Hot and Cold Animal Puzzles

The idea of this jig saw puzzle project was to have everyone in the class work on one piece and in the end put the entire puzzle together.  The teacher gives a pre-cut puzzle piece and instructs that students are to draw an animal and surround it with either a cool or warm colored pattern.  When displayed the pieces were all tied together. The set back I experienced was that I used the wrong cool color that was requested, so I traced another puzzle piece out of white 12x18 paper and started over.

This could have an extension of listing all the animals that are included on the finished puzzle and write characteristics about these animals:  mammal or amphibian, hot or cold blooded, survival skills, food, habitat, life span, reproductive facts, where they live, what part of the country, or world they are mostly found/originated.

Macrame Madness

Marcrame Key Chain

This project is geared toward 6th graders and takes 1-2 hours.  Hemp string was tied at the top before getting started on the knots.  The teachers demonstrated the tying technique and required that we tie knots until we reach the 1 inch length before adding a bead.  The steps were repeated until 3 inches and 3 beads were reached. 

The set back I experienced was that I couldn't hold it while I tied the knots so I used a piece of masking tape to tape it to my desk.  This was a big help in holding it still.

Extension:  I would ask Arabian students in the class to read the following passage to his/her fellow peers to teach the origination of the macrame: 
The word macrame is Arabic in origin meaning "fringe".  It's thought that Arabian weavers began the skill by knotting the additional material at the edges of loomed materials. 

HOPPY IN PLAID

Plaid Bunny

This project starts out the painting a plaid pattern on a 12x18 white sheet of art paper.  Then cut out the bunny body pieces using the provided pattern pieces, gluing the pieces appropriately and adding eye, mouth and whisker details.  The last thing is to glue a cotton ball for the tail.  So cute and appropriate during Easter/Spring season. 

Bulletin Board Diplay

The set back I experienced was that once I painted the plaid pattern, the paper warped.  Flattening it out with a heavy book fixed the problem.

An extension project would include a science chart on the recessive and dominant traits passed from generation to generation.  This is studied during Middle School-Life Science.  You can use Plaid and Circles as a characteristic in the Mother and Father traits and relate this to students blue or brown eyes, or straight or curly hair.

Blind Contour Spring Drawing

Spring Watercolor Drawing

In this Blind Contour Spring Drawing we started out by drawing the flowers with a white crayon.  The flower figures start to appear as the water color paint covers the paper.  It was fun to see them MAGICALLY appear!  Once the painting had dried, a construction matte finished the project.


The set back I experienced with this project is that I had drawn my flowers with the white crayon, and when I painted the flowers with the red, purple and yellow water colors I started way out of the flower drawing, so I purposely did that with the additional two flowers to look as though I meant for it to be oversize and out of the flower lines.

An extension project would be a science essay to accompany this picture on the life cycle of a seed/plant/plant cell.


Tissue Paper Collage

Eric Carle Inspiration
"Peek-A-Boo Peek-A-Boo
Look Who's Looking At You,
 It's Baby Bear!"

I created a Baby Bear in a forrest scene with mountainous rolling hills.  The trees, bear, and hills were cut out of prepainted white paper.  The blue back ground was made out of tissue wrap paper and the bird in tree hole are made out of construction paper.  The set back I encountered was that my bear was not to scale, he was supposed to be a Baby bear, but he ended up being a TALL baby bear!

There are multiple science extension assignments that can be a spin off of creating your own Eric Carle scene.  Living creature habitats and environmental benefits and endangerments can be added to this lesson by having students research what criteria makes an animal endangered or protected.

Marbled Sightseeing

This project requests that students draw a certain national monument, by using a visual to refer to when drawing the subject upside down.  It is amazingly so much easier to draw an object starting the bottom working your way to the top.  So try it!  Turn your object upside down and start drawing UP-SIDE DOWN!  Once the drawing was complete, cut it out.  Use a tray with 1/8 c. of shaving cream smeared evenly on the bottom of the tray, add paint and blend slightly with a comb or a pointed rod.  Dip the cut-out into the painted shaving cream.  In this project I used warm colors: yellow and red.  It gave my cut-out a marbleized look.  Once dry, it was displayed on the bulletin board.

The set back experienced in this lesson is that once I had my marbleized pattern my paper was so wet I had to be careful to not tear it as I lifted it out of the shaving cream.

An extension assignment would be to make a parade.  The parade would consist of shoe box 'floats'.  The shoe box would be decorated according to the state and or country that your national monument came from.  i.e.  My monument is in Chili, so my shoe-box-float would have items representing that country:  items will be printed from clip art/Internet.....flag, flower, animal, license plate, food items, common clothing items, and of course the marbleized project described above. 

Finale would be a "Parade" in the classroom.

CLAY COIL POT

Red, White and Blue
to represent our life as a Military US Air Force
family and the Heart represents my Love for my Family

The inside was painted RED!

