photos I took at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Utah. Some are "zoomed out" and some are close up photos of wetland vegetation. I also took a cue from the State Fish Art contest and created "bio" sheets for each of the waterfowl species I have photos of. I asked the students to read the bio for their bird before they drew the background to give them clues. Wood ducks nest in tree cavities? Gee, maybe you should draw the duck standing on a fallen tree instead of that rock at the zoo in the photo.

It looks like I forgot to take a picture of my big display on my fancy new classroom bulletin board but it was basically a combination of the displays from last year seen here with some new materials I picked up on my Ambassador trip.

Students are always excited to see artwork I've made so I brought in some examples. Wood Duck watercolor painting on the left, colored pencil Canada Goose I made for an example a few years ago, and a mixed media picture of a hen Mallard and ducklings on the right.

I can't wait to go through and see the results of all the students' hard work. I just wish we had more Art time to devote to the project. I had students waiting to work in the Art room every time I had open slots available for them on my days at the intermediate school. :)

1st Grade Paper Koinobori

My 1st grade East Asian lesson for Cultural Heritage Week was based on Japanese Koinobori. Koinobori are Carp Windsocks flown in celebration of Children's Day (May 5). Why carp? While in the US carp are an invasive species and undesirable, in Japan, they are respected. Carp are thought to have qualities that Japanese families hope their children will possess- they are spirited, energetic, strong, and determined. Apparently Children's Day used to be known as "Boy's Day" but I read somewhere that it is now used to celebrate the health of ALL children. 

Our Koinobori are not authentic (obviously), more inspired by Koinobori. There are traditions of certain colors of Koinobori being flown to represent different family members, and most do not have streamers for tails. Since we don't have wind inside and I wanted the students to understand they are windsocks, I decided to go ahead and use crepe paper streamers for movement.

Some of the Art teachers in my district ordered Koinobori kits that had the paper shaped like a carp so the students could just add their designs. Since my schedule means I have to make my budget stretch twice as far, we used construction paper, tempera paint, glue sticks, and crepe paper streamers. I picked up 6 or 7 big rolls of streamers at Hobby Lobby in different colors and have enough left to be a good start if we do this lesson again next year. The pattern we used is to the left. I just experimented a bit until I found a method that worked well. The template I came up with is on the left.

On the first day, we got started by looking at some pictures of Koinobori, finding Japan on a map, talking about the symbolism, and then talking about the design elements. After the introduction, the students painted the eyes and patterns to represent scales, using whatever colors of paper and tempera paint they wanted. Well, almost any color they wanted. I let students chose any color of construction from a variety pack except black or brown and set out paint in each primary and secondary color. I gave a quick demo so I could demonstrate paintbrush care and control. We did not draw the designs in pencil first, just jumped right in with paint. I did draw the pattern really big on the board to remind the students about the eye placement. The eyes should be centered close to the top, about 1/3 in from each side. I demonstrated sort of a wavy line but the students could use any kind of line. Some really got into making patterns and using as many different kinds of lines as they could think of. Most students didn't have any trouble getting all the painting done in one class period and I was really impressed with their care in using good craftsmanship! If I noticed a student was painting a little slowly, I suggested that they use one color for all the lines and more colors for the extra designs. I also made sure to remind the students not to give their fish a mouth- in the second class period the paper is formed and the hole becomes the mouth!

In the second class period, the students glued crepe paper streamers in place. You need two short streamers for the fins, a medium streamer for the dorsal fin, and 4-5 longer streamers for the tail. We folded the fin streamers in half and used a glue stick to glue in place (look at the pattern above for placement) and glued the longer tail streamers from the back. I am so glad that one of the Paraeducators saw me measuring and cutting the streamers, though I wish she would have seen me sooner because she gave me a tip that saved a TON of time! She suggest that I tape an end and wrap the streamers around a chair back a bunch of times, then cut. This allowed me to quickly cut a bunch to the same length! I ended up using 1/2 of the loop for long streamers* and cutting the other halves in half again for the shorter streamers. Just try the chair thing and experiment until you find the right length. *Because I ended up hanging these on the top strip in the hallway, I did have to trim the tail streamers to prevent them from covering other artwork.

If a student missed the first class period, they used crayons or markers to make their design on construction paper before gluing the streamers. I asked the students to neatly write their names on the front now that the paint was dry so I wouldn't have to try to look down the center to find the names later. The next part is where an extra helper or volunteer would come in really handy. As the students finished gluing their streamers, they got in line so I could staple their fish for them. Older students would probably be able to staple their own. I experimented with changing the placement of the staples to give the koinobori a little shape. I basically just wrapped the tail end a tiny bit tighter. After I stapled, the students were given a long piece of yarn to thread through the center of their cylinders and tie in a knot. I showed how to tie the not and if a student was struggling, they got help from another student who was a masterful knotter. 

