Paper Making, Calligraphy, Printing Galore!

Our students have started a sculpture unit this semester. 

The first project we started was handmade paper. The kids really enjoyed getting messy and hands-on with this! 

We started by collecting recycled fibers such as discarded pieces of paper, scraps of lint, cardboard, anything fibrous! We added some pieces of colored scrap paper to the mix, and blended it together in the blender. Students helped me throw the scraps in and watched in wonder as it turned to a gooey pulp. See the video below for the full process! 

I handed out chunks of pulp and allowed students to manipulate it into a flat sheet of wet paper like they do in the factories (we watched a video to see how the professionals do it!) We had to let the paper dry for about a week. 

First grade painted some beautiful Chinese calligraphy on their paper. We talked about how paper making and calligraphy is an art form in this culture. We also talked about how each character is symbolic. Students could chose to paint either "Peace", "Love", or "Happy". 

Peyton, 1st grade

Gissele, 1st grade

Peyton, 1st grade

2nd through 5th grade used the printmaking process to create a stamp from foam printing plates. We used pens and pencils to make groves in the foam plates.  Wherever they pressed with the pen or pencil, the ink would print.

 The students learned about symmetry and asymmetry, radial lines, use of pattern, and what tools are used in printmaking. We used a brayer to roll the ink onto our printing plates. The printing plates became like a stamp (once you put it on your paper, you can't move it!) 

These prints turned out great!

Our Family Traditions

In art, we have been talking about how a tradition is a custom, act, or belief that is handed down from generation to generation or carried on from year to year. A tradition can be a game night every month, a special family celebration at the holidays, or an annual family trip. We painted our own traditions in art.  Below are some of the artworks from Sonora scholars. 

1st grade student in Ms. Gower's class

4th grade student in Ms. Worthy's class

3rd grade student in Ms. Butler's class

5th grade student in Mr. Scalf's class

5th grade student in Ms. Strange's class

4th grade student in Ms. Hampson's class

4th grade student in Ms. Hampson's class

4th grade student in Ms. Hampson's class

1st grade student in Ms. Nelson's class

5th grade student in Ms. Strange's class

5th grade student in Ms. Strange's class

1st grade student in Ms. Gower's class

3rd grade student in Ms. Butler's class

5th grade student in Ms. Strange's class

2nd grade student in Ms. House's class

1st grade student in Ms Nelson's class

1st grade student in Ms. Nelson's class

Color Gallery

We recently finished our last color unit project. Students were challenged in the last week to write a  content goal as a class about what they were learning through the project. Even the youngest grades excelled through this! You can watch a small video clip at the bottom of this blog of students leading other students through this. 

Scroll to see finished works with some reflections written by the students themselves. 

To read more about the concepts students were exploring, visit my last blog here.

Fourth grade student, Mrs. Spurlock's class
"The lady is talking to the love of her life. She is at home and they are planning their wedding. She is just sitting at home. My strength in my painting is the drawing part because I am a really good drawer. My weakness in my painting is the painting part, because I accidentally mixed colors."

5th Grade student, Mrs. Strange/Favorite's class

4th Grade student in Mrs. How's class
"The lady is getting a haircut and she is wondering if it looks good or bad. The scissors are making a snipping sound and the lady's hair is on her shirt, but she can't see what her actual hair looks like. I could improve my work by putting the dots closer together in the girl's head and trying to stay in the lines."

Student in Mrs. Worthy's 4th grade class
"My painting is about a man getting prank calls from someone, that only says "Banana!" I am good at painting and drawing phones. I could improve on the man and the door, and probably the background."

Student in Mrs. Worthy's 4th grade class
"The first guy says, 'Dude, dogs and cats were never friends,' and the second guy says, 'See for yourself!' The dog and cat are actually friends. The, the guy says, 'That's ironic!' In my comic, I'm good at drawing Pikachu- see!"

4th grade student in Mrs. Spurlock's Class
"In my narrative they all meet up at Steak and Shake to eat, and the fries say, 'Hi', the shake says, 'What's shaken bacon,' he says, 'Nothin' much,' and the burger says, 'Hey I'm down here!' My strengths are thinking of an idea. I can improve my drawing by having lessons."

4th Grade student in Mrs. Worthy's class

5th Grade student in Mr. Scalf's class

4th Grade student in Mrs. Hampson's class

1st grade student, Mrs. Reed's class

3rd Grade student from Mrs. Coffman's class

1st grade student from Miss. Peter's class

3rd Grade student from Mrs. Risley's class

Worker Bees

The last few weeks, our students have been working hard on their projects. 

First, second and third grade has been working on their cats inspired by American Artist Laurel Burch, using warm and cool colors. I challenge you to ask your students at home what these warm and cool colors are! They have been exceeding my expectations with their knowledge each week. Some classes painted their cats using cool shapes and warm skin, some painted warm shapes and cool skin. 
Next week, we will be finishing these by adding a background.

Student work from Mrs. Sandy's 2nd grade class

Student work from Mrs. Sandy's 2nd grade class

Student work from Mrs. Sandy's 2nd grade class

 

Fourth and fifth grade has been working on their comic squares inspired by modern artist Roy Lichtenstein. They are outlining and starting to paint mainly using the three primary colors as Lichtenstein did. Each comic is required to have a narrative, or a series of events happening within their picture, using text.
Lichtenstein used tiny painted dots for his characters' skin, so we are using tiny dots for our skin as well. 

They could use a thought bubble, word bubble, or sound bubble. We talked about onomatopoeias, and how they can be used for the sound bubbles with words like "BANG", "SIZZLE", or "OINK". 

Next week, we will continue painting our comic squares.  

Student work from Mrs. Strange's 4th grade class

Student work from Mrs. Hampson's 4th grade class

Student work from Mrs. Strange's 4th grade class