1.  Knead clay and shape into a long coil.

2.  Make a small 'pancake' for the bottom or base of the pot.

3.  Add texture to the edge of the base and the coiled clay and begin stacking coil in a circular motion.

4.  Use watered fingertips to smooth the inside and to seal open gaps.

5. Allow 24 hours to dry.

6.  Paint.

The set back I experienced in doing this project is that I was coiling my clay quickly, stacking it nicely.  However, when I stood back to look at it from a distance, it was so crocked.

Extension Project Idea:  To have students make a clay pot and paint it similar to that of a certain country studied in Social Studies or in a Foreign class to relate to that country's art style and see similarities or differences of that of the pottery of the USA.  Research will have to be conducted before beginning this extension assignments which also builds knowledge in students view of other countries.

 

PRINTMAKING

Train cars made by Printmaking Pattern

Bulletin Board Display

Title and Class/Project details

This Printmaking assignment can be used for a variety of project topics as well as for a wide range of grade levels.  This was a project that our group presented and displayed in a hallway bulletin board.

Materials needed:  12 X 18 white drawing paper, construction paper, scissors, paint brush, carving tool, paint, and Styrofoam rectangles. 

Students were asked to have at least 3 cars, and to compose their background to reflect the South Dakota landscape.  The carving tool is used to carve a design in the Styrofoam, then to be rolled with paint, stamped 3 times onto a piece of construction paper, set aside to dry, cut out cars and paste them onto the white SD background and matte with construction paper color of their choice.  The students began working on this project and were so creative and detailed.  It was a huge success, except for a small set back:  when I rolled the paint onto the Styrofoam I had too much paint, and a little seeped into the carving design.

An idea I had for an extension assignment would be to write an essay on the Aberdeen Hub City Railroad and its historical significance to the building and formation of the city of Aberdeen.  A model can also be made for another helpful visual of the Aberdeen Train Depot.

Dr. Seuss inspired "Whoville" 3-D Absract

Rockin' Roller Coasters-Ville

This was a Dr. Seuss inspired project.  We were read the book Oh, The Places You Will Go! 

 The 3D assignment was to be our own creation using construction paper folded in a zigzag, twisted, torn, and curled design.  We were to use a background color that would also be one of the two colors in our design.  We had to choose warm, cool, or complimentary colors.  I used orange and blue which are complimentary colors. 

The design and illustrations of Dr. Seuss' books brings the picture right out of the book!

The 3-D and 2-D design is fun and draws the young readers into the setting.

The only set back I experienced was that I initially started out with elmer's (liquid) glue then found that it was easier for me to use a glue stick.

For an extension project I would have students tie this into a "Habitat" assignment to help students learn more about an animals surroundings and environment.  i.e.  I would have the 3-D and 2-D materials represent a rain forest with plants, trees, bamboo, oaks, nests, palms, and ferns and teach about chimpanzees and the research of Dr. Jane Goodall.

Safari Hidden Picture Project

Glasses I made out of red film
and
construction paper.
Used for seeing the Hidden Picture

Hidden Picture
You can't see it until you put the Red glasses on!   I will give you three hints:
1.  It is an animal
2.  He resembles a horse
3.  He has a mane


Answer:  A zebra
When I drew him, I was looking at an upside picture of a zebra so I stared to drawing him upside down!  Believe it or not, it is easier to draw an animal upside down than right side up.

I learned how to draw an animal (my hidden picture) by drawing him/her upside down! It was absolutely amazing to be able to draw with such ease! I had never experienced drawing a figure, or picture in this case, upside down. Once my animal had been drawn with light strokes with a light blue colored pencil, we made a pattern to cover the entire page. Then with the use of the glasses we made out of construction paper and red film, I was able to see my animal as well as all of my classmates animals. We had 3 clues on a card at the bottom of each picture to help figure out what the animal was, before looking with our glasses to see what it was.

Set back:  the only problem I had was that the cpnstruction paper matte frame looked wider on one side.

This project can be used in a Life Science lesson to start the students out. Then each student can do more research on their animal to include: habitat, life span, endangered or extinct, it could be part of a presentation that the students will do once they get more facts. This project could also be done after a field trip to the zoo to help familiarize the students even more with the animals they saw.

Van Gough Projects

Van Gough Inspired Projects:

"South Dakota Breeze

through Corn Field"

Tissue Wrap Picture

FEBRUARY 2012

"DESERT SUN"

Finger Painting Picture

FEBRUARY 2012

Elizabeth Maunu  Feb 17, 2012 10:24 AM


The top project "South Dakota Breeze" was inspired by Van Gough's Stary Night.  It was to reflect movement which I used swirls to signify a breeze that caused movement in the cornfield and hit the side of the barn.  I used a 12x18 construction paper and used tissue wrap paper for the breeze and  corn field.  I used sparkly silver grease pencil to draw more swirls for the breeze.  I also used construction paper for the grass and barn.