Potential "management issues" with this project

• Where to store the koinobori? I have a giant box turned "picture frame" in my room that we used as a fish tank until I found time to photograph the projects and hang them in the hallway. 
• Photographing the projects- if you use Artsonia, you'll definitely want to photograph these but it can be a bit tricky. When I photograph 2D artwork for Artsonia, I have a list of my roster and after checking the students' name on the back, I flip it over and photograph with the name on the roster just above the list so that it can be cropped later. With regular 3D work like clay pieces, I write names on strips of paper and set the names within the frame of my camera. For work that has to hang, my best solution was to hang it on a magnetic hook on my chalkboard and erase names when I was done with each.
• Hanging the work- These would look awesome hanging from the ceiling... but there were potential problems with fire codes and motion detectors. Plus, moving a tall ladder to hang approximately 120 koinobori in the hallway did not seem feasible. I just ended up hanging the projects by stapling the yarn  to my bulletin board strips.

Try this lesson! The students loved making the projects and learning a little about Children's Day in Japan. Plus, if your curriculum focuses on the elements of Art, this is a fun way to cover "Line".

4th-6th Fish

These are some of the results from my 4th-6th grade students for the State Fish Art contest.

I wrote a little bit about this project here: http://artteacheradventures.blogspot.com/2012/06/art-of-conservation-ducks-and-fish.html

You can also read more about it here: http://www.wildlifeforever.org/contest

I was initially a little confused and thought that students had to represent the fish from their state, when they can actually use the official fish from any state on the list. That's why all my 4th-6th grade students  drew Channel Catfish- the unofficial state fish of Kansas. Kansas does not have an official state fish, and I'm not sure why! We have a state mammal, amphibian, reptile, insect, bird, tree, flower, and even grass, but no fish!

I am so proud of how hard the students worked on their fish. Even though there was an essay required to enter the contest, I had about 15 students actually write the essay and turn everything in on time to enter.

This student clearly has an environmental/pollution theme.

Did you know that Channel Catfish....

-have 8 "barbels" (whiskers) on their heads?

-are "bottom feeders"?

-don't have scales?

We spent some time talking about their anatomy, behavior, and habitat so the students could be as accurate as possible in their drawings.

Art of Conservation- Ducks and Fish

This spring I gave my 1st-6th grade students a choice between the Jr. Duck Stamp program and the State Fish Art contest. Both programs have similar aims of connecting kids to nature and teaching conservation through the Arts. They are both integrate science- observational skills, anatomy, and learning about animals' natural habitats. Duck stamps are about conserving the wetlands and the State Fish Art contest educates kids about fish and aquatic habitats. (You can see an earlier post about this here.)

I am so glad that I decided to try the State Fish Art contest! Some of the students who weren't that "in" to waterfowl were very "in" to fish! I had a couple boys in 6th grade who I never even knew were really interested in Art suddenly spending any extra time in our schedule working in my room on their fish, before school and even giving up recess time! For some reason, the students also tended to have an easier time drawing fish than ducks or geese. Of course there were still lots of students excited about Duck Stamps. I think everyone found something they were interested in to work on while learning about conservation through art making. I also gave my intermediate students a few more choices with media this year. In addition to colored pencils, they could use watercolor pencils, watercolor paint, or graphite. Part of me wants to also give the choice of tempera, but I think most of them would become frustrated when they don't have the control to paint small details.

I always stress that the contest is not why we do these projects, it's just an extra part that can be kind of fun. The competition must have been fierce in the Kansas Jr. Duck Stamp contest this year but we did have a 6th grader get an Honorable Mention on her drawing of a Canada Goose.

I was also SO excited to find out that two students received 3rd place in their respective age groups in Kansas for the State Fish Art contest! The photo on the left is a watercolor pencil/watercolor picture of a Channel Catfish made by a 5th grader and on the right, is a 2nd grader's colored pencil drawing of a Bluegill. The K-3rd "Mighty Minnow" age group just turns in their artwork while students in the older age groups have to turn in a one page essay about their fish (description, behavior, habitat) and any conservation efforts for the species.

I have lots and lots of artwork to share so I'm going to do it over several posts. 

Jr. Duck Stamp Program
http://www.fws.gov/juniorduck/
State Fish Art Contest
http://www.wildlifeforever.org/contest

1st Grade Colorful Fish

This is my last beginning of the year fish project!  1st grade students drew a fish- I gave no instruction here except to fill the space by drawing a fish at least as big as their hand- then traced their lines with glue and sprinkled with sand.  I told the students we were adding sand to give our fish more texture.  In the second class, we reviewed color mixing and I gave each student primary and black colored tempera paint.  The students could paint their fish and backgrounds however they wanted.  I did not say that their fish had to be swimming in blue water though that is what most students chose.  After the first day, I started giving the student black paint but said it should only be used to paint over the raised sand surface and help us see the outline and details of the fish.  I've found that giving students black paint to mix colors tends to yield monochromatic paintings- usually all a nice mud color.  (By the way, if you want to see some awesome high school mud paintings, look here!)

