This project is targeted for third through fifth grade students. When I taught this lesson we began by examining a variety of Aboriginal Dot Paintings from Australia, both contemporary and prehistoric, and noted a running theme across centuries: native animals. Animals were important to Aborigine survival and were a large part of their day to day lives. Step one is to pick one wild animal to depict in this dot painting. Next, carefully draw the animal in pencil. Using tempera paint, fill the inside of the animal with dots either with the eraser end of a pencil or with a q-tip (though q-tips tend to be messy). Finish off the designs with concentric circles, which is a common theme in many Aborigine artworks.
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This lesson requires black construction paper, a pencil with an eraser and oil pastels. First, have your child find their desired light house by googling "Michigan lighthouse". Next, have your child use a ruler to draw the simple lighthouse outline, then draw the outline of grass and water. Next, using oil pastels, they can color them using smooth, even strokes filling in the grass, water and lighthouse. I recommend leaving the sky black for a beautiful lighthouse at night. I advise against adding scribbly-type stars as stars too often detract from the simple beauty of this art project. Children can also research how lighthouses are important in protecting ships on our Great Lakes.
Embarking on a unit about the Rainforest, third graders enjoyed a virtual reality trip to the Amazon using our Virtual Reality (VR) glasses. Students were so excited they could barely contain themselves. They moved down a huge kapok tree, seeing sloths, an anaconda, birds, butterflies and then traveled down the Amazon river to a cave. The video showed examples of the destruction to the Amazon rain forest and discussed the importance we have in protecting this fragile ecosystem. Next, we talked about threats to these endangered animals from humans, slash and burn destruction and logging of the forest and discussed their ideas to fix this problem. I showed them a Power point of Birds of Paradise, macaws and other exotic birds and all grades studied a variety of Rainforest insects and animals. Finally, they drew and painted their tropical birds with watercolors, including unusual feathers, colors and designs.
To kick off this endangered animals unit, fourth and fifth graders enjoyed a virtual reality trip to a rain forest using our VR glasses. Students were so excited they could barely contain themselves. They moved down a huge kapok tree, seeing sloths, an anaconda, birds, butterflies and then traveled down the Amazon river to a cave. The video showed examples of the destruction to the Amazon rain forest and discussed the importance we have in protecting this fragile ecosystem and its endangered animals. We reviewed last year's research on endangered animals, and discussed how each creature's habitat is important and unique. Some animals like lions live in the savannas of Africa, others in the depths of rain forests. Students brainstormed ways to save the animals and their habitats Then, I guided students in drawing a lion including a stylized mane with various colors and designs. Some chose to do a frog, zebra, parrot, chameleon, and even a few dragons!
I began this unit with an excellent old video from Reading Rainbow that showed the painting of a stylistic sunset carefully painted on a hide followed by the reading of the book The Indian Paintbrush by Tomie dePaola (should be available on YouTube or just read this lovely book yourself). Lower el students then learned how to paint a sunset step by step using vibrant colored tempera cakes (week one). The second week they used different types of lines and pictographs to decorate different sizes of teepees drawn with markers on tan colored construction paper. The third week, we talked about foreground, middleground and background (to add depth). Then students were shown how to cut out and glue the smaller teepees higher on the horizon line as if they were farther away (background) with the middle sized ones placed mid-way up on the grass (middleground) and finally the larger ones were glued lower down toward the bottom of the page (foreground).
Meanwhile, upper elementary students watched a Power point showing various authentic Native American war and medicine shields, as well as hides and teepees with painted pictograph designs. Students learned that pictographs were used by Native Americans to record important events. Then on to creating beautifully woven Lakota dancing shields! Students traced and cut out a large dinner plate sized circle in brown, tan or black paper, folded the circles in half and cut inch-wide sections from the fold almost to the edge of the circle. Next they wove colored strips in a pattern filling their shields ("over under, over under"). Week two, I either read an actual "book" with a pictograph story or showed this brief slide show with examples of pictographs used in every day Native American life. https://www.slideshare.net/ChrisNoel1/native-american-44232313 Then students "wrote" their own story using pictographs which they drew on the alternate woven squares on their shields using pencil then sharpies and oil pastels. Week three they decided on their personal animal totem to add to their shield. Their animal was drawn on copy paper, filled with pictographs and designs, then outlined in sharpie and colored with markers and/or colored pencil. Week four, they carefully cutout and glued their totem animal onto the middle of their shield, adding yarn ending with hand made feathers. Kindergarten students learned about caring for Mother Earth based on the story Brother Eagle Sister Sky by Susan Jeffers. We talked about throwing our trash into the garbage can and taking good care of animals. Next students painted line designs using different kinds of lines followed by a pattern around their paper plate using q-tips dipped in tempera paint. Week two, students folded strips of paper for the rays of the sun and stapled them in a pattern around their Aztec Sun mask.
Students watched a slideshow of a variety of different multi-cultural masks. I showed them everything from Balinese masks, to African, to Native American masks. Then students used shapes, lines and symbols to complete their design. The following week they added beans, pasta and feathers. These were quite the hit with the first and second graders.
This lesson was adapted from a lesson in the magazine Arts and Activities. Third graders learned about the intricate artwork in the dragon used in the Chinese dragon dance. Next, they cut out a colorful dragon head and body, adding patterns of cut paper for symmetrical designs. Finally, crepe paper was added for a tail.
Each year in art we focus on a country or culture for a full unit of social studies art integration. This year, students studied the art, music and cultural traditions of Japan. We kicked off the unit by watching a Powerpoint showing some of the art styles and techniques of Asian art including silk screen and scroll painting, woodblock carving and types of traditional clothing such as kimonos. The following week, students learned about ancient Japanese kabuki theater and watched a Youtube video showing the elaborate costumes and amazing masks used by the actors. Then students painted kimonos using watercolors and adding wallpaper sashes and details. Upper el students made pop out masks adding brocade, streamers, curtain fabric and other odds and ends to finish them off.
Lower el students painted a sunset, then used different types of lines to decorate teepees. To add depth, we talked about foreground, middleground and background and students were shown how to place the smaller teepees higher on the horizon as if they were farther away.
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March 2024
AuthorMy name is Mrs. Krupa and I'm an elementary art teacher at Oxbow Elementary. I'm a professional harpist turned art teacher of 20 years. I'll share art lessons and ideas on these pages, what works and doesn't. Enjoy! Categories
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