The set back in this project was that I felt my barn was too big, not to scale.


In the finger painting "Desert Sun"  I used my finger to make squiggly lines to represent the hot sun rays beaming upward from the pink dessert sand horizon.  This was another Van Gough Inspired Picture.  The only set back I encountered is that I had a lot of paint on my fingers when I was done with this painting and had wished that I had another white sheet of paper prepared to do another with the remaining paint on my fingers!

Bulletin Board

As an extension project I would incorporate this project into Geography class. I would start out by teaching the different landforms, have students do the above projects, then request that they type an essay listing at least 3 additional landforms. Sometimes giving an official title to something that we are very familiar with can be confusing to students. Having them construct an art project with a landscape familiar to them helps them to relate that to a variety of landforms.

Vincent Van Gough

Stary Night

Vincent Van Gough

Vincent Van Gough

Art Design and Principles-Favorite Five

Principles of design –
Rhythm or movement

Movement - My son at the
Aberdeen Holiday Inn

     Action shot – The subject is in motion.

Principles of design – Emphasis

         Your eyes tend to see the focal point first....this little tree stands in my front yard.

             Elements of Art –
    Geometric Shapes

Geometric shapes: simple shapes found in geometry, such as circles, squares, or  triangles. Geometric- kitchen rug.

        Elements of Art-
       Organic Shapes

Organic Shapes: shapes based on natural objects, trees, mountains, or leaves…

Element of art - Color

Variety of Color-Living room Carpet

   or

Elizabeth Maunu  Feb 17, 2012 10:29 AM

The five pictures were taken from a power point I did on Art Design and Principles.  I posted the top favorite pictures I took.  The purpose of the power point is to have it prepared as an introduction lesson for students to understand the art designs and principals and to be familiar with the vocabulary associated with art.

The set back I experienced is that I had a hard time choosing just 5 favorite pictures.  The power point has so many great pictures too.

An extension project that I would assign to my students after introducing the concepts described above, would be a wall size mural. It would be the size of one of my classroom wall's draping from ceiling to floor. I would request that each student draw, or paint at least 5 of the art designs. I would incorporate this with a Language Arts reading passage and have the pictures that the students draw and paint, the story setting.

Foot Prints used to Introduce Yourself

"Foot Prints In the Sand"

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This is a great project to do for an "ice-breaker" when trying to get students (...or any group of people) to know one another. First ,you will start out with a marker to trace your feet and you will also need paper. Next, you have everyone bring in items that symbolize who they are. Allow any items that describe them. I used the following: A New Mexico Flag (Yellow with red, which is why I chose to use yellow paper) because that is my home state, white sands: NM White Sands National Monument, jewelery: I love to wear it, a heart: fell in love with my husband, diamond ring: married November 1991, pictures: my children, 1 girl and 2 boys, music note: love to dance and listen to music, hard rock pin: like Rock and Roll, and dolphin pin: loved living in Florida. The set back I encountered is that I should have cut my feet pattern out, then added my personal items to the feet section, instead of surrounding it with items.  It was hard to move from place to place once it was done.  Two feet (attached in the middle) would have been better. I will remember to tell my students to place their feet together when they trace, that way when they cut it out it is easy to see that it is a One foot or Two feet silhouette. Extension Project:  Language Arts/Social Studies essay to include the state you were born, the year it was founded, state bird, state song, state flower, population during the year were born, national monuments in this state and famous people from this state.

Past Teachers

In the past years the teachers that have had special qualities are the ones' that are friendly outside of class time, but are prepared to teach us the entire class period and roles between teacher and students were clearly defined.  Outside of class, teachers have been supportive mentors and were there for guidance and were willing to give advice.  On the other hand once we were in the classroom setting they are professional, goal oriented leaders.  The teachers skilled with classroom management would be the teachers I considered to have thought out our entire hour, before we stepped one foot in their classroom. They had expectations and I as a student felt as though the time in their class was organized, challenging and the time was used up wisely.  I remember these classes functioning even when the teacher stepped out into the hall to talk to a student or to a visiting teacher or principal. These classes seemed to have had a lot of time spent organizing where each and every supply went.  Where items belonged and routines were established and thrived on from the beginning of the school year.   The teachers with less skills in the classroom management area were the ones that had chaos in their classrooms when they were there and chaos times ten when we had a substitute.  A particular teacher comes to mind.....he had a couch in his room for reading time; however, he would lay down for maybe 5 minutes of our class time and say he had a head ache!   So you can imagine how many of us would come in a lay down and say we were tired, or needed to lay down because we didn't feel well...and he would allow us to.  Every 5th grade science class you could guarantee that someone was laying down for a quick nap, either the teacher or one of us.   I'm sure administration knew what was going on in their classrooms, I now, as a prospective teacher wonder if they had consequences whether good or bad?  Substitues must have dreaded taking over that class, we were so used to doing what we wanted, and what we didn't want to, for that matter.