Watercolor/Tempera Cake Table Set-up

Painting with students was always a bit of a headache for me last year, when I didn't have a more precise method for students to work and no real routine other than "water, sponge, color, paint". I showed them how to use each material, but it was a mess when it came to the water. I had a tray in the back of the classroom, next to the sink, with cups full of water for them to pick up. I found myself spending the whole time refilling these cups, mixed in with cleaning the frequent spill when they had to walk to their tables or go dump the dirty water in the sink.

 I knew this didn't work, so I did some research and came across a picture of a teacher who used water pitchers on each table to distribute water and I thought "that is genius". I modified this idea and came up with the system bellow. I enlisted the help of my school team to help with gathering enough containers. I emailed the whole school and asked for various container sizes, from big to small, along with the lids (to use on other art projects). After the first couple of weeks of school I had all the containers I needed and more!

 

Watercolor set up from CaramelBun

During the first couple of painting lessons I would always start class with the presentation, then as time passed I would just show them the picture bellow and reminded them what each container was for. Big one for dirty water, medium one for clean water, small one for your water. Then I would have them repeat our painting mantra of  "water, sponge, color".

After I remind them the painting procedures I give them their jobs for the day. Each chair, on each table, is labeled with numbers from 1-6. Depending on the materials it might be something like this:

1. Water person ( in charge of the tray in the middle, fills up clean water cup and student cups)
2. Sponge person (picks up sponge tray, takes it to the sink when class is over)
3. Tempera Cake Tray Person /  Watercolor Tray Person (picks up the trays, takes them back at the end of class)
4. Brush person (picks up brushes, places them in the sink for cleaning)
5. Paper Person (takes papers to the students on the tables, picks them up at the end of class to place on the drying rack)
6.  Cleaning person (dries tables at the end of class)

I try to have the tables ready before the first class comes in, if I just don't have time I call on the student helpers to take the materials to their tables. The last class to paint will put materials away.

By having a student on each table in charge of the water, I don't have to worry (too much) about spills related to students walking around with cups of water. I gave students responsibility for their use of materials, and they all want to be water person. I let students dump their own dirty water inside the big container, but they must ask Water Person for some clean water, that is after all, their job.

What happens if a table runs out of water? Cue in the "Water Soda Can". I got this last summer at Walmart, it was too cute to resist and I needed a way to separate myself from the sink in order to monitor students.I used to tell students to raise their hand when they needed water, and I would walk around with the "Water Soda Can" but I soon got tired of it. I decided students should be able to get their own water! Now I place it next to the sinks for easy refilling, I place a bucket on the bottom to catch drips, and let the Water Person go get clean water for their table.

 

After each group leaves I walk around with a big bucket, and collect the dirty water from the tables or else they might over flow. I also wipe clean the cups and make sure the tables have clean water for the next group. I usually show the students a video, at the start of class, related to the project so I can go around resetting tables. Students help a lot by stacking all the small cups together again, and if there's time I tell them to make sure their table has clean water ready for the next class and they help wipe down tables.

 

If students are using the tempera cakes I place them on the same tray as the sponges, if they are using watercolors, I just place the sponges on the trays by themselves. I'm glad I ordered these smaller tempera cake trays this year, I also have some bigger trays that I think take up more space when I have to sit 5-6 kids on a table. The downside is it's hard to take out the "pucks" from these smaller trays, I tried changing some and it was a pain. I ended up just placing the new "puck" on top of the old one. With smaller classes I use the big trays.

 This week I had a class that was painting. They were sandwiched in between two classes that weren't painting, and the space I would normally use for the trays is occupied with a printing station. I have some big lunch trays I ordered this year, so I used them to hold all the cups so I could distribute them faster, and pick them up faster. I just walked around the room and handed out the materials to each table. I liked this system a lot, so I might make it the permanent system for distributing the water supplies.

