Elmer the Elephant Inspired Weavings

-




My first grade made weaving's that were inspired by the book Elmer. The book is about an elephant named Elmer who is a patchwork elephant. The book celebrates being different and not trying to change who you are to try and fit in. I thought that Elmer kind of looked like a colorful weaving. The students made their own loom using a ruler to measure out inch wide segments. We used as many different colors as possible as we went OVER AND UNDER...OVER AND UNDER. The students were probably saying that in their sleep, I know I was. After they finished the weaving we added the image of Elmer on the weaving, and then we added the shape pattern to the area around Elmer. They did a great job, and I love the finished product!

Comments

  1. Mr. EJanuary 10, 2012 at 5:58 PM

    I like your blog man!!! Only thing I can say is...post post post!!! :) The more you post..the more traffic you'll get. I'll feature you to in a post & add you to my blog list. And like I said..the more you post..the more people will see it on my list & they'll come visit you!! :) TRUST ME! Glad to connect with you...not a lot of us guys out there in the field bloggin'.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Katie MorrisJanuary 10, 2012 at 6:21 PM

    I have Elmer books on my wish list! This is a great idea. I finally realized that my students are all about AB patterns since they practice those in math class. Once I pointed out that over, under is an AB pattern they seemed to remember it better. Great lesson!

    ReplyDelete
  3. J.hamJanuary 10, 2012 at 6:23 PM

    love this. looks like some great stuff on your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mrs. FritzJanuary 10, 2012 at 6:30 PM

    Love a new twist on Elmer!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Marcia BeckettJanuary 10, 2012 at 6:41 PM

    Hi! I'm here via Mr. E's blog! I'm in Madison, WI.. not too far from you. :) Nice to meet you. Marcia

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2012 at 8:29 AM

    I thought I would check your blog out because Mr. E talked about you...I like your weaving idea...I will be using it...I teach art in eastern Iowa...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mr. EJanuary 14, 2012 at 6:41 PM

    I have another idea for you to get people coming to your blog. Do a post on Looking for New Art Blogs to add to your blog roll!!!! :) That might get some people tuning in!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Chesterbrook Academy ElementaryJanuary 15, 2012 at 6:20 AM

    I love this book and I like how you used weaving to for this project.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eat Your Fruits And Veggies Mosaics!

-
Image
Pear Cherries Pear Orange (top view)  Banana   Green Pepper Lime Mosaic Fruits and Veggies! After finishing the toothbrushes I went right into another observation drawing hoping that we can continue to draw things LARGE! The students looked at a plastic fruit or veggie at their tables. The requirements were that the object had to have two sides / parts go off the edge of the paper, and it had to take up most of the paper space. I was worried, but soon blown away. The students drew outline drawings of the objects and outlined them with a wide black sharpie. The next class we looked at multiple examples of mosaic artwork from all around the world. The students  got the point quickly (NO PIECE OF PAPER CAN TOUCH ANOTHER PIECE). We looked at the highlights and shades (student had to use at least two or three different colors). By the way, great project if you have a large box of scrap paper. Students picked the colors and...
Read more

Leonardo Da Vinci Flying Machines

-
Image
            Rocket Man             My fourth graders learned about Leonardo Da Vinci's many talents. I have to give mad props to my buddy Derek, an art teacher in Peshtigo WI (http://greatartdoors.blogspot.com/) for this lesson. Derek did this with his fourth graders (check out his blog) and used paper straws and other different materials. I used wood dowels, paper, string, twisty-ties, plates, hot glue, rice paper, cardboard, and plastic. I started the lesson by introducing the students to Da Vinci's many talents... science, military, and artist. We focused on his two studies on flight and their drawn models. The students examined the drawing, and then looked at drawn models from the Wright Brothers and airplane models drawn up till today. The students started by drawing their own blueprints showing a side, top, and front or back views. After their 2-D model was appr...
Read more

5th Grade Emphasis… Work In Progress

-
Image
My examples of layered art objects (top right), emphasis example (lower right), and colored object example.  My students are close to finishing their EMPHASIS project with an object observation. Students made a layered black and white drawing of two different art objects. They started by tracing each object with pencil, followed by a "still-life" observation drawing to fill in the inner lines and details of each object. The lesson makes students aware of where things are on the page. The layered affect adds depth to the composition. When the students finished the drawing, we talked about an emphasis, and added color to ONE item on the page. Students used colored pencil to add color to their item. We are still working on them at the moment, but I was excited to show them off. Finished projects are soon to follow. 
Read more