Classes who only had one session and students who missed the first day of the project painted then added sand if there was time at the end.  My main goal for the project was to review painting and mixing colors- texture was my secondary goal.

Do your students love mixing colors as much as mine?  Green, pink, and "sky blue" seem to be their favorite colors to mix.  I love to listen to the students talk when they are mixing colors.  Even though they've done it before, it still seems like magic to them when they make a new color whether they are in 1st grade or 6th grade.  I love their excitement when they are allowed to just try new combinations and see what happens.

I think this looks like a Mondrian fish!

Check out the rest of the artwork in our Artsonia exhibit!

Kindergarten Line Fish

Paul Klee's The Golden Fish was the inspiration for this project.  I like starting off the year talking about lines with Kindergarten and since we had a fish theme school-wide, Klee's painting was a very appropriate starting point!

Source: dl.ket.org via Katie on Pinterest

When introducing or reviewing lines, my favorite thing to do is draw a line on the chalkboard then we draw the same line in the air with our fingers.  I haven't read a whole lot about "whole brain" teaching, but I've been told that incorporating actions activates a different part of the brain.  If nothing else, I figure it helps students with different learning styles. (And it's kinda fun.)

This was a two class period project.  I always forget how long it takes just to get names on papers at the beginning of the school year with Kindergarten.  So half of the first class was labeling papers and introducing lines.  We looked at Klee's fish paintings and pointed out all the cool lines we could find before the students drew their own fish.  I asked them to only draw lines and shapes, not to color anything in with their pencils.  I did not show students how they had to draw a fish.  When the "I-can't-ers" and the "I-don't-know-how-ers" acted helpless, I pointed out how Klee used simple shapes to make his fish.  Next, I showed the students how to trace over their pencil lines with crayon trying to press really hard.

In the second class, we reviewed lines again and the students used blue crayons to draw lots of different kinds of lines around their fish to represent water and mimic Klee's painting.  I also showed them a couple different ways to draw "ocean plants" at the bottom of their papers.  To create the resist, students painted their papers with large brushes and watered down tempera paint.  I wish I had been brave enough to give them black instead of blue because I love the contrast in Klee's paintings.  I was afraid that their lines would totally disappear since most of the Kinders don't quite have the hand strength to press hard enough with crayon and had to really be encouraged to go back over their lines.  This is a project that I thought was just turing out awful until I came back after a couple days at my other school and looked again.  I think it has potential, but if I do it again, I will probably wait until later in the school year and let the students use whatever paint colors they want with watercolor.

My Monday classes once again had to do a shorter version of the project so they just had crayon drawings with no paint.

 

Check out the rest of the artwork in our Artsonia gallery!

3rd Grade Funny Fish

I taught a similar lesson to last year's 3rd grade using dried up markers to "paint" underwater scenes.  This year I started thinking about all the cool fish names I had heard before and wondered what other names would work for the idea I had forming... I found a list of common fish names on Wikipedia and narrowed down the list to names that could be used to make funny illustrations.  I told the students I didn't want them to draw what the fish really looks like, I wanted them to draw what the name made it sound like it should look.  It was hard to describe with words exactly what I had in mind, so I drew out a name and demonstrated.  

My example- Trumpet Fish

I printed out my narrowed down list and cut the names apart.  I put all the names in a tub and asked the students to draw out a name.  I didn't just let them pick because I wanted to get some variety and avoid a whole grade's worth of hammerhead sharks and clownfish.  There were actually enough fish with good names on the list that we didn't have any repeats.  I did let the students trade fish names with a classmate if they wanted and if they really didn't like the name they drew the first time, I let them draw out one more then they could use the new name or the original.  Some students didn't understand why the fish name was funny so I explained it if I could and realized that some names were beyond a third grader's understanding! :)

The rest of the first day was spent making a line drawing of their funny fish.  I asked them to draw the fish first then work on the background.  I also stuck with my suggestion of drawing the size of your hand to fill the space.  On day two, the students dipped the dried up markers we had been collecting in water to "paint" with them.  They also brushed water over the marker pigment to help spread it more.  I'm not sure why the marker painting didn't seem to go as well this year.  I had some students who just couldn't break out of trying to make it look like a marker drawing instead of a painting.  We did get some cool results but I'm thinking this idea would actually work better with older students.  A lot of the projects could have been improved if the students had made color choices that went with the name of their fish instead of just their favorite colors.  All in all, I'd say it was a decent project, but not great.  If I do a marker painting next year, I won't do funny fish again.

Lady Fish

Mustache Triggerfish

Lamp Fish

Mosquito Fish

Jewelfish

Finger Fish

Sleeper Shark

Mullet Fish!

Walleye