I got a request from my principal to have students make posters for the West Virginia Governor’s Conference on Tourism. As is often the case, we didn’t really get much time to make it happen. Luckily, I work with some awesome teachers who showed the students a video I made about places to visit in […]
Read more "My Favorite Place"This is a great lesson for teaching cutting and folding skills, pattern-making, 3-D (relief), and line. This project is perfect for grades 1-3, but kindergarten is a stretch. Let students choose 3 paper strips, 1 1/2″ wide and 12-18″ long. Demonstrate how to make deep snips about 1″ apart along one side of the strip, […]
Read more "Roller Coasters"Erasers are the bane of my existence. It’s gotten so bad, I’ve pretty much banned them from the art room. This is actually a controversial issue among art educators. Some swear by them, and others hate them. I may allow them for shading work, but for the most part, erasers are “no bueno.” Here’s why: […]
Read more "Kaizen and Pencil Erasers"I’m generally not a fan of projects where kids all do the same thing, but I think there is a place for old-fashioned guided drawing assignments. The monkey-see-monkey-do nature of guided drawing makes drawing less intimidating for students, and it shows students how to break objects down into simple shapes in order to draw them. […]
Read more "Wise Owl"“The Problem We All Live With” by Norman Rockwell One of my favorite paintings is this one, by artist Norman Rockwell. This painting is a portrait of Ruby Bridges, who was one of the first black students to be integrated into a white school in the early 1960’s. Many people know about the “Little Rock […]
Read more "The Problem We All Live With"my husband and me These are so awesome, but require some patience and time. I got this idea from Superhero Art Teacher Holly Bess Kincaid, who has an incredible website full of great art lessons. I did this with 5th graders. Day one: I start by asking students to design a toy action figure of […]
Read more "Cubees"This project is full of great opportunities to teach foreground, middle ground, and background; texture, matter color techniques, organic and geometric shapes, warm and cool colors, and even a little chemistry! Day 1– I start by having students paint wet-on-wet (watercolor on wet paper) using warm colors. We then sprinkle those papers with salt and […]
Read more "Sailboats"
Art on Wheels 