5th Grade Sewing

Fifth graders have learned a basic stitching pattern in order to create these awesome stuffed monsters/characters/pillows. They learned how to thread a needle, sew, and the entire process of creating a sewing. They started with a basic shape for a monster or pillow and cut two identical pieces from felt. They threaded and knotted their needles and sewed in and out around the outline of the felt pieces. Next they stuffed their sewing, sewed the rest, and applied details from felt and googly eyes, attaching with hot glue. They sure made some colorful characters!

KInder Texture Turtles

Kindergarten revisited texture in their texture turtle lesson. First they took scissors and learned how to cut a circle from a square to create their turtle shell. Next they used crayons and texture plates to add texture to their shells. Students drew a "W" on the top of small green rectangular paper and cut this to create the turtles legs. Students cut an oval from another green rectangle and glued these on. They are super cute!

2nd grade Aztec Sun Designs

2nd Grade learned about the Aztec Sun Designs of Mexico recently. We also made a list of shapes and lines to create the sun designs from.Students used very large paper and paint markers (it's like paint, but it's like a marker), starting with a circle in the center and adding details and designs.

4th Grade Weavings

As we are finishing up our dragons, we are creating some simple paper plate weavings. Students create an ODD number of cuts (11) from the edge of the plate to the center circle and poke a hole through the center of the plate with a pencil. Next students choose a color and measure out (11) 9-inch pieces. The yarn pieces are put through the hole, slide through one cut, and tied into a knot on the back side. The resulting piece resembles spokes on a wheel. Students cut another long piece of yarn, tape one end on the back, slide the yarn through the hole and weaving over and under repeatedly around the center. The outside of the circle was designed with markers.

5th Grade Self Portraits

5th grade learned different styles of portraiture, including:  Realistic, Abstract, Modigliani, and Anime/Cartoon/Caricature. Students chose their own style and created a drawing of a self-portrait. They were asked to choose any "drawing" material, such as: colored pencil, oil pastel, crayon, charcoal, and and chalk. We touched on the basic placement of features, simple ways to draw features, and incorporating shading. They created their own background and boy, do they look A LOT like them.

Fourth and 4/5 Split Clay Dragons

4th and students in Ms. Sitek's 4/5 split class have been working diligently on these clay dragons. They first brainstormed characteristics of dragons and what a dragon exactly is and then learned about the differences in the way dragons are portrayed in Eastern and Western cultures. We looked at many examples and then created a sketch. Students further developed their clay skills in building these dragons, because there are so many details and parts of the dragon to consider. Most are finished building and we will begin glazing soon.
I love the variety of the styles.

Kinder Springtime Butterflies

Once upon a time, the kindergartners mixed colors with their hands. From these paintings, we created butterflies. We folded the paper in half and drew a number "3" against the fold of the paper, cut the paper, and opened this up. We brainstormed what the world might look like in Spring, and then created oil pastel backgrounds. Many of us chose to show beautiful flowers that are making their appearance, the sun, and bright green grass. We glued our butterflies on top and they are so colorful they could brighten anyone's day.