Creating a lei

This week in art our task was to create a lei. After learning some of the language and history, it was time to create our own leis for May Day. We then learned about the four different techniques used with watercolors and then we were given time to practice these techniques. Then we created a design on watercolor paper and we had to use at least two techniques. After that we had to cut out flowers from construction paper and also from our watercolor paper. We had to have a total of 24 flowers. Then we began putting the lei together. We had a piece of string and a bobby pin. We strung the flowers on the string and the cut pieces of straws as the stems. After we were finished creating our lei, we were asked to give it to someone special in our lives.

An extension activity for this lesson would be dividing the class into groups and giving them each a topic about the history of Hawaii and some popular traditions. They would do research and put their information into a presentation that would be shared with the class.

Coil Pot

This week in art class we learned how to make a coil pot. We first started out with a lump of clay and we had to knead it so all of the air bubbles would come out. After a few minutes of kneading the clay we took our clay to the teacher and they used a wire cutter to check and see if all the air bubbles were gone. After that we would tear off a piece of clay a little bit bigger than our thumbs. This was used as the bottom of the pot. We flattened it into a circular shape. Then we learned how to make a coil. We started out with a ball of clay and applied even pressure with our fingers while rolling back and forth to create a snake like object that was a little thicker than a pencil. Once this was done we combined the two pieces together. We then scored each piece. This includes making smalls lines to help the clay stick to the other piece of clay. We then began stacking the coil on top of each other until it was a desired height. We used water, clay tools, and our hands to smooth the inside of the pot. We then had to let the pots sit over night so they could dry before we painted them.

After the pots were dry we could paint them. We had to include one primary color and one secondary color. I chose to use yellow and purple and then I also used white. Another requirement was including some kind of symbol that was important to us. I painted a yellow heart on my pot. The heart represents my family and how important they are to me.

An extension activity would be researching different kinds of pottery. Students would be given a country and they would have to find out what kind of pottery is popular and create an example of it.

3-D Design

This week in art we were fourth graders and were learning about 3-D design. We listened to a few pages from the book Oh the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss. Then we had to create our own town or village using the illustrations on the pages of the book. We had to use our imaginations. My table was assigned to use complementary colors so I used blue and orange. The others choices were purple and yellow or red and green. The other two tables, one was given cool colors and the other was given the warm colors. We then had to bend, curl, and twist paper to form a 3-D design. Finally we had to give our towns a name. My towns name was Crazy Spiral Town.

An extension activity would be to have the students create a story that would take place in their town. They could also talk about the history of the town and maybe how the town got its name.

Railroad Resources Display

After creating our Railroad Printmaking projects, we were told to create a display to show the wonderful projects. This is a picture of the display description.

These are side views of our display because the projects are so big they wouldn't fit all on one screen.



This display was fun to create because it shows how hard everyone worked on this project. Hopefully people will stop by and check out our projects.

Railroad Printmaking

Today in art class it was my groups turn to teach the class about print making. Everyone was given a rectangle piece of Styrofoam and were suppose to etch whatever design they wanted to into it. We had to fill up at least 3/4 of the rectangle with the design. I chose to use silver ink on blue paper. We used a roller to put a thin layer of paint onto the Styrofoam and then pressed it onto the blue paper or whatever color of paper that each person had. I kept doing this process until I got three prints I was happy with. Then we cut out the three prints. We then had to turn our prints into a train. The students were asked to put South Dakota resources into their train cars. I chose to put coal in my cars. The final step in the activity was to create a background for the train and also add wheels to each train car.

An extension activity for this project would be having students do a little research about the South Dakota railroads. They would have to write a two page paper about the railroads. Also they could include information about the picture they created. The students could explain why they created that background and its importance to South Dakota.

Marbling

This week in art class we did a project using the marbling technique. First, we each were given a picture of a famous place and we had to draw it on white drawing paper with a pencil. Then we traced the lines with a permanent marker so we could see the lines better. Once we were done with those steps you then cut out your drawing. Over at a different table was the marbling station. At this table you first spray a thin layer of shaving cream into a tin container and spread it around evenly. Then we had to choose three adjacent colors. I chose orange, yellow, and green. I put a few drops of each color on top of the shaving cream and then took my fingers and spread the paint around until I got the design I wanted. The next step was to lay the design face down into the shaving cream. When you lifted up the design, the marbling stuck to the paper. I let it set for a couple minutes and then wiped off the extra shaving cream. I then framed it on an orange piece of construction paper.

An extension activity off of this project would be in social studies and the students would have to do a little research about the place they had to draw. They would create a powerpoint and share with the class.

Macrame

This weeks activity introduced the class to macrame. We learned that there are many different kinds of macrame. Our project was to create a key chain. We were told that we had to use at least three beads on the key chain and it also had to be at least three inches long.

An extension activity for this lesson could be done in history. The students could do some research on the history of Macrame and the different types and ways that it is used. They could give a short presentation on the information they found.