I Could Use Some Time To Sleep

I adore books.  I loooovvvveee picture books, I love reading to children.  Denise Fleming's Time To Sleep is a book I've been reading to my own kids for over 20 years (this isn't unusual when your children are 18 years apart).  I made up a project to go with this book years ago but it took forever.  This year I'm trying to get all/most of my classes done and ready for our March Artome' show by January at the latest, so this project came back at half size.  
To begin, we collected leaves that hadn't turned yet (read: are still green and not crunchy).  Next, we used papier mache' paste to glue them to paper.  Each student got one 9 x 12 piece of paper, and one 6 x 9 piece of paper.  I stacked the entire class together and put a book on top so they'd dry flat.  Confession--I didn't try it before hand, so I had no real idea if this would work or not, but it did, with only minimal sticking.

Papers after they'd been stacked.

The next time second graders came to art, they painted their papers, so their leaves acted as a resist.  One page was painted blue, the other green or violet.  Then the leaves were peeled off.  This was super-duper messy, and the kids L. O. V. E. D. it!

These were allowed to dry, and after they came off the drying rack, I put them under books again.

Fresh off the drying rack, pre book squishing.

At some point, we read the book.  If they were super fast cleaners and had extra minutes at the end of the class, or if they needed calming down.  I also had a little/short video about why animals hibernate that I found (I think it was on TeacherTube).  Students used 6 x 9 white paper to draw an animal who hibernates with pencil (they would later color their animal with oil pastel).

This worked well to keep everyone somewhat together, because they had something to work on as I was passing out papers for them to collage for their backgrounds.  Their 9 x 12 painted paper was their base, and each student got a violet and green strip to add a hill with shadow, grass, rocks or similar items.  They then cut the 6 x 9 paper, leaving a "halo" of paint around their leaves:

Finally, they cut their by-now-fully-colored animals and added them to their papers.  Only one class is done so far, but so many of them are GREAT:

I think teachers should also hibernate, I know I could use a very long nap!

Hall Displays are Up and Running

While I love the "newness" of a new school year, I'm a typical artist/hoarder and dislike the blank blank walls.  I try to get student work up as soon as I can (and I've already taken some things down and replaced with another grade level).  Here's what the halls in my school look like now, on the sixth week of school:

Construction paper 'flips,' fifth grade, Matisse inspired.

Color wheel clowns, first grade.

George Caleb Bingham inspired landscape paintings, fourth grade.

More landscapes, I love the color mixing on the bottom left.

More construction paper flips, and
some kindergarten Mondrian lines further down the hall.

Dairy Delight Dogs, second grade

Lascaux inspired cave paintings, third grade

I've been trying to keep up with kindergarten, and we're doing color scheme giraffes.  When I was gluing them together to get ready to hang, I noticed this:

I don't know that I've ever seen a more prime example of a reason to re-teach  a concept in my life.  Good thing I've got six and half more years with them to get them to understand primary and secondary colors. 

Dairy Delight Dogs

This is a book that I've loved forever, ever since I bought it for my oldest daughter from a book order:

It's a sweet little story about a dog who decides an ice cream parlor should be his home.  I've wanted to use it in my art classroom for years, and decided this is the year!  Reviewing neutral colors is part of our second grade curriculum, so it fit in nicely.
To begin, students used their sketchbooks to draw things (with crayon) that were neutral in color.  They brainstormed and shared and drew.  Then I gave each student a 12 x 18 white paper and had them write their name in the corner with crayon.  While they were writing, I gave each student a single half-sheet of newspaper.  We drew large bumps with our crayon on our newspaper (for a dog body), cut them out and glued them onto our white paper.  Next we drew large rounded edged triangles on our newspaper (for the head) and cut them out and glued them on.  Finally, we drew small rounded-edge triangles (two of them, for ears), cut them out and glued them on.  Once everything was glued down, it was time to paint the background.  Students got paint shirts on and we reviewed correct painting techniques.  I gave each table yellow, turquoise and pink, giving students the choice of mixing colors for the background or painting one solid color straight from the bottle. Two classes had enough time to read Lisa Campbell Ernst's charming book at this point, before art was over for the day.
The next time students came to art, they got paint shirts on immediately and reviewed correct painting techniques again before painting their dogs:

This student wasn't there for the background painting day,
but it's still adorable.

 At this point, the personality of their painting style and dogs really started coming through!  The last class got to read the book at this point (and laughed at all the appropriate places).
The only thing left to do was to use oil pastel for details and give each one of our dogs their own ice cream cones.  For the past few years my sixth graders have made their own sketchbooks using cereal boxes, and I had lots of leftover pieces I put to use for making the ice cream cone.  Students used patterns I made to trace cone shapes on the brown side of the old cereal boxes and used oil pastel to add details:

Finally, students used Model Magic and Cloud Clay to make the "famous vanilla-chocolate swirl." I don't know what happens with Cloud Clay sometimes, but this is what my light brown looked like when I opened it:

It's super sticky and is reminiscent of baby poop.

I decided to open another package, and believe it or not, it was even worse.  I really tried and showed it to my classes, and students decided vanilla was just fine for their dog:

This student added marker to make it a 'swirl'.

I love this dog so much!

It's a blueberry flavored cone with a double ice cream!

This dog has such a personality!

These are going to look ah-mazing in the hall!

Mini Sketchbooks Just For Fun

Before Christmas I used leftover paper from our calendar project to make mini sketchbooks for all of my second graders (around 80 or so).

When I cut the calendars to [roughly] 6 x 6, the remaining copy paper is in HUGE stacks.  This year I just used my long-arm stapler and made these quick little books for them to have something to draw in the last day before break, rather than start a new project.  It worked well UNTIL I got a wicked sinus infection and missed the Tuesday before break.  So my second graders that I had today got to draw in them (and take them home) after doing a warm colored painting today (that will be used as a background for some cool-colored buildings later).  They were thrilled:

They had so many ideas! "Can we write and draw?" "Can I make this my life story?"

After painting, they really only had 5-7 minutes (which stretched to 10-12 when I totally lost track of time), but it was time well spent!

Last Kiln Firing Of The Year

It seems like every year I feel like the school year is going on and on and then suddenly TIME'S UP.  While I didn't wait until the very last minute to get all the clay projects done, (looking at you, 2016), I did feel a twinge of worry about getting it all done in time.  I've learned that my [older, but still working] kiln does much better (and fires faster) when it's FULL, so I filled it:

Top three shelves were second grade bells (simply a pinch pot, turned upside down with animal features added and two holes poked through to add a small sphere that you can see grouped in the middle).

Then there was one shelf of glaze-fired tiles from a Mayco workshop I attended at conference (and I told two others who live near me I'd fire theirs).  We used stencils and some different glazes--it's very similar to this lesson I found on the Mayco lesson plans site.  I am thinking of doing a parent/child fundraiser next year with something similar (and maybe if I write it here I'll actually remember to do it!)

We used some silk-screens and I missed part of my "L"

. . . but Heather didn't!

And then the bottom shelf was the sixth grade tiny painted houses (African tribe inspired):

They're even more luscious now!

I did have six (!) students who didn't want theirs, so I totally snagged them and have them displayed behind my desk because they're AWESOME and I LOVE THEM.
Second graders (of course) knew that their bells were amazing, and they did an equally amazing job painting them:

Action shot!

We use tempera block paint for it's fast drying time
and then add a layer of gloss medium for permanency and shine.

You can kind of see the cotton string here that I use to tie the bell part in.
I use cotton twine so they can paint it.
I prepare the bells (tie the little sphere in) before students arrive.

Whew!  I'm tired.  Good thing summer is only 16 school days away!