First Grade Colors and Fourth Grade Totems!

This week I finished up the rest of my units with our little beavers so that Ms. Brown, our student teacher from VCU School of the Arts, can start her units next week! So exciting! Let's take a look at what first graders have been up to in the art room.

First graders learned about the artist and art educator Alma Thomas and her beautiful paintings inspired by colors and patterns from her garden in nature. Students explored color and the concentric circle pattern in their paintings. After their paintings dried, students learned about how colors can either contrast (be very different) or camouflage (be the same or similar). Adding a collage element to their artwork, students used construction paper colored pieces to create color contrast and camouflage in their beautiful, bright artwork. Take a look!

 

 

Fourth graders just completed the first step of their super awesome CERAMIC TOTEM POLES! We began this unit by learning about the cultural art of a totem pole and its purpose to the natives in the Pacific North West. We discussed symbols and how the animals in the totem poles are symbols that tell a story. Students explored the various animals and their symbolic meanings and chose one that stood for a characteristic that they themselves had. After they chose the animal that could symbolize themselves, the students drew out sketches for their animals. Next, students explored several clay hand building techniques including throwing a slab, rolling a sphere, making a coil and attaching clay pieces together by scoring (scratching) and slipping (adding clay glue). Finally, the students applied their hand building techniques and created their individual totems. After Ms. Brown is done with her units and after their totems are bisque fired, students will add colors with paint! Take a look at them now... they are really neat!