Marc Chagall Self Portraits

I've been thinking more and more about choice in the art room. I definitely try to strike a balance in my teaching philosophy and practice. After all elementary students need structure. They are still learning to use materials properly, the rules and procedures in the art room, and I have curriculum standards to fulfill.

And yet, student choice in the art room reveals a path to a wonderful variety of expression, lends itself to differentiation and increased student engagement. I am finding that when we talk about art, and artistic choices of famous artists, that students are inspired to make their own decisions in how and what they are making. This simple project turned into something magical for me and my 3rd graders as we learned about the art of Marc Chagall.

Our first look at some of Chagall's paintings observations like:
Some people are green, upside down, different sizes.
Some things are floating, or upside down.
Sometimes people or animals are shown as just a face, or their whole body.

We talk about how Chagall made choices as an artist to create his paintings in this way, and students were asked to think about the following: What can we do in our artwork to demonstrate that it is inspired by the work of Marc Chagall?
Show us three things that tell us about you
Create a self or family portrait or memory
Include people, buildings and nature (plants/animals)
Have images vary in size
Use non-realistic and bright colors
Add an unexpected image
Change the direction of objects
Floating or flying people/objects
Create a feeling of happiness
Include a favorite animal or pet

The three things that that tell me something about my students is required, and all of the other criteria work more like prompts. I don't expect every item to be addressed. Those three things are a great opportunity for me to learn a little more about each as we work and discuss our projects. The one thing I do dissuade my students from doing is writing words on their project. Some students are inclined to label things, or just write words instead of draw, so we talk about that as well.

We sketch ideas on a 4x6 piece of paper before moving on to 12x18. And then the process is pencil drawing, tracing lines carefully in sharpie, smaller areas in oil pastels, and painting larger areas in watercolor or pan tempera.

In having choices throughout this project, students care about what they creating. And when everyone's artwork is different, no one's choices are wrong. Here are some of my favorites!

Koi Fish Sculptures: Watch the Video Tutorial!

So it's a year of firsts, and I've tried my hand at making a video tutorial. Can I just say it is sooo much more difficult than it looks, but I hope to find it easier to accomplish as I continue. I also jumped into learning iMovie to edit things and make them fancy. I came up with this lesson for using Model Magic to create Koi Fish Sculptures last summer during my stint as a summer workshop teacher for my school district. 

The summer workshops for me are a great place to develop a lesson, to see which age groups it works best for, figure out what tools work best or what materials will be needed, how long the lesson may take etc. Not to mention, will the kids enjoy it? Will they all attain a level of satisfaction and success? Can early finishers assist those who need help, or who may have missed a class? These things are more important to me than the writing of the lesson plan. I know it's important, but it's a heck of a lot easier to explain in theory, when you have also accomplished the putting it into practice.  

This was also a lesson which helped me round out a ceramics and 3D workshop. The classes ran for 5 weeks, and towards the end, you just can't begin a ceramics project with no time left for drying, cycles in the kiln etc. Model Magic was a great option for the kids, and I am proud to say this lesson is all mine. I love this blogging community, and I love being inspired by all of your hard work! I am thankful to have the technology to research your successes and failures, and so happy to share this one with you.
 
I hope you get a chance to take a look. Enjoy!

EXTRA TIPS AND TRICKS: 

I’m not fond of using Model Magic in the hotter months, unless the art room is air conditioned. When it is hot, the material becomes soft too quickly.

A clean table top work surface is best, and reminders to students to pick up their projects now and then while working will prevent their projects from sticking. 

If you're creating this project in the classroom, I would plan for one class to introduce the lesson, a class to form the body (closing up projects in ziploc bags will keep them fresh for next time), and one to add colors and final details.

For drying time, I place projects on a layer of plastic wrap, let dry for a day or so, and then turn upside down or on it’s side for the last area to also dry out. A hard, stale marshmallow is kind of what you are looking for when it is completely dry.

If a piece was not properly attached, and falls off, I just hit it with a little bit of craft glue and it repairs nicely.

I attempted to give a finished piece a layer of Mod Podge to glaze it, and it was successful for me. Unfortunately, the little bit of extra time the kids took to paint a layer of Mod Podge over their projects caused the Model Magic to release it's color and bleed into the Mod Podge. Now Crayola does sell a glaze specifically for this purpose, but not in amounts for the classroom, so I haven't given it a try.

This subject matter lends itself to cross-curricular learning! Think anatomy, life cycle, or environment of fish, Asian art and culture, and so on. Not to mention, I used these sculptures for a collaborative lesson and display, which I will share soon! Make sure to check in and see it. Cheers!

Woven Space Invaders

Upper elementary and middle school students recently discussed the art of weaving and its parallels to computer technology and video game design. We talked bout how comparing the look of classic arcade video games to today's games demonstrates the advancement in technology for many aspects of our lives. 

This is a great lesson for weaving, art and technology history, careers in art, or you could also touch upon Invader, the international graffiti artist. I found the idea for this lesson at Minieco Tutorials, where there are lots of modern paper design projects as well as lots of other cool stuff.

I had examples of Space Invaders for my students to chose as reference, and they created a weaving using their own color choices. Then I asked them to design their own creation. For these original designs, we worked on graph paper and paid attention to symmetry and color. Students also had to figure out ways to make more than one color appear on a single row, and how to come up with an effective design with limited amount of space and color choices.

Fauvism Landscapes

In the fall I introduced the 3rd graders to the "Wild Beasts" of France. We looked at examples of work by artists like Henri Matisse and Andre Derain, and noticed the non-realistic colors of their landscapes. I also reminded them that their paintings should have a foreground, a middle ground, and a background.

This was one of the funniest experiences during my full-time gig last fall. In one class, as we talked about what makes a landscape, one boy asked me if he could paint a desert. I said, sure, the desert is a landscape, with dunes and sand, the sky etc. Another child asked if he could do the beach. Of course! The shore, the sand and sky could all make a landscape scene.

As we worked on our projects I returned to the table with the desert landscape student. In the middle of his desert scene was a man who lay dead of dehydration. I told him that people live in the desert in many parts of the world without dying.

Then I visited the sea shore landscape. In the ocean was a shark jumping out of the surface of the water and devouring a swimmer. "Why all of the peril?" I asked the boys. I received devilish grins in return. Honestly, I love the fact that the kids were hesitant to make choices about what kind of landscape they would picture, but had no qualms about the death and destruction they would place within their landscapes! Ahh, boys...

Here are a few of my favorites, sans the drama. Enjoy!