Fourth Grade Projects From My Long-Term Sub Gig

Here are some of the projects from my long-term sub gig that appear in the collage here so that you had a bit more info on them...ENJOY!! For the background about where I've been/what I've been doing lately, scroll to the end of the post...

Ahhh...Monet's waterlilies--what's not to love?
For details on this project, scroll on down...

Fourth Grade Projects From My Long-Term Sub Gig:

Week 1: Winter Assemblage (1 day) Full post here.

A getting-to-know-you project inspired by Louise Nevelson.

Students worked individually or with a partner to create a folded paper “box.” Students then used strips of paper and various paper folding techniques to create a dimensional relief inspired by winter. Individual student work was mounted together to create a whole-class composition displayed in the artroom.

What a fun project--it ended up being a great whole-grade
project and allowed students to collaborate--something I'm a HUGE fan of! 

Week 2 through 4: Monet Relief Landscapes (2 days) An alternate form of this project can be found here.
Inspired by Monet’s Waterlily paintings

Students used oil pastels with short strokes or color to create the “impression” of the water, vegetation and flowers seen in Monet’s gardens. The "base" for these pictures was a 4" x 6" index card from the dollar store (cheap!).

On week two, students could add dimensional details to their work such as tissue paper water lilies. Pieces were mounted onto mat board and presentation was discussed. I had picked up some mat board scraps that were sized perfectly for this project. Check around your area to see if you can find a framer who'll give you some scraps--mounting students' finished work really makes a difference (and "presenting" is part of the National Common Core Arts Standards!)

These came out so nice! I had wanted to do a display of them for the hallway (complete with a HUGE postcard from Monet), but I was afraid little fingers would pick off the lily pad tissue paper flowers--and many of the students wouldn't part with them and wanted to take them home ASAP!)--that is also why I don't have lots of examples of their work (I can't teach and take photos at the same time!).

While I encouraged students to add tissue paper water lilies,
I didn't force them. I love how graphic this bridge it--
it really stands out!

This is one of my favorites. I love the addition of the fish--
it looks like a koi pond.

Students needed to completely cover the white of the card
and use MANY colors in every section. 

Week 5 and 6: I am a STAR Project From the great Cassie Stephens, y'all

We talked about what makes us special (a.k.a. a "STAR"). Students created a folded 3D paper star and used Sharpie to add designs to each section of their star. They then used markers to add color to each section. 

Once they were done their star, students used metallic markers to write why they are a star (why they are special) onto the background paper. Once the star was adhered to the background, students used chalk pastels to add accent colors to their background. 

I don't have any picts of the stars the students did,
but here's the "test" one I did with my daughter who is in kindergarten.

The fourth graders didn't get quite as much art time with me as the other grade levels did. One week, they were on field trips another week I was at the NAEA conference in Chicago. Bummed about that, but I enjoyed getting to know them and creating art with them!

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Backstory for this post:

So, it's been a busy Spring for me since I finished student teacherin' in December--I subbed a bit in preschool, kindergarten, elementary and high school and then landed a wonderful 6 1/2 weeks long-term sub gig at an elementary school nearby teaching art to grades K-5. What a blast I had--the students and staff at Fairgrounds rock and I was sad to go (it's hard to stop doing something you love when your next big thing isn't settled upon yet). Since then, I haven't blogged much because I've been daily subbing and working on my dang art teacher portfolio (more on that in a future post or ten). Check the sidebar (over on the right side of the blog) for other posts in this series (k-5 at Fairgrounds Elementary School). ENJOY!!

Starry Night, Step-By-Step

Van Gogh is one of the world's most famous artists and it seems that every art educator has his/her own projects already with which they introduce this fabulous artist. There are so many great projects out there and van Gogh's body of work is so large that it was hard for me to choose just one van Gogh-inspired project to do with my Modern Art class. I finally chose van Gogh's "Starry Night." While this is by no means a new and innovative project, I thought it was great. This is how I tackled it with my students:

The basic elements of a Starry Night: sky, buildings, hill, and tree.

We looked at a couple of books about the artist and noticed all of the colors he used in his paintings. We noted that sometimes his color choices didn't even make sense, like when he painted a sky pink! How unusual! We also noticed how he used little dashes or short brush strokes to add color and that our eyes mixed the colors in these areas. These short brush strokes also created movement in his work (similar to how the repetitive lines in our Degas pieces created movement). We also saw that he used VERY thick application of paint in his work--sometimes spreading the paint with a little spatula called a palette knife. WOW!

