Keith Haring Art Project

I thought I'd revisit this lesson from a few years ago. It's a perfect lesson to get you through an end-of-the-year slump. 5th graders love the graffiti nature of this project. To expedite completion, use a smaller size paper.

Fifth and Sixth grade students love Keith Haring! They are inspired by the simplicity of his action figures and influenced from his break dancing and graffiti like-art.
As a teacher, I love this lesson. I pass out a container full of prisma-color markers and let the kids go wild! I only have a few tips for this type of lesson. Practice drawing the Keith Haring figure first and then tell the kids to color in their figures with a solid color.
We brainstormed over backgrounds, but mostly I wanted the kids to come up with their own. We spoke about color and energy, but really, the kids got it.

Close-up Giraffe Paintings for Sixth Grade

Art Shows are fast approaching! It's a pleasure to see the proud faces of all my artist when they see their beautiful art on the walls of the multi-purpose room. But, of course, art shows means lots of organizing. (I'm planning a post soon detailing the stages of art show planning at my schools. Check back soon!) One of the first steps for me is sorting the hundreds of student projects into personal folders/portfolio. I found this stack of giraffes and just had to snap a few pictures before I tucked them inside the folders.
These were created by my sixth grade class at Brandon school. I featured this project in my "Drawing Animals" PDF lesson plan. The down-loadable booklet features handouts and a tutorial.

Sixth grade Art Lessons and Supply List

I begin teaching next week and I've decided that this will be the year that I will introduce a whole new set of art lessons. Sounds ambitious right? And maybe a bit crazy? For me though, introducing a new lesson and seeing how well the kids adapt it and enjoy it is why I teach. It's just so much fun!
I'll be teaching sixth grade next week. I have five sixth grade classes and that means, whatever project I begin, I better like it because I'll be repeating it over and over and over...
But this burst of creative energy won't help you until I post my lessons and I can't post my lessons until I've done the lessons! But don't worry. I'll post them as soon as they are finished. In the meantime, take my advice from lessons that are tried and true. Here are my favorites:

Sixth Grade
Typically, I begin the year with a line drawing. One of my absolute favorites is the Wild Hair Line Drawing. Kids really get into this one and I like it because of the easy prep. Like most line drawings, removing the project from the child requires precise timing. To soon and they aren't done, too late and the child might get bored/get silly/decide he's too cool for sixth grade art/or any other imaginable scenario that results in a mess of scratchy lines.
It's a fine line in sixth grade, so my advice to you is to have lots of pattern examples on the white board and show them how to make them.
Time: Depends. Usually one-60 minute class, but it might take some kids longer.
Supplies: 12" x 18" white drawing paper (see list under "Art Organization" in the menu bar.), black fine tip marker.

It's always fun to do a self-portrait at the beginning of the year, but by sixth grade, the novelty of drawing one's self is wearing thin. So here's a fantastic alternative: Modigliani Self Portraits. Not only do they learn a little bit about Modigliani, but the process for drawing his faces is fail proof. I have to thank Kathy at Art Project for Kids for this one. It's a real star.
Time: Two 60-minute classes
Supplies: 12" x 18" black drawing paper, light colored oil pastel (white, yellow, etc), ruler and pencil, oil pastels in a variety of colors (make sure to have enough flesh tone)


I'm going to list one more, as this one takes 4-5 sessions. Of course, the smaller the class, the easier it is to teach and the faster the kids will complete the project. If you have over 30 kids in your class (you have my sympathies) and you have no help, it will be a bit of a challenge. Rural Barns and Farms is an exciting lessons because the kids will not believe the results. Even I couldn't believe how well they turned out. They learn a ton of skills and it's a fantastic way to integrate math into an art curriculum. And it's not just about math, tons of watercolor techniques are used here.
For a full tutorial, consider purchasing my new "Architecture Made Easy" PDF. It's worth it!
Time: 4-5 Sixty-minute classes
Supplies: 12" x 18" watercolors paper (if you don't have watercolor, regular white paper is fine. This is the only project where regular paper just might work out better, so don't stress), pencil, eraser, ruler and template, watercolor paints, brushes and colored pencils.

So there you have it. Three fantastic projects that will get you to the end of October. Good luck and love up those sixth graders: next year? Junior High!

Musical Medley...Music Art Collage

This lesson originated in Arts and Activities magazine, but the month and the year is lost to me. I clipped it and saved it for the perfect 3-week window for my fifth graders. This lesson would appeal to any upper elementary grade but it does require some patience, so the older the kids, the more sophisticated the project.

