In the art room, the 3rd graders were introduced to the Israeli artist and illustrator Hanoch Piven who creates awesome collage portraits with assorted ephemera that is often related to the person he is recreating inspired by his art and the research they did on their chosen character, the students created mixed media portraits of their character. They drew and painted parts of it and also used computer images and other collage items like fabric, foam, sequins, buttons.
The 3rd graders made hamantaschen-shaped noisemakers out of clay. The process was similar to baking hamantashen---We rolled out the clay and cut a circle for the base. They formed a smaller bowl-shape for the “filling,” added a few clay balls for the noisemakers, flipped it over and then folded up and pinched three edges to form the triangular cookie. In the next class the kids could either use ceramic glaze or watercolor paint to decorate their groggers.
The 3rd graders enhance their study of the Solar System by drawing planets in the art room with craypas and adding stars with metallic paint. We talked about the relative sizes and colors of the planets. They used recycled cardboard, and their imaginations, to build rocket-ships.
The
third graders examined the shapes and details of city buildings for a
printmaking unit. They made drawings which they transferred onto pieces
of foam to create a printing plate. From these plates, the students
were able to print multiple images of their cityscape. While some
students were printing, others were collaging paper cities, drawing
borders for their prints and hand coloring some of their other prints. I
also took photos of the students which they added to their collages
for a book of all their City Art.
The students looked at various
sky and sea paintings ranging from the 19th Century European JMW
Turner and John Constable to Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper. The children drew
a horizon line to separate the sea from sky, added land and then painted in
tempera. They chose the weather and time of day for their scenes. Afterward we studied
lighthouses, taking note of their shape and construction. The children each
drew a lighthouse to add to their scene along with boats and other exciting objects.
We
looked at Gold
Fish painted by Henri Matisse in 1911.
The students drew fish using craypas, and then watercolored fish bowls. They
used tempera paint to make a patterned background to give the illusion of a
room with depth. They also created a table using wallpaper. Finally, all the
pieces were assembled and some students chose to add greenery, similar to
Matisse’s composition.
The third graders painted a quilt in honor of the wonderful author and illustrator Patricia Polacco's visit to our school. The students divided a square and painted each section. Then they added patterns and stitch work with craypas. These were all mounted together and hung behind our special guest.
We looked at the art of
artist Louise Nevelson. She assembled Abstract sculptures from found objects on the streets and in junkyards.
These assemblages, created with recycled treasures, are inspired by her.
