Time to Play

Nowadays, teachers are pressed to squeeze in as much instruction as possible before their students take their standardized tests. As a result, many children don't have big chunks of time to just creatively experiment or self-explore. Even in teaching art, I feel pressed for instructional time when I only see students for 45 minutes per week. Every once in a while, I'll give my students a free choice day, in which they choose their materials & there are no rules on what they make. A while back, I handed my kindergarteners & first graders some paper and just told them to "make it pretty". They were SO engaged & what they made was truly beautiful! Seriously, I'd frame some of these! I was reminded of the importance of giving children time to play. Please read this amazing article by The Art of Ed on this subject :]

P.S. We later turned these pretty papers into beautiful Eric Carle inspired collages!

  

 

2nd Grade Monochromatic Ice Cream Scoops!

Faubion's 2nd graders have learned an awful lot about color theory this year! They could tell you all about primary, secondary, & tertiary colors, as well as the difference between warm & cool colors. Most recently, they discovered how to create tints & shades by adding different amounts of white & black paint to any color. They created a set of monochromatic ice cream scoops (plus a waffle cone!) & then cut/glued them down onto a long, skinny paper. For their background, students picked paper that was the complimentary color of their ice cream scoops. I really love how Pop Art-esque these fun, colorful artworks turned out! Well done, 2nd grade!

  

Tree Weavings on Landscape Looms

Faubion's students completed these beautiful tree weavings just in time for Mother's Day! Weaving projects are so delightful, because there's something therapeutic about the tactile, repetitive process of it. Not to mention my heart would swell every time I overheard a student use important weaving vocabulary like weft, warp, or loom. To make these beauties, the students painted a landscape of their choice onto their looms & cut notches around the edge for the warp yarn. This yarn became the tree trunk and branches within the landscape. Students then added the weft yarn (in any color!) & began to "weave the leaves" across the branches. Most students stuck with the traditional tabby stitch, but some ventured into using the soumak stitch. Don't they look amazing?!

 

  

Pinwheels for Peace

A while back, all students at Faubion did an art project based around the theme of "peace". 4th grade created these colorful & unique pinwheels with symbols & imagery of what "peace" means specifically to them. Some pinwheels had clear expressions of activities & actions that make the student feel peaceful, while others were more abstract, with calming color schemes & patterns. After being displayed as a giant peace sign, these Pinwheels for Peace were attached to dowels before being sent home :]

 

  

3rd Grade Van Gogh Sunflowers

Faubion's 3rd graders learned about Van Gogh when they made mosaic recreations of his paintings. They loved his artwork & were fascinated by the sad story of his life. We delved even further by reading "Van Gogh & the Sunflowers" before making this project. The students learned about watercolor techniques and color-mixing when painting their vases and backgrounds. We discussed the differences between two-dimensional and three-dimensional artworks, and then painted two-dimensional sunflowers on the paper. To create the three-dimensional flowers, the students cut & shaped recycled egg cartons before painting them & gluing them onto the paper. These are a beautiful springtime addition to the Faubion hallway!

  

  

"Swimmy" Printmaking Project!

  

  

Kindergarteners at Faubion and Irvington Schools read "Swimmy" and learned about Leo Lionni's printmaking technique to make the beautiful illustrations in the book. First, they created their blue & purple watery backgrounds by blowing bubbles through a straw into soapy paint water. They LOVE "catching" the bubbles onto their paper, treating the bubbles like stamps. Next, students used homemade stamps (sponges, doilies, & curlers) to create prints of fish, seaweed, & other imagery from the book. They're even more beautiful in person! Faubion's artwork is on display in the kindergarten hallway & in the photos above. Irvington's artwork can be seen outside room 108A & in the photos below :]

 

 

Mixed Media Rainbow Fish!

Faubion's 1st graders read the book "The Rainbow Fish" (one of my favorites!) & learned about Marcus Pfister's illustrations. We discussed how he used geometric shapes to draw his fish & the cool colors - various shades of blue, green, & purple - to color his underwater scenes. The little artists used crayons to draw the fish & mixed together tempera paint for the background, remembering to stick with mostly cool colors. The final step (& this is always their favorite part!) is adding GLITTER!!! The students selected their favorite scales on which they added glue & silver glitter to complete the artwork :] Check out these awesome Rainbow Fishies in the Faubion Writing Gallery hallway!

4th grade totem pole animals!

WOW!!! I am absolutely astounded by how 4th grade's totem pole collages turned out! Whenever I teach this lesson, most students pick simpler "safe" animals, like a lion or puppy, but not Irvington's artists! These students took creative risks & it certainly paid off :] Snakes, pigs, sharks, giraffes, & peacocks are not normally seen in that stylized, totem pole fashion, but they look spectacular!

So how did we make them? We looked at many pictures of totem poles & discussed the reasons & process for making them. Aesthetically, students pointed out that the totem animals normally have basic color schemes, symmetrical balance, & are made of geometric shapes. We also talked about how animals can represent certain personality traits & then we wondered which animals would represent each of us. After deciding, the 4th graders practiced drawing a stylized version of their animal on paper, & then got started on the collage. You can see these amazing totem poles on display in the Irvington cafeteria!