Supplies:
12" x 18" white drawing paper
Black oil pastels for each student
Oil pastels in a variety of colors to share
photocopies of sheet music (I asked the music specialist for some, but you could also download sheet music from the Internet)
Mod Podge
Large brushes for Mod Podge

Step One: Drawing the instrument
I found some photographs of musical instruments on the Internet but also "swiped" my son's black warlock electric guitar and his acoustics guitar for visual aids.
We took a few minutes to talk about musical instruments and how identifiable each one is. Most instruments are recognized by their shape: trombone, drums, guitar, so I encouraged the students to chose an instrument with a great shape.
Since I had guitars on display, guess which instrument they chose? Yup. Guitars. So, let this be a lesson to you: if you want variety either bring in lots of samples or provide a handout that shows different instruments.
Using a black oil pastel, draw one instrument in a variety of sizes and place in different parts of the white paper. Talk about composition and the benefits of drawing a one large scale instrument then picking a part of the same instrument (i.e. neck of the guitar) and drawing that off to the side. I'm not explaining this very well, but the point is to take one instrument, break it down into sections and vary the size.

Step Two: Coloring
Once the drawings are done, begin coloring the instruments using oil pastel. Once the students begin coloring, a few will complain that the black oil pastel lines are messing up their colors. To solve this problem, trace over the black oil pastel with the color they wish to use. This locks in the black and prevents it from smearing. It's not a perfect solution, but in the end, all lines will be traced in black anyways.
Use non-traditional colors. The brighter and more vibrant the better.

Step Three: Adding the Sheet Music
Once the background is colored in (takes along time to color this big sheet in well), tear a piece of sheet music into sections. Place the sections on the background, taking care not to cover the instruments.
Use Mod Podge to apply the sheet music. If you have a lot of mod podge, keep spreading it over the entire picture. It really gives the collage a cool sheen and hardens nicely. If you don't have mod podge, just apply the sheet music with a glue stick.

Butterfly Ceramic Tile Mural

After countless hours (well, not exactly countless...about 2o!) the sixth grade mural at Brandon School is completed. With only the grouting left to go, I snapped a few pictures on the last day of school. Every year we create a new mural. Different themes and different styles and all beautiful. The Butterfly mural is our third one.

To start, I hold a class specifically for explaining the purpose of the mural, the process of creating homemade tiles and then go on to talk about our theme. After this class, each student will have made a drawing the same scale as their final tile. In this case, a drawing of a butterfly.
The next class is the biggie. I prepare for the class by cutting two 6" x 6" tiles for each student (124 in all). The students lay their drawing over one clay tile and etch in their drawing. Using a cutting tool, they cut out their butterfly and affix it to the second tile. We talk about scoring, creating dimension by folding and lifting the wings, creating a background and finally ensuring that all added on pieces of clay are securely attached.This process takes about an hour and I help the kids who are struggling with the fine details of this project. If you can swing it, have parents help. I had four parents assisting with this project.


The last part of the class involves painting the tile with under-glaze. Traditional ceramic methods call for drying and firing the tile first, but my class time with the student's was limited to only two sessions, so I combined the making of the tile with the painting.
After the painting, the tiles were set in a cupboard to dry. This took about ten days. Once dry, the tiles were fired, then glazed and fired again.
The results are beautiful. I'm so pleased with how engaged the children were. This is their legacy to the school and all seemed to consider this carefully while working on their tiles.
Well done, sixth graders!

Chalk Pastel Flowers for Sixth Grade

I teach this lesson every year. It's fast; only takes 2-55 minute sessions, reinforces blending skills and offers practice on still developing fine motor skills.
Supplies:
Chalk Pastels
12" x 18" black drawing paper
1 bottle of white school glue per student

Step One:
Display a variety of flower pictures (old calendars are great) on the white board and talk about the elements of a flower. By sixth grade, these kids already know, but go over it again.
I show the kids how to properly use a glue bottle for "drawing". See my explanation here.
Before I go on, let me give you an option. You can either have the children draw their flowers with a pencil or have them skip this step and draw immediately with glue.
I recommend the latter. Kids with pencils (especially older kids) tend to become perfectionist; drawing the tiniest of details. This is fantastic, but it won't work with this lesson. The bigger the drawing, the better. The less detail, the better. So having said that, go directly to glue.

Step Two:
Begin with the centers of the flowers. That could mean one large center or two or three smaller centers scattered around the paper. Then, beginning on the left (if you are right handed), begin adding petals.
Once the entire paper is covered with beautiful, white flowers, lay the paper on a flat surface. Drying racks with a slant will not work!

Step Three:
This part is easy. Bring out the beautiful pastels and get to work. I encourage the kids to push the chalk up next to the rigid glue line and then blend into the paper using just one finger. Watch the kids work. If too much black paper is showing through, then they aren't applying enough chalk.

Chalk tips to avoid never wanting to work with chalk again.

• Have the kids hold up ONE finger. Tell them that this is their tool. Do not use more than one finger to blend.
• To clear their paper of chalk dust, have them hold their paper vertically and tap the paper onto the edge of the desk and onto the floor. Hey, it's better than on their clothes.
• Set a damp face cloth or rag on each of the tables. The kids who can't stand the dry, dusty feeling of chalk dust can wipe their fingers when they feel the need. Just make sure it's not too wet.
  

Finally, if you can, spray the picture with hair spray. This is not a perfect fixative, but it's cheap and works relatively well. Some years, I laminate chalk drawings. The colors become more vibrant, but if your school is impacted by budget cuts, sometimes a laminator isn't available!