Cherry Blossom Trees

5th grade Cherry Blossom Trees. First you blow ink to create the trunk and branches. Then you use your finger prints for the blossoms. Asian art is part of our 5th grade curriculum so this project was perfect! 

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Picasso/Pollock Portraits

I know that these are a little out there but what can I say, I love it. We studied Picasso and his portraits! We looked at how he moved the placement of the facial features. Then we splatter "Action Painted" on top. Hello Modern Art! 

5th grade Donors Choose Project

Here are our 5th grade art club "Safety Blankets". The goal was to Pay it Forward. I taught two kids. Then they taught two friends. They all worked together and it was a wonderful experience. 

5th grade Flip, Turn, Slide

Lets face it, with the cutting of programs and the terrible economy the "specials" need to prove why we are important and how to can help with those darn PSSA scores. Just to be clear I do think it is important to re-enforce what is going on in their classrooms too.

 So this lesson was inspired by the Flip (reflection), Turn (rotation), and Slide (translation) part of the PSSA test. Our students have trouble remembering how to do those directions on the test so I figured we could make it more exciting by making prints with ink of their initials. Their first initial = flip, 2nd initial= turn, 3rd initial= slide. (and yes I couldn't just call them first, middle and last initial b.c of all the Hyphenated last names :)  or the lack of middle names.  

We used foam to carve our initials ----"IF YOU DONT DO IT BACKWARDS THE LETTERS WILL NOT PRINT THE RIGHT WAY" didn't matter how many times I said it, I still had kiddos do it the wrong way!!!! 

 Next we rolled ink with the brayers on top of the foam, then printed it like a stamp on printing paper. 

This project took forever, but I will modify it for next year. Also next thing we will be working on CRAFTSMANSHIP.  Over all not too bad for a first try. 

Safety Blankets

I recently was told about an Organization called Donors Choose. I had this idea of making blankets with my 5th grade art club. My school is considered a high poverty school and I wanted to teach these children how to create something with their own hand that could be used in the future. While knitting is still on my list of things to teach them . A simple fleece blanket where you tie the knots around the corners and edges seems more practical and something that they will actually be able to use THIS winter :)
Long story short- I posted my project idea on DonorsChoose. I waited impatiently to see if it would be accepted. I sent a few emails out once it was and boom 24 hours later the project was funded. Now I have to wait for the materials to be sent... It might kill me but I know it will be worth it in the end!

Safety Blankets

Feel free to check it out!!!! I think it is a great idea for ALL teachers!

Fifth Grade- Banyan Trees

In this lesson we learned about Indian Banyan Trees. This tree has a huge trunk and roots that grow down in to the ground. We used paint to createt the positive space (the trunk, roots and branches) and used pastels to color the negative space. We talked about different color schemes too!