I actually did a lot of painting lessons this year, and I felt very organized once the kinks were worked out with the new system. Students had clear expectations and after a while, were very independent and understood the system completely. There is more time for them to paint, and there's more time for me to help and monitor now that I don't have to be next to the sink the whole time.

I hope this helps when it comes to painting with students, or at least sparks an idea!

Giant Panda

This was a quick, one day lesson I did last week to have students practice their drawing skills. It's based on the Panda from Blue Tadpole Studio's how to draw page. Since we are studying art from China it's the perfect opportunity to learn about the Great Panda.

The San Diego Zoo had an awesome kid friendly page with important information about the Great Panda, and a super cute video of their pandas.  

Student gallery:

Cave Art

Imagine teaching art for the first time in an elementary school that has never had an art program. How do you start teaching students art when they have never had the experience? I thought about it a lot, and I found inspiration in the first record of human artistic expression, Cave Paintings. I took inspiration from the wonderful book Art In Story. 

First grade student creating an individual "cave drawing" with crayons.

I approached this lesson from various angles. First it would start exposing students to art and introduce the beginning of visual expression. I would also take advantage of the simplicity of the drawings to introduce students to the concepts of organic and geometric shapes in art, as well as the different kinds of lines.

Working in a brand new school we were piloting a program that let us teachers remotely control the computer using an iPad. I still use the program to this day, it's amazing being able to walk and interact with students while being in control of the computer without having to stand by my desk. I took advantage of the program, and I let students use my iPad to remotely control the computer and draw on top of my presentation using the iPad. The program doubles as a "smart board", so students drew on the iPad with their fingers and we all saw it on the projector. I was asking students to trace over shapes or lines saying things like " trace a geometric shape on the cave painting" or "trace a curved line on the cave painting". If this isn't an option because your classroom doesn't have the resources, markers on a whiteboard serve the same purpose.

Kindergarteners working on a group" cave painting " using oil pastels.

I spent a whole lesson just having students look at cave paintings, identifying shapes and lines and asking questions. I also memorized and told them the the two stories(Altamira and Lascaux) from the Cave Art chapter in Art In Story. Students loved hearing the stories, specially since I was very dramatic while telling them and they involved children. I had them imagine they are those children who found the caves. Some said they would've been scared, others said they would've kept it a secret forever. The first day's lesson ended with the promise of showing them a virtual tour of the Lascaux cave the next day they came to art.

The next day I showed them where the caves were located in Europe. I explained about the pigments and how the cave men made and used their paint. Telling them sometimes they mixed pigment with urin both grossed them out and fascinated them. I gave them more information about the caves and, add promised have them the virtual tour of Lascaux.

Interactive 3D tour of the Lascaux cave

The virtual tour was like magic and took their cave painting experience full circle. They were shocked at the size of the drawings and the fact that kids their age wondered alone in the cave.

 Now it was time for them to create their cave art. I tried different things with different groups. Some worked individually, while others worked in groups. I gave some groups oil pastels, others used crayons, fourth and fifth graders used liquid temperas.

Fifth grade students creating their individual cave paintings, drawing first with oil pastels then painting with tempera paints.

During the first two weeks of school I had no tables in my room, so the kiddos got down on the floor to work. I guess it made it more authentic!

Happy art making!

                                                                                             

Lesson objectives:

•  Identify the characteristics of line and shape in cave paintings.
•  Compare and contrast prehistoric art and modern art.
•   Create a cave drawing

Vocabulary:

•  Cave Painting, line, shape, organic shape, geometric shape, contour line

You will need:

• Computer
• Projector

optional: Doceri program and iPad with the Doceri app or SMART Board

Lesson Sequence

Through an interactive presentation using an iPad, the students will identify lines and shapes in cave paintings and compare and contrast cave art and modern art.

Cave paintings from CaramelBun

Cave paintings 2 from CaramelBun

*If you don't have an interactive app like Doceri, or a SMART Board you may use a projector and plain old dry erase markers.

They will learn about the history and location of the caves in Altamira and Lascaux, and have an opportunity to take an interactive virtual tour through the cave in Lascaux.

