Second Grade Super Hero Portraits

Jack's super hero self portrait

What child doesn’t want to have super powers? Our second graders just completed a two-part super hero self portrait project. First, they drew themselves as a superhero. Next, they created a super hero mask and photographed each other in super poses.

Students added boots, gloves, belts, masks, capes, tights, and more to their self portraits.

Students added boots, gloves, belts, masks, capes, tights, and more to their self portraits.

Draw yourself as a superhero

 Materials

  • Crayola Color Sticks or colored pencils
  • extra fine Sharpie
  • pencils/erasers
  • copy paper (for initial sketches)
  • 12″x18″ drawing paper
  • reference photos of superheroes

I used a paper folding technique to encourage students to fill the entire page. We first folded the papers the long way (‘hot dog’) to create a line of symmetry. Then we folded them the short way (‘hamburger’) to create a waist line. We opened the papers, the made another fold from the short edge to the waist line. We used copy paper for initial sketches and drawing paper for the final.

Students drew themselves in a strong stance. They added boots, gloves, masks, capes, and belts. Each student added a special logo on the chest. Some added special tools. They colored with color sticks and colored pencils, then outlined in Sharpie.

andy's 3 drafts

Andy created three drafts of his super hero.

Paper masks

We used the free downloadable mask templates from partysimplicity.com. Students colored them with marker. We cut them out and backed them with black construction paper so they would be strong enough to wear. Kids had the option of punching the masks and attaching yarn ties, or just taping on a bamboo skewer as a holder.

Students photograph each other as super heroes.

Students photograph each other as super heroes.

Photo booth

Students worked collaboratively to create photo booths. Each had a sign-up list and a waiting area.  One student was the photographer, another dressed kids in the cape, others made sure everything ran smoothly. We used an iPod and an iPhone, but you could use any digital camera.

Second grade results (by student photographers)

Second Grade Super Hero Portraits

Click here and here to see more examples from prior years.

We did this project in conjunction with the second grade classroom teachers as part of a unit on being courageous and taking risks.

Enjoy!

What’s your favorite self-portrait project?

Clay and Pasta Portraits

 

clay and pasta faces

The first graders made these clay self-portraits earlier this year. They were fun to make, required a single firing, and surely will be treasured by the students and their parents for years to com.

Materials:

  • clay
  • marker or glue stick caps
  • dull pencils
  • alphabet pasta (available in the Hispanic foods section of Walmart, and through Amazon)
  • wagon wheel pasta
  • spaghetti
  • bow-tie pasta
  • ramen or egg noodles
  • optional: date stamps
  • tempera cakes (including peach)
  • Crayola multicultural paint
  • crayons
  • optional: ceramic spray gloss

Prep:

I used a multi-slab cutter to easily cut the clay block into identical clay tiles.

Alexandra's clay and pasta face

Making the face:

Students first used a dull pencil to draw the face, nose, smile, and neck. We stamped eyes with the glue stick caps. Then we added wagon wheel pasta for eyes. Curly-haired students pressed in Chinese egg noodles for hair; kids with straight hair pressed in broken lengths of spaghetti.  Some kids added bow tie pasta.

Next I passed out plates of alphabet pasta. The kids spelled out their names and pressed the letters into the clay.

Finally, I added the date with an old-school rubber date stamp from an office supply store.

Allow clay to dry, then bisque fire.

Note: we did not remove ANY of the pasta before firing – we just let it burn out in the kiln.

clay and pasta faces alphabet pasta

clay and pasta faces 3

Painting the clay:

After bisque firing, we painted them with tempera cakes. For the skin tones, I offered multicultural tempera as well as peach tempera cake. The first graders painted their faces in a snap.

Within a few minutes, the tempera settled into the porous bisque. Then the kids added mouths with crayon (or construction paper crayon). Some kids used crayon for the eye color and even for make up.

As a last step, I sprayed the clay portraits with glossy ceramic sealer.

Tips:

Live and learn – here’s what I found out:

  • don’t press to hard with the pencil when drawing the portraits. Some students cut right through the slab (but came away with nice face-shaped clay portraits!)
  • the pasta may attract rodents.
  • egg pasta leaves a yellow tint on the clay even after firing.
  • don’t press extremely hard with the wagon wheel pasta. If you do, the fired clay eyes will end up as a shallow well.

For more examples and ideas, see this post on last year’s clay self-portraits.

Enjoy!

 

More Photos from Art Show 2014

Here are some more photos from Art Show 2014.  Thanks again to Devan, our art show chair (and party planning/layout genius) and all the AMAZING art show and art room volunteers who put this show together.

