K – 6 Art

Thinking about a self-portrait project? This project starts as a basic self portrait but turns into a family ancestry art project when students add in national flag designs. This lesson uses basic materials and takes just two 40-minute classes. It comes straight from the wonderful Artisan Des Arts blog.

Materials:

• White drawing paper, 12″x18″
• Pencils and erasers
• Chisel-tip markers (we used Mr. Sketch)
• reference photos of national flags

We began by looking at the great student examples on the Artisan Des Arts blog post. Then I asked the students, ”Where does your family come from?” After a quick discussion,  Next we looked at flags of the world. Then the students drew their portraits in pencil.

Because most of our students have mixed heritage, they had the option of using multiple flags in their design.  It was up to them to figure out their own designs. The most common choice was to have one flag design on the face and a second on the shirt.

As a final touch, students had the option of cutting out their self-portraits and mounting them to construction paper.

I really look forward to our next art show.  I think the parents will be THRILLED to see their heritage honored in this project.

What a fabulous lesson plan! I will definitely repeat next year. Thanks to Aly at Artisan des Arts for sharing this great project.

Do you have a special twist on a portrait project?

Fourth graders use markers to make landscape name art. Allow two 40-minute sessions.

Looking for quick,  fun name art project? Here is the colorful project that gives 100% success and lets you get to know your students.

Students made a simple landscapes using curved lines. Each section was filled with a single repeated word. One section had to filled with the student’s name; the other sections had to be filled with single repeated words that described the student in some way. Students incorporated their pets, favorite subjects (yay art!), sports, activities, family members and favorite foods.

Jordan included her dog, Pinky, in her name art.

Sam likes telescopes.

I love how Jacob personalized his landscape.

This lesson is adapted from this landscape lesson plan on the Arteascoula blog (via Deep Space Sparkle).

P.S. I love name art!  I started a name art board on Pinterest to help plan our fall name art unit.

Looking for an exciting name art project? How about introducing a famous artist at the same time? Try this Paul Klee-inspired graphic name art project.

Second graders create name art in the style of Paul Klee. Allow 1-2 40 minute classes. Artwork by Tyler.

Start out by introducing artworks by Paul Klee. This project is inspired by his graphic works such as Castle and Sun. WikiPaintings has lots of images of his art. Click here,  here, here, and here to see some of Klee’s other graphic artworks. This is a good time to talk about abstract art.

Materials:

• Black construction paper, 11″x14″
• pencils and erasers
• oil pastels (including white)

Students should turn their paper horizontally. They write their names in pencil, using all capital letters. Encourage students to S-T-R-E-T-C-H their letters from the bottom to the top of the paper (note: students with long names may need to draw extra skinny letters, use longer paper, or perhaps use their nicknames).  The letters can touch the left and right sides of the paper AND touch each other: letters such as ‘E’, ‘F’ and ‘K’ look more abstract when drawn in this manner.

After they are pleased with the layout, they trace over their pencil lines in white oil pastel.

Students write their name in white oil pastel, then fill in the spaces with colored pastels.

Next they color in the spaces in their name. Encourage them to use a variety of colors, although it is fine to repeat colors. Students must not color in with black pastels.

Completed second grade art:

Randie

Flynn

Jax

Chris

Kian

Show students the completed projects and ask if they can read the artist’s name. Successful artworks are often abstracted to the point it is challenging to see the artist’s name! How does this compare to Klee’s graphic artworks?

This lesson plan was inspired by (or abstracted from!) this fabulous post on the Kids Artists blog.

Do you have a favorite name art lesson plan for the beginning of the year?

Japanese yukata. This cotton garment is worn in summer or during a visit to a traditional Japanese bath. Source: Akiodesigns.com

Formal furisode kimono. Source: http://web-japan.org

Third grade is doing a Japanese unit. In music class, they are working hard on their school play, a Japanese-themed ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ (featuring real Taiko drums). I found this great kimono collage lesson plan developed by Renee Collins at My Adventures in Positive Space.  The project was extremely successful – 100% of students made beautiful collages.

My contribution to this fabulous project is a Japanese kimono powerpoint. We also looked at formal kimono on this website and Japanese clothing on this website.

Materials:

• Patterned origami paper (like this variety pack)
• Kimono templates (courtesy of Blue Moon Palette blog)
• Pencils/erasers
• Scissors
• Glue sticks
• Black construction paper for mounting, cut 6″x6″
• Colored paper scraps

Here are the completed 3rd grade projects:

3rd graders stamped a line landscape with black acrylic paint, then painted with pan watercolors. Allow two 40-minute sessions.

Do you want a landscape lesson plan that delivers gorgeous art with 100% success in only two 40-minute sessions? Try the Paul Klee lesson featured in the book Dynamic Art Projects for Children by Denise M. Logan. Students spent their first class using black acrylic paint and small pieces of mat board to stamp a jagged landscape. They painted with watercolors during the second class. Here are the results:

Dynamic Art Projects for Children is a fabulous book with many colorful, engaging lesson plans for kids in grades 1-6.  I wrote about the book’s Kuna mola lesson plan in this post.

Can you recommend a book with awesome lesson plans?  Leave a comment!