Op Art

Optic illusions, I can see students loving this project and getting very motivated by it. For this lesson we created our own illusions by using our name. We were taught how to draw the lines for making it an optic illusion. We then had to write our name and cut it out. Also, we had to create positive and negative space. We did this by cutting out our name on one half of the paper and then put our "scrapes" on the other side. This would be a fun art project to use at holidays, using the school team name, or anything that the student likes. This project lets students be different from one another by creating their own word that is important to them. I think that if you get students started on this they will not stop. Let them have a notebook in their desks so if they have free time they can draw. Lets students creativity shine through and you will be surprised what they will accomplish.

Clay

This was the most challenging lesson. There is so many different techniques that are used with clay. It was also a lot of fun to learn how to use clay. I do not have much background with using clay so it was a great experience. First, we made pinch pots. This was a good way to start to experince those clay techniques. Then we were to create our own clay masterpiece. This was challenging to come up with an idea, but once I did it went very well. There are also many different things that we used to decorate our clay. A cheese grater was used and that was my favorite. This would be a great project to use when talking about different cultures and how they used clay to make things for their daily lives. Students could create clay pieces that a group of people from a different culture use. Students will also love this because they get to use their hands and again let go for awhile and be creative.

Stripes with Gravity

Stripes with Gravity was the lesson that I did. The students were to paint by using gravity. They needed to take a spoon with paint and drop the paint from the top of the paper and let it run down the page. Many of the students thought that this was more challenging than they initially thought it would be. This art project was based on an artist Morris Louis. The first piece of art that they created was their interpretation of Morris Louis's 'Burning Stain'. The next painting that they did was their chance to experiment with the process and creating anything that they choose. What they created turned out wonderful. I loved to watch them come up with creative ideas and put in onto paper. This type of project could be intergrated into a science lesson that talks about gravity and the affects that it has on objects. It is also a good way for students to let loose for awhile and let their creative side come out.

Where the Wild Things Are

This was an art lesson that we did with watercolor. We used the resitance technique by first drawing with crayons and then painting with watercolors. This lesson was based on the book "Where the Wild Things Are". This is a great book for younger students. We were given body part designs to choose from for our monsters. I really liked that idea and it gives students ideas, but yet they have to choose as well.

This lesson works great with literacy. I also think that it would work for younger students when talking about body parts. What body parts does the monster need to have? What makes a monster different than us?

Hidden Safari

This is a project for younger students who have wonderful imaginations. We first took a cool color crayon and drew a jungle animal on our paper. Then we took warm colors and drew patterns on over our animals. Once you have enough pattern you have to look through your special glasses to see the animal that you drew. This projects can be integrated into the classroom ciriculum in many ways. You can use it when talking about the jungle and what kinds of animals live in the jungle. Also, in math if you are talking about patterns. If you have a book that does along with the jungle you can use it for that as well. This would be a project that would really get your students motivated and ready to learn.

Lexicon Collages

Obnoxious

Obnoxious, what does this word mean? To me it means obsolete, busy, nauseating, objectionable, exasperate, infamous, ornery, unpleasant, and sarcastic. This lexicon collage is very obnoxioux. I did the background on this collage and my classmates did the rest of it. This included magazine pieces and gum. All of the colors used makes the collage look very busy. Also , the pictures are all over and at different angles. These qualities helps the collage look obnoxious.

Loneliness

What does loneliness mean to me? It means lonesome, only, uninhabited, hermit, alone, isolated, unaccompanied, exclusion, solitary and secluded. This is another lexicon collage, that was done by classmates. This is also my favorite of all of the lexicon collages. You can come up with the word loneliness without having to see the word!

Tranquil

Tranquil, what does that mean? To me it means tumult, relaxed, calm, nice, quiet, unagitated, irenic, and lazy. This is a lexicon collage and I did only the backgroud, while other classmated finished it. A magazine was used to decorate. The picture is a place that would be tranquil, so I thought this was a good picture to go along with the word.

Love

Love, what does this mean? To me it means loyalty, fondness, devotion, and endearment. This is one of the lexicon collages that we did. This was a mutiple step project that we worked on together as a class. Each classmate would do a step on another classmates collage. This is the one that I choose to do all on my own. I used red paint and formed the paint into a shape of a heart. I also used magazines to decorate. I cut out colors that I wanted to use and then I cut them into hearts.

This project brings in a lot of components. There are many steps to this project that will take mulitple class periods with students focusing on this project. The great thing about this project is that it can be intergrated with grammer, spelling, and word meanings. Students will have to understand what their word means in order to carry out the artwork. They will also have to understand the poetry aspect of the project. In my classroom I would use this project when using spelling words. This will be a new way for students to learn their words instead of just memorizing them and forgetting them after the test.

The most important component of this project that I would love to see in my classroom is having students share artwork and working together. Not only will they get that chance to learn all of the words but they will learn how to work well together.

Watercolor Weaving

This is a watercolor weave. We had to first experiment with watercolors. One painting was to be with warm colors and the other with cool colors. Once my paintings were dry, I slit lines down the cool color painting so I could do my weaving. I then cut up my warm colors painting and weaved them through the the other painting. What I liked best about my painting was that I choose to use decorative scissors. This gave it a little extra.

This would be a great project to use in the classroom. The students would love to experiment with watercolor. To make this project different you could have students use colors for certian holidays or to complement their school colors. I can see students getting very invovled with this project.