Artistic Freedom

            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...

  Student still-life drawings     Student still-life drawings   Students still-life drawings   Colored (1 of 4)   Colored ( 1of 4 ) Finished work... The four copies put together My third graders created their own still-life drawings from objects found in our classroom. The students spent a full class rotating from table to table drawing different objects at each table for 5 minute intervals. The second class the students spent 15 minutes on a warm-up drawing, and then 25 minutes on a final draft drawing. The students started drawing the tallest image first to make sure that objects being drawn would take up most of the paper. We talked about horizon lines and the fact that a round bottle doesn't have a straight / flat bottom. The students finished the drawing, and I took them to the copier and  made four copies of each. The students came in the next class and were introduced to pop art and Andy Warhol... after ...

   From toilet paper rolls to paper mache covered animals    Cheetah (student wanted to make the cheetah look like it was running)   Penguin  Giraffe  Horse My second grade finished off the year with a 3-D project with animals. The classroom teacher came to me over a month ago with an idea to work together and create a lesson that coincided with her animal unit. With only a limited amount of time (four 45 minute classes) I stayed away from clay and decided to attack it with paper mache. We started out with a 2-D drawing of the animal (students brought in books and pictures found). The second class we all started out with a half of a Pringles can and six toilet paper tubes. The students figured out how they would use the given supplies to create their designs. With the penguin and fish I allowed the students to use a full Pringles can. Using tape the students connected each piece to the "center body" Pringles can. The ...

  My girlfriend Maggie and I sitting in front of our teepee campsite...   Inside the teepee     With one day left of school, I spent the Memorial Day weekend relaxing in front of a fire listening to some good tunes. We stayed in a National Forest campground only ten miles from my apartment. It was so close, that the idea of getting away seemed like cheating. The campsite we settled on was a Teepee site in a nice secluded area. We had a great time, and the site was so awesome that the fact that it was only ten minutes from our apartment didn't matter. Three days of relaxation and I am ready for the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL tomorrow!

            End of the year fun... The kindergarten made the background with tissue paper and watered down glue the first class, ... second class we painted a plastic fish with paint. The students pressed the tissue covered paper over the top of the fish and pressed down / rubbed the fish. The student went crazy when they lifted the paper and saw the imprint of the fish. I am teaching an "Under the Ocean" summer school class this summer and wanted to test this fish idea out with the students. Pretty happy with the results. Had some difficulties with students pushing the paper as they rubbed the fish down. Helped when I put the paper down and held it in place as they rubbed. I will show the summer school pictures when I finish.

    I worked with the fifth grade teachers for this lesson. My fifth grade classes were making all about me books in their classroom. We created  a FRONT and BACK cover for their books. On the front is a self portrait from the front, and the back cover is surprisingly the BACK of their head. The front is your standard self-portrait, but the students learned a ton about the back of their. I had girls drawing themselves with their hair down and their neck showing, and boys with hair higher than their ears on their back... didn't foresee this ahead of the project. The students learned a lot, and so did their teacher.  We drew the pictures with pencil and then finished them with colored pencil. 

          CASTLES!!!! I covered my architecture standard with a lesson on castles. I did not re-invent the wheel on this one, but I brought in over 15 books on castles from all over the world. The students were exposed to castles and palaces from England, India, France, China to Afghanistan... the students combined multiple styles to make their own castle design. My rules were: horizon line, hills in background, color scheme, and NO SUNS! The students had fun and learned a lot about brick and rock drawing. Enjoy the pics! Best quote from a second grader this year: "Mr L. castles are way cooler to draw than barns and sheds like we did last year!"

            I introduced the students to the artist Henry Matisse and the Fauvist movement. We talked about the colors Matisse used in the painting and portrait "Woman With A Hat." I had collected a number of apple and orange cartons since I student taught in 2010 with the help of my Cooperating teacher Deb (Thank you!). The students painted the cartons all one color. The next class we talked about drawing the face, and ended the class by awkwardly drawing it onto the carton. The students drew lines on the face breaking it into multiple sections that would allow them to paint multiple colors. They spent the next two classes painting. My only requirement for color was to put green somewhere on the face near the nose. The students really enjoyed the looseness of the lesson, and how it wasn't all about making the portrait realistic. I would have ended the lesson by outlining the face with black sharpie marker, but we r...

    My fifth grade art club just finished their final project of the year with a lesson on clay, self-portraits, and clay slabs. They created these slab people in four classes (we meet once a week). We made stencils out of paper and used them to cut out basic body / clothing shapes out of clay. The students carved in the detail on the face and clothing and then used water color to paint the clay in its bisque form. We covered the pieces in a shiny clear varnish and connected the pieces with pipe cleaners and wooden and plastic beads. The students had a blast and the slab people were fun to make and are fun to look at.  I want to give a shout out to my cooperating teacher Deb for the idea when I was student teaching two years ago... Thanks!