Friday Art Feature

09 March 2012
The end of our school day today marked the beginning of our March Break - YAY!!!  Looking forward to spending some time with my girls - should be a fun week of crafting, cooking, and playing.  :)

We had Play Day this afternoon, and I had the envious job of being the score keeper.  YAY again!  I was able to get a bit of laminating done, and got my newest art bulletin board up.

We've been working on this art over the last two weeks while my students have also been finishing their illustrations and stories for the book we're writing.  I needed an activity that they would be able to complete with little instructions, little assistance, and would keep them engaged for a while.  This activity was perfect!

We started by covering a piece of paper with pages from an old book (they thought I had gone crazy when I started tearing pages out of a book).  Students overlapped the pages in different directions to add a bit of visual interest.

We then used watercolours to paint the ground along the bottom of the picture.  Using watercolours allowed for the print to still be visible under the paint.






We then sketched a tree on the paper, and they painted the tree using heavy black acrylic paint.

We discussed the artist, Kandinsky, and I showed them pictures of his circle art.  I gave each student a page with circle outlines in all different sizes, and they had to colour the circles any way they wished.  Students glued the completed circles at the end of each branch on their trees.

For the last step, students cut extra images from scrapbook paper to add extra embellishments to their art projects.  I LOVE how these turned out!  They just make me so happy ... so much so I want to leave them up all year!!!


Happy FRIDAY!!!  




45 comments

  1. These are so great....I want one to hang in my house!

    Laurie
    Chickadee Jubilee
    The Best Endings

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  2. I saw these pinned on pinterest and loved them! They are so vibrant.

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  3. Those turned out awesome!!! I absolutely love them!!

    4th Grade Frolics

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    1. Thank-you so much! They were so much fun to make!

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  4. You have the best art! Awesome job.

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  5. I'm not a big art person but those projects are awesome! Great idea.

    Sara :)
    Smiling In Second Grade

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    1. I've never been great at art - but I do LOVE it! I have found that working on our art projects in the morning really calms my students down and they are so much more productive through the day because of it!

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  6. YAY - happy, happy spring. Is it warmer yet? We're on break, too, but a rainstorm brought cooler temps, so we'll see what this week brings. In any event, we've got LOTS of R and R planned.

    Celebrating your beautiful smART with you!

    Barbara

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    1. Thanks, Barbara!
      March has definitely come in like a lion here - we've had more snow and ice this month than we've had all winter. Making these has brought a little spring to my room - much needed!

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  7. These are amazing!! Did you put a clear coat of Modge Podge or something overtop when they were finished?

    Kaleigh's Klassroom

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    1. Thanks, Kaleigh. I laminated these before I hung them. I have to laminate all our art this year because they get taped to the "fake bulletin board" I made.

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  8. Amazing!!! Love the different colourful shapes of circles! Thanks for sharing :D

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  9. I absolutely LOVE this art project Jen!!! I love how you used the pages of an old book as the background.
    What a great way to give an old book a new life! You & you'r kids are so talented!!!

    ❤ Mor Zrihen from...
    A Teacher's Treasure
    Teaching Treasures Shop

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    1. Thanks, Mor! I had pinned something similar to this a few weeks back, and when I saw the box of old books in our supply room, I knew what I was using them for.

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    2. I've seen some really cute old book projects on Pinterest too. I have them pinned under crafts and hope to give them a try this summer :)

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    3. I did do one old book project last year - the one where an old book is cut into an apple shape. I did with a book I still had from high school (one that I wasn't fond of at all), so it gave me immense satisfaction cutting through those pages. ;)

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  10. Jen, I love this! It is so different looking. The colors pop and the background is such a great use of old materials. Thank you for sharing!

    ~Stephanie
    Teaching in Room 6

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    1. Thank-you so much, Steph! I loved using the books as our background - I saw that somebody who pinned this mentioned that you could also use newspaper for the background ... gives me something to think about for an upcoming project!

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  11. Those are beautiful! You're right ... They look a lot like the tree in my banner. Ha ha:)

    Barbara
    Grade ONEderful

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    1. I know, isn't it crazy - I guess great minds think alike! ;)

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  12. Thanks for the encouraging words! I love the art project above! Do your kids go to art and you do art projects or are you in charge of art? I have an art project in the works and I think I would like to try this when it's done.
    Julie
    Thoughts of a Third Grade Teacher

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    1. Thanks, Julie! I do the art with my kids - I teach all their subjects expect French.

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  13. I just found your blog through Teaching Blog Addict. I love these! Great idea!

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  14. Another great art project! When we get back from spring break I will be teaching circles in Geometry, hoping to tie this project in somehow!Maybe I'll put up the words "Geome-tree" on the bulletin board.

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  15. Your kiddos artwork is absolutely gorgeous! I would frame these and hang them in my house or decorate the school walls. So beautiful!!
    Patti :)
    A Series of 3rd Grade Events

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  16. Love this artwork! Thanks so much for sharing.

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  17. WOW!!!! These are beautiful!!! Is there any way that you can share the artist info and the circle page you gave the students???? I am artistically challenged! lol

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  18. lovely idea for school children,quite like the artist Kerry Darlington. thumbs up

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  19. I love this project idea and can't wait to try it with my 4th graders next year. Quick question - do you have the page of circles you gave the students to color? Just curious if I could save myself a step. Thanks a million!!

    Amanda
    The Teaching Thief

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  20. What kind of paper are the circles made of? I love the vibrant colors.

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