Sixth grade foil name art. Click here for lesson plan

Upper grade display

Foil name art (and those awesome decorations!) in the upper grade area.

Primary grade display

First grade clay self-portraits on table top. Click here for lesson. On skirt: marker and foam prints lesson plan at shine Brite Zamorano. Above on wall: baby oil and oil pastel herons. Click here for lesson.

Marker prints, clay faces and great blue herons in the K-3 area.

Marker prints, clay faces and great blue herons in the K-3 area.

Kindergarten Kandinsky CD Case Circles Mural

Click here for the lesson plan. The lesson went incredibly well. The mural was mounted on foam core using the 3M clear mounting tape.

Primary grade display

Kandinsky CD case circles mural

Shoe Art and Sport Trophies:

On the table skirt: fourth grade shoe art. Click here for lesson. This is a 100% successful lesson.

Fifth grade sport trophies. Click here for lesson.

Upper grade art display

Shoe art and sport trophies in the upper grade area.

Upper grade display

Calder wire hands

Want more pictures? Check out our first post from Art Show 2014. And check out Art Show 2013 and Art Show 2012! Click here for more on Devan’s space-saving displays.

Our volunteers are the best! Our school is blessed to have the help of parents year-round in the art room. We had some amazing, hard-working parents who hung this show in just three days.

It was our last show with Devan as chair. We will really miss her vision and energy. How fortunate we are to have had her help these past four shows.

Enjoy!!!!!

What’s your best tip for a successful art show?

 

 

 

 

iPad Blended Self-Portrait

 

iPad blended self portrait

Our 6th grade did some quick blended self portraits using their iPads and two free apps: Pic Collage and Sketchbook X. The goal of the lesson was to learn the layers, free transform and opacity tools in Sketchbook X.

Obi-wan's favorite pet, vacation, activity and food are combined into a layered self portrait.

Obi-wan’s favorite pet, vacation, activity and food are combined into a blended self portrait. Allow one 40-minute class.

Step 1: Pic Collage App: create a photo collage of your favorite things

Students had to find four images representing

  • a pet (or dream pet)
  • favorite vacation (or dream vacation)
  • favorite food and
  • favorite activity or sport

The Pic Collage app allows students to add photos directly from the web without a Google image search. The students arranged them in a grid template, then saved to the iPad camera roll.

Step 2: Sketchbook X App: working with layers and free transform

In Sketchbook X, students created two layers. Layer one was used to shoot a selfie, and layer two was used to import the photo collage from the camera roll. For many students it was necessary to use the free transform tool to resize the photos to fill the screen. .

Step 3: Sketchbook X app: Adjust the opacity to reveal the blended self portrait

Students used the opacity slider in the first layer to reduce opacity and reveal the photo collage layer underneath.

I create a 10 minute video tutorial of the process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7U1AbiahXA

Students saved their completed portraits to their camera roll, then turned them in to me electronically via Google drive.  Click here to read about how students turn in digital art.

Notes:

  •  Instead of finding photos on Google image, use students’ personal pet and vacation photos. Students could bring them to class as printed photos, or digitally via Google drive.
  • Want to skip Sketchbook X? Combine your photos with free photo blending apps, such as  iBlendy2 or Photoblend.
  • Video tutorial recorded with the AirServer app for Mac.

Enjoy!

Too Much Glue! Stick Puppets for Kindergarten and First Grade

I received an advance copy of a new book, Too Much Glue. It’s a story absolutely perfect for kindergarten and first grade for the first days of art class – especially when you are teaching them how to use glue!

The story is about a boy named Matty who ignores his art teacher’s rules for white glue – ‘raindrops, not puddles’ – and uses so much glue that he glues himself to the table. His friends try to help, but they make the problem worse. By the middle of the book Matty is still trapped. The bell is about to ring! The carpool is waiting! How will Matty get out of this mess?

Too Much Glue by Matt LeFebre, 2013.

My kindergarten stick puppet lesson is a great tie-in project for this book. We used white glue, cardboard, Sharpies, popsicle sticks and paper and yarn scraps. Kinders LOVE to make art they can play with! Click here to see all the instructions.

'Too Much Glue' Stick Puppets

This year we added ‘clothing’ with the amazing glue sponge. Click here.to learn how to make your own!

the glue sponge 1

Too Much Glue by Jason LeFebvre and Zac Retz will be available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble by December, 2013.

Enjoy!

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