Hawaiian Watercolor

For this lesson we brought a little bit of Hawaii to South Dakota. We began this lesson by learning and practicing the different techniques of water coloring. We then choose two different techniques of water coloring, and made our "masterpiece". At the time we felt rushed to get our masterpiece done, but this was to give it time to dry. The next step was to get out colorful construction paper for our flowers. We used a flower pattern and then cut out the flowers, but an older grade could make their own flowers as well. We were assigned to cut out twenty four flowers from all different colors and cut straws into twenty four one to two inch straw pieces. Then we used a bobby pin to assist us in stringing the flowers onto the string. For every flower there needed to be a straw. We learned many Hawaiian words that added to the fun, tropical feel to the assignment. For an extension activity the students could look more into Hawaiian culture and write a short research story or a story about a make believe trip to Hawaii. 

"Pau!"

Coil Pots 


For this lesson we worked with clay. The first step was to kneed the clay to eliminate air bubbles. Once that we complete we took a small portion of the clay and made it into the bottom of our pot. We scored the edges so the coils could nicely wrap around it. The next step was to roll out the coils evenly and smoothly. We could roll out each coil one by one, or have one long coil that spiraled up to form the pot. This was the most complicated part of the project, because the coils were hard to roll out evenly. Each time we added a new coil, we smoothed out the inside of the pot. We were instructed to have primary and secondary colors on our pot along with some personal design. I choose to use five different colors to represent the five people in my family and our unique personalities. I also carved the first letter of my family members names into my clay pot before it dried. My family is extremely important to me. I also painted a sun and a cloud on the inside of my pot to represent my love for summer and the out doors. An extension activity would be to go over different forms of pottery and their history. Working with clay and using a kiln would be a great option too. 

Eye Popping into "Who Ville"

   For this lesson we were inspired by Dr. Seuss! In Dr. Seuss' books, his illustrations are curvy, straight, bendy, swirly, jagged, and loopy all on one page. We created our own "villes" that resemble something that could be in Dr. Seuss' books. The first step was to back the white piece of paper because once the gluing process starts it would be hard to do so. We then reviewed various bends and folds of construction paper and reviewed how to glue them to a sheet of paper. We were instructed to have three different folds and at least seven pieces of paper in our assigned colors (warm, cool, or complimentary.)  I did a complimentary colored 3-D design entitled "Christmas Gone Wrong!" An extension activity would be to continue to make up a town. Write about who lives in this town, what  stores are located there, and how they town came about. This could incorporate many different curriculum areas such as math and history. 

Railroad Printmaking


   For this lesson we began by carving a design of our choice into a rectangular piece of styrofoam. We then used a roller to apply paint onto the rectangular piece and pressed it three times on construction paper. While the print was drying, we drew a railroad scene. We connected our railroad scene to South Dakota by having it filled with a South Dakota item such as coal or corn. The railroad was a part of our South Dakota history and we could continue with this by researching our history of the railroad even more. We could also research the progress of the railroad and how it has improved throughout history.

Spring Time Watercolor Activity

     The picture above was a fun, and creative way for students to use water color and oil pastels. First, we used the light colored oil pastel and drew flowers onto the paper. We did this by using blind drawing (we could not see the paper we were drawing on), but it could be used for younger children without the blind drawing. After we drew 3 flowers we picked the colors of the watercolors to use and painted over top of the drawings. Since the flowers were done in a light color such as white or light blue, we could see the outline of the flowers through the watercolors. 
    An extension activity could be to increase the grade level and the difficulty of the project. We could have the students study a picture of a flower or animal. After they study that picture and practice drawing that picture, they could use the same light colored pastel or white crayon and blindly draw the picture onto a white background. Then use watercolors that represent that flower or animal. I think the blind drawings is a great technique to incorporate into the older students activity. 

Hoppy For Plaid!

     During this project we focused on complimentary colors and lines. We first practice painting vertical and horizontal lines. Then we talked all about plaid and the lines that it is made up of. We read a great book that talked about all the places we could find plaid in our every day lives. Proceeding the book we used the light color (red in my case) and painted horizontal lines of all sizes on it. Then we used the other color(green) and painted vertical lines of all sizes once the red was dry. After the paint was completely dry we received a pattern of a bunny and traced in onto the back side of the paper. We then cut it out and glued the pieces onto a colored background. Then we added details such as the cotton ball tail, and the face drawn on with black marker.
    An extension activity we could do with this is incorporate this into language arts by having the students write a poem or a story about their bunny and how they got the "plaid" disease. Writing a poem would be for the younger students and the story would be for the older students. Once the poem or story is done they students could again use the horizontal and vertical lines to make a plaid background for the students to mount their language arts assignment on. 

Marbled Sightseeing 


     This weeks lesson we did some sight seeing! We were each given a famous landmark from various places around the world. My location being Great Sphinx in Giza, Egypt. We then drew our location onto a piece of white paper and traced it was a black permanent marker. Once the drawing was complete, we cut around our picture. The next step was to put shaving cream onto the bottom of a large pan and smooth it out. Then with adding drops of three adjacent onto the shaving cream. I took a wooden comb and pulled the paint droppings through the shaving cream creating a marbled look. I then placed my drawing into the shaving cream face down. Next, I pulled my drawing from the shaving cream and with a straight edge I wiped away the excess shaving cream. This left a marbled paint affect onto my picture. Once the picture was dry, I added a colored boarder and a name tag to identify my drawing. This project is a project I would love to do in my classroom. 



An extension activity would be for the students to research their landmark and write a poem based on what they find. After the poem is written, we could put that poem to a beat or a rhythm.