Using oil pastels, tempera and craft paper the students will draw their own cave paintings.

 Additional resource:

Art In Story - cave art chapter

5th Grade Interactive Self-Portraits

I had an exceptional bunch of fourth and fifth graders last year, so when they came back from their winter vacation in January I had a challenge for them, make a proportionally correct self-portrait. I used the lesson Who's Behind That Mask? as a starting point.

Finished project

Self-portrait revealed

I liked the idea of a mask to cover the face, it would give the project a pop of color. This lesson is pretty complex. It took me two weeks, in between classes and lunch duty, to get all the materials prepped. Then it took the students six lessons to complete the project. In the end, I'd say, it was well worth it. 

I made a "face proportion" guide book for each student. This was time consuming since I made most of the resources.

I printed out face templates on cardstock and laminated them. Weeks in advanced I started cutting them out ( I have 34 students to a group) some earlly finishes helped too.

I made face templates and guides for the students weeks in advanced. Some teachers might object to templates, but the way I saw it it was just a tool. These kiddos had never had art before and certainly never tried to make a proportionate self-portraits before. It also forced them to draw big since the templates are as big as a real head.

Fifth grade student works on her project using her sketch as reference.

Before the students drew their self-portraits and masks we saw some artists' self-portraits, like Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and Picasso. Then I used a picture of a face and showed them the proportions over it, so they saw that the eyes are really in the center of the head, that the eyes are one eye apart, etc. and I pretty much drew the standard lines for face proportions over it. I had them practice on a sheet of manila paper before they got the “big” papers they were really going to work on. Students used the mirrors to get the right proportions and details on their faces. A lot of them discovered new things about their faces, and hairs. Some were embarrassed at looking at their faces in a mirror.

Student working on his self-portrait

I also did a self-portrait lesson with the lower grades. As a warm up and practice I had them fold the paper in half "hamburger style". Then I gave them 10 minutes to draw their faces from their memory on one half of their papers, and no further instructions or explanations on how to draw facial features. Some finished, others are stumped and didn't get very far. I showed them how to draw a face, how to use guide lines, how to draw an eye, nose and mouth. I let them have a mirror and they did another face on the other half. They were shocked at the difference between the two drawings. I also did this with fourth grade.

Fourth and fifth grade students spent the next couple of classes working on their self portraits. I found that my hands outs helped them a lot. Some asked for demonstrations of the examples and then they were able to continue on their own. When they finished with the pencils I gave them Sharpie markers to outline and then they erased their pencil lines.

Awesome fifth grade student working on his self-portrait.

5th grade student's self-portrait in progress.

Fourth grade student's self-portrait that left me speechless.

After they had finished the self-portrait I gave them another big piece of paper. I told them to place it over their portrait and trace where they wanted their mask to be. They could do a full face mask or a half mask. Some asked for the face templates while others said they didn't needed them. We talked about possible designs and doing something that represented their personalities.

Amazing self-portrait by a very talented fifth grader. Mask in progress.

Vampire girl mask.

They also traced the masks with Sharpie markers one they were satisfied. Then they painted them with tempera cakes. Once dry, they cut the mask out and I made two cuts using a knife, one on each paper. Then they attached the brayer and, voila! Done!

Student works:

Van Gogh Pop-Up Project: Sunflowers and Chairs

I was looking for fun lessons to introduce students to Van Gogh. It was around the end of the school year and I wanted to give them something a bit more complicated. All students did the pop-up from first grade all the way to 5th. It was a challenge! It involved measuring with a ruler, drawing lines, cutting folding and drawing. The original inspiration came from ART with Mrs. Smith's Van Gogh Chair lesson. 

                                                                                                                          

Required lesson time: 2 to 3 45 minute lessons

Lesson objectives:

• Learn about Vincent Van Gogh and study his painting style
• Create a pop-up page inspired by Van Gogh’s paintings.

Vocabulary

• Vincent Van Gosh, Impressionism

1st Grade: