Coiled Clay Cups!

The lesson the seventh grader's waited for all quarter: clay! I don't know what it is but they love clay (I've heard the same from other teachers too.) Simple clay coil cup, but a trick I learned from another art instructor this summer was building a slab out of coils flat on a template and then rolling it into a cylinder shape and adding a base...an any other additives like the coil creation above :D

High School 3D Coil Bowls

Dots, coils, spirals, braids, twists, and other fun shapes! These were built on or in another bowl, a simple & successful introduction to clay lesson.

Batik Paper Lanterns

I have some of these lanterns hanging in my house, and in sparked a lesson idea for my 3D class while I was student teaching. The student's really loved creating these lanterns, and I think they surprised themselves with their talent! The project began with the students making prototype lanterns out of drawing paper (sketching thumbnails-measuring & cutting out paper prototypes, practicing attaching (sewing/gluing) all of the pieces together..etc.) Then, we did a week long batik dying with traditional batiking wax and tools. This was a bit frightening for me, but my CT assured me that it would be okay! I've just heard stories of fires and such, eek! Anyways, the student batiked dippidy-dye paper (amazing fiberous paper!) layering wax and mixed water soluble dyes. Then, we backed the dyed paper to make the walls of the lanterns stronger and then cut, folded, glued, sewed, and hung the lanterns. They were the talk of the school for a while as they hung in the hallway- but we did have to watch some of the Middle School students in the hallway... they seemed to really, really want to touch them. Good project overall, I would do it again!

Keith Haring pOp Art!

The 7th grader's turned into Pop Artists earlier this semester as we studied Keith Haring! We created a paper mural using Haring's figurative style, bright colors, and use of motion.  The student's did a great job tracing, painting, and creating individual posters. The mural was put up in the main Middle School hallway for everyone to see.  It was a great way to get the students out of their seats and moving!

8th Grade Self-Reflective Mandala's

 As a capstone to the 8th grader's Color Theory study, they created a Mandala using the Elements of Design. The students were asked to create a Mandala that reflected their personality. They were given a 12 x 18 piece of black construction paper, chalk pastels, and blending stumps. The Mandala could be symmetrical or asymmetrical, it was up to the artist to decide! We waited to cut the Mandala design from the black paper so they would have a place to touch the paper and rotate it without smudging their work. This seemed to work the best. As they finished they spray fixed & mounted on colored construction paper.

High School Cubism

Wow. Here are some examples of a high school 2D lesson in Cubism.  We just wrapped up a still life unit with cutting up our still life's and "jux-ta-posing" them in cubist style. This project in particular was a great one to reflect on how well I taught to their level, I learned a great deal, and so did the students (mainly about patients!) Some of the students were more than willing to cut up their still life's (that took about one week each, two different drawings) and some really had a hard time, maybe next time I will explain the entire process from the get-go. overall, fun project!

Requirements of project: incorporate charcoal still life, incorporate colored still life, incorporate mark making element (drawing, charcoal, ink, etc.) incorporate paper element (newspaper, magazine, etc.)

8th Grade "Masks From Around the World!"

 

The 8th grade students studied "masks from around the world!" and created a mask of their own based off of a theme of choice. I was impressed with the outcomes of the masks, as we were working in theme in class the students seemed to have "creative blocks." Big bummer, but the next class period it seemed to have been overcome because they were able to create some interesting concepts and solutions.