Sew What?! 5th grade Stitching

       I found a lesson about painting and sewing on burlap in an old art education magazine and knew I wanted to try it one day. To begin the students looked at my pictures from my trip to Alaska.  I also showed them animals and styles of art from the region. Then they used their sketchbook to practice drawing something inspired from Alaska.  I cut pieces of burlap about 8X10in.  They each got a piece of copy paper to write their name on and use as a "place mat"while painting.  The next class the students painted their sketches onto the burlap. The next day I introduced embroidery and stitching, and how it has been used in artwork over time.  I showed examples and taught them how to create different stitches. They had to use at least three of these stitches: running, cross, satin, and straight.  They could also add beads and stitch an initial.

                    

                                             

4th Grade Weaving

4th grade weaving

Robots

Last year I was inspired by our school's interest in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics). I got the idea for these robots from another teacher in my county, Laura Toney at MBES. I took the idea and also introduced the students to Bioengineering (use of concepts and methods of biology). Throughout the project we watched videos of robots and robotic arms.  One of the most innovative is a robotic arm inspired by the mechanics of an elephant's trunk and a gripper made like a fish tail. Then the students  drew their robots using 3D forms and had to have a feature or ability that was inspired by nature.   The painting was quite simple, with a solid gray for the metal with a shade of this for one side and a highlight in white for the other side.  I used Versatemp Pearl colors by Sax that have a metallic sheen.  The colors are also in the pearl paints.  The final step was outlining in Sharpie and learning how to draw the metal plates and bolts.  It was important to add lines and gears to the places that moved or bent.  

My Nanny Bot for my robot twins

                           

Interactive Drawings

5th graders created drawings that they got to be a part of!  They had to draw a movement, then they posed their hands with the action and took a picture with the IPad. 

We took inspiration from Pinterest and from art teacher Laura Toney at MBES.

                                          

Take a Bite Out of Drawing

I adapted this fun activity from a post I saw on...you guessed it Pinterest. We began class with a discussion about how art has different purposes and one of those can be humor! The students really got excited about making funny drawings and many of them came back to me later and said they taught their whole family how to draw these funny drawings. You start by folding a piece of paper in half, then fold back each side to the line (as if you were making a paper airplane).