Updated! 5th grade Ceramic Selfies

These awesome Ceramic Selfies (see previous post: here) were fired and kids painted them with acrylic paint (I caved and bought the cheap bottles at Walmart and Michaels for bright, bold colors). 

Fifth graders are answering the question: End of an era. How do you feel?

Here the slabs are, ready to dry and be fired!
After, the kids painted in the lines with black acrylic and allowed it to dry.

   

   

I was so impressed how the kids picked their colors. Most of the darker colors were not selected. Even if students portrayed themselves as nervous or scared, the colors they chose did not reflect those emotions. These kids are ready and exciting for Middle School!

When they finished, they used their original self portrait and this painted version as a digital portfolio entry, answering the question: End of an Era, how do you feel? I cannot wait to read their responses!

super close up: zentangles

I like to push my students to take a work of art as far as it can go. Who, me?

 Of course, knowing when to stop is a huge issue for artists. Case in point, check out these zentangles! I wasn't happy just letting them make a doodle, ooohhhhh nooooo, we had to blow it up!!!

This turned out to be a really cool project. I compared it to writing an essay. Imagine if you pulled one sentence or one thought from that essay and turned that into another story. Ah yeah! So that's where creativity comes from!

To teach my kids how to tell when they are finished, they are trained to look for the "strong" and "weak" areas of their piece. Once they have identified their strong areas, the parts they love, they are to leave it alone! So hard. Because we all want to keep working on that area! It's so pretty! Leave it alone.

Even harder is looking for the weak spots, the parts that we don't like. The parts that make us squirm or doubt or frustrate. You know what I am talking about! That's the part you get to work on.

When my 5th graders finished their zentangle ( my standardized testing week project), they used a viewfinder (a piece of paper with a rectangular hole) to find a strong composition. We reviewed some basics: Rule of 3, no splitting the middle, look for the strong, interesting areas that "read well". Yes, I talk this way to 10 year olds. They get it.

Using observational drawing skills, they re-drew what was in the viewfinder onto larger paper. I had Crayola Construction Paper Crayons, so many kids opted for black paper. Because those are cool! Some choose to work in marker on lighter paper. 

This is where "strong" and "weak" really came into play. Since this was so abstract, they really had to be honest with themselves about the process of their work. Very difficult concept, but they are 16 days from Middle School, sooo, yeah...

Once they finished, they attached the zentangle onto the paper, some choosing to create depth using scraps or cardboard.

The finished work is quite striking. And no two are alike in any way. 

Deconstructed Books: 5th Grade

Ok, this has been a HIT! Every kid was successful and everyone really enjoys looking at them.

Our librarian pulled over a hundred books to be destroyed due to damage. I grabbed them. Altered books are all over the Internet! Great way to introduce contemporary art.

I was able to find a lesson plan on Dick Blick's website (awesome plans btw!) that helped me with a good starting point.

• I gave the kids 2 1/2 class periods to do this. They have a tendency to stretch their projects ooooooouuut. Since they were so excited to do this, the time limit was appropriate.
• I purchased and borrowed hole punchers, rubber cement and "fancy" scissors.  
• We started off with this being a lesson on form and symmetry, but I was very open to student choice.
• If you want to try this: have the kids open the book to the middle. They can fold, cut, curl, rip, etc. Then do the same thing on the other side. From there, see where it takes you. I encouraged symmetry to kids who had some struggles. Other kids cut out illustrations and attached them in great ways.
• After a few tries, they took OFF. Kids wanted to add watercolor, yarn, sharpie details...and they were all excited.
•  This has been one of my most favorite projects this year. I am so proud of how creative and innovative the kids were.

Here is the sign I posted so everyone understood EXACTLY where the books came from!

Once the kids knew that these were going to become thrash, it was easier to cut into a beloved book.