In Rotoball, the ball comes in from the left & goes out to the right, being transformed in the middle—all of this takes place in 15 seconds. Our entry is below, and after we took nearly 200 stop-motion pictures the … Continue reading
In February & early March, 3rd grade students made papier mache puppets, 4th grade did a huge cartooning/Language Arts integration, and 5th grade made radial art colored pencil pieces.
Third grade made their puppets using newspaper balls taped to paper towel tubes, then we applied newspaper strips coated with papier mache mix. After two layers were added, we let them dry before painting with acrylic paint and adding ears, hair, etc. with yarn or construction paper. Right now, over 20 puppets are being displayed in the large showcase leading to third grade. Third grade students are now learning about the 3 main shapes of ancient Greek vases and creating their own 2D vases (March art project). Here is a link we enjoyed making “virtual vases” with on the Smartboard: http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/kids/greecepot.htm
Fourth grade studied the difference between Anime/Manga style cartooning & superhero (Marvel) style cartooning. Then, we drafted their storyline using the “plot mountain”, adapted their story for cartooning using the “narrative planning sheet”, and finally, drew their cartoon sketches on comic strip layout grids. All of these writing activities reinforced writing technique and vocabulary from fourth (and fifth) grade Language Arts: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, conclusion/ending. For March, fourth grade is finishing their paisley patterns and beginning clay.
Fifth grade students put their math skills to use designing radial pictures. First, they traced a circle, and then divided it into 8 equal segments, starting by drawing 2 diameters (vertical & horizontal), measuring the “chord” and dividing it in half to get the piece from 4 equal segments to 8 equal segments. This involved math strategies for dividing fractions, in addition to ruler skills! After tracing an image and drawing it radially 8 times, students used their blending skills with colored pencil to finish their piece. We are also extending our radial design knowledge with computer designs, creating “Digital Mandalas” using Adobe Illustrator. Fifth grade also completed a 2 week investigation into “Op Art”, and created “Op Art Shading Blobs” in their ongoing sketchbooks. We are beginning ink drawings right before break and complete them in mid-April.
Third grade completed their tunnel books before break, and have been very busy making cartoon “critter cubes” after. Some are in the showcase leading to the third grade hall right now. Also, we covered the beginning history of animation (up to “Steamboat Willy”) and made our own simple animations, “thaumatropes” (all graded & sent home 
).
Fourth grade explored “design thinking” (based on a Stanford University project), and brainstormed what goes into a good wallet, before designing multiple wallet prototypes. After all that planning and revising, students chose their best design & they were crafted into actual wallets using materials such as paper, adhesive paper, tape, cardboard, and yes– even duct tape! So many students wanted to give their wallets as gifts, that rather than display them, they were sent home (they were really cool). Now, we are looking at how to craft narratives using the “plot mountain”, and using proportions to cartoon in either Anime or Superhero style.
Fifth grade clay sculptures all went home before break (dragons and gargoyles), and we worked on sketchbooks both before and after break, creating them from cereal boxes or tagboard. Students worked through multiple prompts to develop shading expertise and experience drawing from observation. In the second semester, we will continue to work on sketchbooks, so you will have to wait until spring for their completion. In the meantime, we are looking at the Mayan codices (a social studies integration), and are starting to create our own codex (basically, an accordion book with cut paper symbols).
4th grade is starting our big cartooning unit, a Language Arts integration (storyline plotting/narrative planning) and math (using proportions). A great resource we are currently using for practice is www.FollowMeCartooning.com
Third grade has finished their tunnel books, with examples now on display in the large showcase in third grade, with more on our digital gallery, Artsonia. Fourth grade is nearly done with their “wallet project”, which involved “design thinking” and … Continue reading
This gallery contains 2 photos.
As promised, here’s a brief Animoto of 5th grade Avatars. Students chose to use either colored pencil, tempera, or Photoshop on the computers to represent themselves. Additionally, we did an investigation into “digital footprints” (see Tildecast #9 from district homepage). … Continue reading
This gallery contains 3 photos.
In September & October, we’ve been looking at how artists can represent themselves (5th grade Avatar unit, 4th grade collograph printmaking unit), & in 3rd grade, we made and traded Artists’ Trading Cards (choosing a theme to illustrate, which is … Continue reading
As part of our avatar unit (5th grade), students learned about QR codes (“quick response”). If you want to try making your own, here’s the site we used:
http://www.qrstuff.com/
