What have we been up to...

It never fails that once things get rolling I feel like there is always something more to do if I want to keep ahead of the kids.  I had been meaning to post each of these lesson plans but time just doesn't seem to be on my side for that.  So here is a BRIEF recap of what my kiddos have been doing.



  My Wednesday kids have been doing contour line drawings.  We started with practice during class and finished with the assignment of 4 finished drawings as homework.  This was one of my kiddo's homework.  I couldn't find one place where he lifted his pencil!  We are drawing animals in contour line and then adding boots.  I saw a cute project on Kid's Artists so in honor of the new Puss in Boots movie coming out this fall.  (I can't wait as he was my favorite Shrek character and it will be a great date with my 6 year old.)

I have had the book Only One You by Linda Kranz for a few years and have been pondering how to use it for a project.  Thanks to a post by Art Project Girl, I finally got it.  These fish drawings are what my 5th graders are doing this week.  We have maps testing so everyone is coming in a different order.  This project is quick and easy but still reviews line and pattern for the kids.  To finish them they will add some life advice and color only one fish.





This is one of our Awful Alphabet Creatures.  We read the book The Absolutely Awful Alphabet by Mordicai Gerstein.  The students then were assigned a letter to turn into a creature.  We spent a lot of time discussing craftsmanship and how to color the image completely and nicely.  I was so happy to see how creative they could be on their first project.  It really has me happy to see what this year will bring.

My 6th graders are working on their Salvador Dali Surreal Animals.  We looked at the animals in Dali's paintings and then they created their own dream-like animals.  We have some animals with Dali's long, skinny legs, we have some that are combo's of two different animals and we have some that are a combination of almost every animal.  They are finishing them with watercolor.  We are focusing on using light colors (lots fo water) and building up layers. 

It is so nice to have the year up and going.  Hope everyone else is off to a great start to their school year.