Native American Art

Students get to try their hand at Native American sand printing and patterns in this lesson. Students are introduced to various Native American patterns, which are generally very symmetrical. Students are given a piece of sand paper and white paper. Students create and color a pattern onto the sand paper. When they finish, and with the aid of a teacher, students iron their white paper over the sandpaper, printing or replicating the pattern on the sand paper. This is a great, fun way of incorporating Native American art into the classroom!

Me, Myself, and My Intials

Can you see the M.M.?In this activity, based on collage extraordinaire Pablo Picasso, students are asked to bring in either ten magazine ads or pictures of themselves from birth to present. Students take two pieces of construction paper and trace their initials on the first piece. Students then cut out so they are left with negative of their initials. Students then trace the negative outline on the second piece of paper. Students fill the tracing with pictures from magazines or their personal photos. Finally, the students glue their first piece with the cut-out initials onto the construction paper collage, so the collage shows through their initials. Teachers could do this with spelling words by having students write the word out and fill in with ads or drawings of what the word means or as a holiday piece.

Sketchbooks

In this activity, we painted a large sheet of paper any way we wanted. When it dried, we cut it in two pieces and glued it to card board and folded each over cardboard, almost like wrapping a present. Next, we evenly aligned the two pieces with computer paper. We then drilled 6 holes at the top. Then, we bounded it using a large needle and floss. The positive thing with this activity is students can completely personalize their sketchbook. Students may get frustrated with the actual binding, as doing it correctly is rather complicated. Extensions of this piece may include journaling, documenting experiments, and writing and illustrating a picture book. Teachers may even hand out worksheets in advance for a unit and students can bind them together to keep track.

Clay Day!

The clay activity was divided into three parts. In the first, we were blindfolded, the lights were turned off, soft music played, and we were read Pat Reese's narrative to go along with this activity. We were told to create whatever came to mind and release our energy into the clay. This routine is often used as therapy and may be a great way for calming students, gaining their attention, and subtracting competition. Next, we were allowed to simply play with the clay and to create something that's making sound, or motion. This was the most challenging. I began my own trying to create waves pounding on shore, yet it somehow turned into a beating heart. This added art elements. This project would make a great extension in a class such as physics, physical science, or biology for ages Kindergarten through college. Finally, we created pinch pots. This simple activity gave us the oppurtunity to combine all we did this semester as far as color, shape, texture, lines, etc. I created a star with the etchings of a sand dollar in the middle. In this case, we used Crayola air-dry clay, however in older groups, heat-baked clay would work and younger ages could utilize this with non-drying clay. The only con in this activity was clean up, as the clay tends to stick to the desk. However, this is a MUST for any age and any kind of student. This is a creative outlet for all subjects; students can form numbers, letters, problems, three dimensional projects, or even mold it while the teacher reads aloud to improve reading comprehension.

Etch-a-Sketch

In this activity, we traced a drawing we already had created onto this to create a neater version of what we had. I created the flower I love to draw. We traced the top of our original drawings with a wooden, leadless pencil. This took the ink on the etch-a-sketch paper off, revealing the negative version of our drawings. My flower features a green outline, though this paper comes in other colors such as blue and pink. This project was fun and relaxing, yet reshading the flower to make it look life-like again was challenging. This project would be great for students who are not confident in replicating their artwork but need practice. Extensions include tracing shapes or vocabulary words in other classes, or notes for that matter, for repitition and storing information into memory.

Lynda Lowe: Lexicon Collages

Top left to right:

Amazing: Adjective: Causing great surprise or sudden wonder.

Confident: Adjective: Having full assurance and strong self belief.

Drupe: Verb: To hang low.

Metamorphous: Adjective: Changed in structure or composition as a result of metamorphism. Used of rock.

Inspired by artist Lynda Lowe's collaborative work with colleague Georgina Nehl's Lexicon collage, each person in the class was assigned four words. We were to personally define each word and paint, or use a wet medium, a background we felt described the word. We traded our work with our classmates. Our classmates and I added dry mediums such as chalk, pastels, charcoal, and oil pastels to elaborate and emphasize the words. We traded again and either found a representative photograph of our words in magazines or found one online to print make. Print making requires the artist to place their picture face down and paint orange degreaser over the image, then pressing down to transfer the image. Finally, we traded back for our originals to see what our class made of it. We were allowed to make any changes we wanted so we enjoyed our final pieces! Extensions of this project include making science "scenes" such as a grasshopper in its natural environment, learning vocabulary words, working as a team, and endless others. This project is great for inspiring others such as peers, learning in a unique, hands-on way, and finding a creative outlet. Some cons may come about if students disagree with what their peers decide to add to a project that may mean a lot of them, yet a teachable moment as far as conflict resolution goes. The project also requires considerable time, however can be tweaked to fit into the schedule. Overall, this is a great project to be used at any grade level for many things! Below are images and definitions of my 3 other collages.