Tribute to Paris

For Paris

The Berry 5th graders recently completed a watercolor/sillhouette project dedicated to the people of Paris, France in response to the November 13th terrorist attacks.  I wanted to allow the students to speak about this tragic event through their own visual art. It is difficult to understand why things like this happen and sometimes it is easier to make art about how we feel than it is to talk about it, and this can help us heal.  

This project idea came from the blog by wonderful art teacher and blogger extraordinaire,  Cassie Stephens.  Thanks, Cassie!  

We started out by learning some French words and wrote them on white paper.  I selected a list of words that surrounded the topic of surviving a tragedy and that were uplifting. The words were provided for the students to copy in French.  The students painted their backgrounds with liquid watercolors.  The colors of these paints are very vibrant, and the students were required to use either cool or warm colors.  We sprinkled salt on the wet paint and when it dried the salt crystalized, creating a beautiful effect.

The next step was to cut out our silhouettes.  There were three parts to this:  the Paris skyline, a monument and something in the sky.  I gave the students a choice between the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffle Tower. They also had a choice of what to make in the sky.  

The flag gives this one a feeling of majesty. 

I gave the students a demonstration for folding the paper and drawing half of the object and cutting it with the paper folded.  This way they get a symmetrical design.  This technique was used for the Eiffle Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Paris skyline and the hot air balloon.  

I love the reflection here!  

           

Self Portraits

The Berry Intermediate 5th graders have been working very hard in art!  Self Portraits are one of the projects that they have recently finished.  Here are photos of some finished pieces.

Student Learning Objectives (SLO's)

I wrote two Student Learning Objectives, one for 5th grade and one for 6th grade (those are the only two grades that I teach).  The 6th grade SLO was all about drawing a landscape that has depth.  Below are some of the lessons that I taught.  I would have liked to have more time with landscapes.  I had more planned but we were not able to get to it all.  One of these is a landscape painting using shades and tints to show atmospheric perspective.  I got the idea for the lesson here.   We weren't able to get finished with that one before assessments.  I blame all of that on snow days.  

If I write an SLO again about landscape drawing I am going to leave out one point perspective because I feel like that is a whole lesson in itself, aside from everything else I included.  

The 5th graders learned about drawing self-portraits.  We did a self-portrait collage by applying tissue paper with Mod Podge.  

The following are side-by-side pictures of pre-assessments and post assessments by the same students.

6th Grade Landscapes

5th Grade Self-Portraits

I hope this was of at least a little help to anyone who will be writing art SLO's next year.  If you have any questions, feel free to comment.

Completed Oaxacan Animal Designs

As you may recall from last week's post, the 5th graders are currently working on a Sharpie marker/oil pastel design influenced by the wood carvings of Oaxaca, Mexico.  You can read more about the process of this project here. This armadillo and frog are the two resident Oaxacan wood carvings that I introduce to my 5th graders every year.

Below are some completed designs along with some others in varying stages of completion.