Poor Vincent sold very few paintings and drawings during his lifetime, because people of the 1890's didn't quite appreciate his vibrant colors. Today his paintings are some of the most famous and most beloved in the world (and sell for millions).

We looked closely at van Gogh's Starry Night and talked about our observations. We then had reproductions of the painting in front of us so we could see how van Gogh would create each section: sky, hill, tree, and buildings. Using the real painting as a guide allows the children to really see the work and bring their own pieces to another level. The children were required to use AT LEAST THREE COLORS in every section they were creating. That pushed them to think of color combos that would work for each section. Some of their color choices were amazing and inspiring.

Van Gogh-Inspired Starry Night

Supplies:

• Reproduction of van Gogh's "Starry Night"
• One 9" x 12" piece of watercolor paper
• Masking Tape
• Cardboard to tape the watercolor paper to
• Gold and silver star stickers
• Crayons 
• Watercolor paints & brush
• Water bucket & paper towels
• Construction paper rectangles: Dark blue, 4 1/2" x 12"; Brown, 4" x 9"; Black, 4 1/2" x 6"
• Scissors
• Glue stick

Directions:

1. Tape the watercolor paper to the cardboard on all sides so that the paper doesn't buckle when wet.

2. Use the crayon to draw a moon on the watercolor paper. Make sure your crayon marks are nice a heavy because we'll be adding washes of watercolor and you want them to show up through the watercolor paint.

3. Put 5-6 silver and gold stars on the watercolor paper in the sky area. 

4. Use your crayons to add swirls and dashes all around the moon and stars. Use "Starry Night" as reference. Use at least three colors in these light areas.

5. Use dashes in the dark "blue" area of the sky. Use at least three colors in this sky area. Don't color in the entire sky area with crayon, you'll be filling in the sky in the next step. Keep pressing firmly with the crayon.

6. Once your entire sky has all of the dashes and swirls you want on it, use watercolors to add a yellow glow around the stars and moon. If the yellow is too much for you, dab the paint on the paper with a piece of paper towel. Then add blue paint to the rest of the sky. You can blend the yellow and blue areas of the sky to make a bit of green (that seems to happen in van Gogh's piece). Cover the entire paper with watercolor. The bottom couple of inches will be covered by your construction paper hills, but you don't want to have a gap where the sky ends and your hills begin. Set the sky aside to dry.

7. Create the ground: grab your dark blue construction paper rectangle (4 1/2" x 12"). Use a dark crayon to draw the hills for your painting. Using additional crayons, add dashes of color (at least three colors!) to the hills. You can use a bit of watercolor in streaks as well, but don't soak the paper. Cut the hills out and set aside.

8. Create the cypress tree: grab your brown construction paper rectangle (4" x 9"). Use a dark crayon to draw the tree for your painting. Using additional crayons, add dashes of color (at least three colors!) to the tree. You can use a bit of watercolor in streaks as well, but don't soak the paper. Cut the tree out and set aside.

9. Create the buildings: same deal as steps 7 & 8 above, but use the black paper rectangle (4 1/2" x 6"). You can use at least three colors here as well. The watercolor streaks and crayon will show up on the back paper. I had the children do at least two buildings. Cut them out and set aside.

10. Once your background is dry, glue the hill, tree, and buildings to it.

WOW! You're done! Great job!

FOUND! Antique Mexican Metal Ornaments

Wow! Look what a good friend of mine brought me today: three beautiful little metal ornaments from Mexico! Ornaments like these are the inspiration for my Mexican Folk Art Ornaments I posted in December. My friend found them in an antique shop in Massachusetts. Two have the tags on them and say "House of Openheim, C. Juarez, Mexico" and are priced for 25 cents and 39 cents. The other is stamped with "Mexico." All of them are colorful and have some amount of tooling. How great!

I love to have real examples of artwork for the children to touch and examine and these are perfect! I'm sure they will inspire my students the next time I present this project. Thanks to my friend Karen for thinking of me and my students!

Bell, Angel & Star Mexican Folk Art Metal Ornaments

And...the ornaments made by my students!