Monday, May 16, 2011

A few of my favorite things...

While looking for a new 3-D project for my eighth graders, I came across this lesson plan on the Incredible Art Department... I knew I had PLENTY of cardboard and my students love working in groups (despite my reservations) so I thought we'd give it a shot!  Our Frank Stella-inspired relief sculptures turned out a bit differently than planned, BUT the students LOVED this project!
I am proud of their ability to work together  and "think outside the box". 
Originally, this project was meant to be a bit more abstract, but that was tricky to conceptualize and we were a tad tied to the literal...but that's ok, we have to start somewhere! First, we completed the National Gallery of Art online guessing game (with a worksheet to ensure participation and understanding)
Then students chose an activity and answered some questions about the activity that helped them turn movement, equipment, etc. into shapes and colors.  I really wish we had a display case for these!



Does the bowling ball look like 'The Scream' to anyone else?




Below are some 7th grade examples working with value.  After tracing 3-5 shapes (so the focus was on the shading) we drew 3 lines from one side of the paper to the other.  Next, we chose 2 pairs of oil pastel light/dark color combos.  One pair was outside the shapes and one pair was the inside.  To incorporate writing skills, we wrote 3-5 sentences about what we VALUE.  I like when students can interject a little bit of their identity into a project which is otherwise strictly art-skills based.






I try to include an "explanation" when I display art so that our learning is made apparent to passers-by and other educators see the value (lol) of what art teaches and the relevance of the artwork on display.

Things are winding down now that we're so close to the end of the year...BUT I find that classroom management is as important as ever, I don't have the luxury of letting up or the last couple weeks/days will be a HOT MESS.  I want to communicate that in the art room it is business as usual and we are there to learn, EVERY DAY.

1 comment:

  1. I love seeing the kids' artist statements posted with their work. My students thought I was insane when I started asking them to write these, but I feel like over time it really helps push them to think more about their work and it makes the display of the work so much more powerful. I like the look of the pastels with the colorful shapes, too. I'm always looking for new ways to teach color theory I am so tired of traditional color wheels...

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