Torn Paper Snow People

Last year I saw a post on Art Makes Kids Smart about using "GOOSe paper"- Good On One Side in Art projects. I thought this was brilliant and a way to make reusing fun so students don't feel like they are using trash. I used the idea with 1st grade students to make torn paper snow people. I'm pretty sure this was a two class period project. The students used 9x6 inch colored construction paper for the background, tore GOOSe paper for the snowy ground, then used more GOOSe paper for the body of the snowperson and construction paper scraps for the accessories. We finished it off with crayon details. Glue sticks worked great and I really liked the personality in the students' work. 

I must have let the students use scissors to create the accessories but there was a no scissor rule for the first day with the snow.

  

Snowflakes and Blog of the Year

 I posted last week about the Art Ed Blog of the Year contest going on over at the Art of Education. Jessica posted the finalists today and I was excited to see that my blog is a finalist! The good part is that you can vote for several blogs, though you can only vote once. I was also really happy to see the three blogs I nominated were in the finals as well. If you have a minute, head on over to the Art of Education and vote for our friends! 

Some of my Kindergarten students worked on a snowflake drawing together during a shortened Art class before their holiday parties started back in December. I showed them this image

Source: theartofed.com via Katie on Pinterest

(which I think I saw for the first time on the Art of Education) after the students told me everything they know about snowflakes (like they are made of ice, come down when it's cold, they are all different).

We talked about how there were a lot of different designs made from lines and shapes. I rolled out a long piece of paper on the floor and students who were already done with their previous project went over to draw snowflakes using cool colors. I love how Kinders will automatically lay down on the floor to draw or play with things.

For most of the time they worked very nicely together. When more students finished it started getting crowded so I had to ask for some volunteers to go read a book so new students could get a turn. Some switched out and the problem was solved. They really enjoy working together on projects like this.

Done List

The new semester started for me with a work day on Tuesday. Instead of focusing on my growing "to-do" list, I decided to post my "done list" for that day.

1. Change the bulletin board at one of my schools. This bulletin board is REALLY long! I have to get used to it being so much bigger than my other bulletin board. I wanted to do something simple since I'll be changing it out again in a few weeks. This will do- especially since it ties in with Art projects from December. Shapes are Flat, Forms are 3D. A Circle is a Shape. A Sphere is a Form. I tore paper for the snowy ground (not that we've really had much of that here in Kansas.) The border is snowflakes that 2nd or 3rd grade printed before break. I can't remember which grade because it feels like a loooong time ago!

To make the snowflakes, I gave the students white tempera, cardboard tubes, old paintbrush handles, and cardboard pieces leftover from the Klee-Inspired Geometric Shape Fish project last September and talked briefly about radial symmetry before letting them play on this blue vinyl-y paper stuff that we inexplicably have reams and reams of at school.

 2. "Cleaned" one of my classrooms. There is still a lot that's not perfect in this photo but it is a lot better than it was! I finally had time to put away some of the supplies I ordered last semester that had been sitting in their shipping boxes along the cabinets. I also put away the paint we won't be using for a while and organized the paintbrushes.

 3. Cleaned off my kidney table and got reference photos sorted by species for the Jr. Duck Stamp program.

 4. Put together research and reference images for the State Fish Art Contest.

 5. Painted papers to test upcoming projects for my younger students.

 6. Went to the district office (twice) to hang artwork. We scheduled 1 month for each Art teacher and a couple stray months for faculty work. The displays are set up above file cabinets right in view of the administrative offices. The secretaries told me they really appreciate the color!