5th Grade Textured Clay Pots

5th Grade are in the process of the glazing their textured clay pots right now. We created four categories for textures (hard, soft, rough, smooth) and brainstormed different items with others that possess these textures and shared them with the class. Next we made a texture rubbing chart and experimented with making texture on a small piece of clay. The following class students began to roll out a rectangular slab and create their own unique texture; some used tools, some used charms or other jewelry to press into the clay. We cut out and attached a bottom for our pot and some decided to add a handle or a top. Here are some pictures from Mrs. Prone's class of the process!

5th Grade Hand-Knitting

Before break, 5th grade learned how to hand-knit. I was amazed at the way they caught on so quickly, and soon I had many students asking to borrow yarn. I was thrilled to see them enjoying this so much! This is a wonderful activity to do while watching TV or movies, or just sitting back and listening to music. Here are a few girls working on their knittings who come to visit during some lunchtimes.

5th Grade Birch Tree Paintings

Right now we are working on some watercolor birch tree paintings. This lesson really helps us understand depth and perspective, and how to create this illusion on a flat space. First we created trees out of masking tape to keep the paper underneath the tape white. After our tape was down, we drew a horizon line. Next we mixed different values of watercolors, many of us created very light values of blue or violet for snow. Then we painted the sky and discussed placement of shadows on the ground. Soon we are going to peel the tape off, add shading to the white trees (Ms. Hatch even has some birch tree bark to pass around - she grew up in the middle of the woods), and also add details. Watercolor also really helps us learn patience- you just can't rush watercolor! More photos coming...

5th Grade and 4th/5th Multi-age Silhouettes

5th Grade just finished up their silhouette mixed media pieces. These were painted in tempera first and then the silhouette was cut and glued on top. We discussed using similar colors on our paper, like warm, cool, or analogous (next to each other on the color wheel) colors and then painted our paper. Next, we created a sketch in our sketchbook for our silhouette that used the space on our paper well. Learning about contour lines from our previous lesson helps us fully understand the outline and shape of objects, so that we can create interesting and recognizable silhouettes. Finally, we cut our objects out of black paper, arranged them, and glued them to our painting.