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:

Matryoshkas

This lesson was inspired by the Patterned Matryoshka Dolls lesson from Deep Space Sparkle. Since I decided on the theme of "Asia" this school year it was perfect!This was a great lesson for teaching students about overlapping shapes, I also taught them a bit about light and shadow.

To prepare for the lesson, I printed out templates of a small, medium and big matryoshka on card-stock and cut them out. I tried to make one for each student. I also managed to buy some matryoshkas at my local World Market to show the students how they worked.

Class began with an review of the map of Asia so students could locate Russia and remember key facts about the country. I then explained to them what a Matryoshka was and who invented it. I showed them both matryoshkas I had bought and then shared this cute video from Sesame Street.

Before students started working on their matryoshkas I shared with them the story that inspired the original nesting dolls.

The students received the templates one at a time, from the smallest to the biggest. I showed them how to trace the templates correctly to create overlapping shapes using a recording I made.

When they were done I showed them some less traditional matryoshkas with superhero designs, animals, robots, etc. They picked a theme and got to work.

On the next class we discussed shadows and looked at some prints of paintings to identify light and shadow. Then I showed them how their shadows would look if a light was shining on their matryoshkas and how to use presure to create a dark and light shade with the same crayon/pencil. Then off they went to add colors and shadows.

Class time required: Two 45min. lessons

Lesson objectives:

• We will learn about the history of Rusian nesting dolls or Matryoshka.
• We will learn how to make shapes overlap.
• I will draw three or more Rusian nesting dolls overlapping from the smallest to the biggest. 

Kindergarten:

First grade:

Second grade:

 

Fourth grade:

 

Kandisnky Inspired Abstract Paintigns

 

 

I searched far and wide for a Kandinsky lesson that wasn't based on his painting Squares with Concentric Circles and this is what I came up with.