Paper Weaving

 Activity:

Students pick three different color strips and two pieces of construction paper. They first cut one of the pieces of construction paper in half. Then, the use a ruler to mark an inch from the top and then draw a line across. Next, they measure out an inch from left to right and draw a line across the entire thing, top to bottom. The students are then going to cut up the strips until they reach the line an inch from the top. They will then start the weaving. They fold up every other strip of paper and then take one of their colored strips and glue it on. Next, they put down all of their tabs and pull up the opposite ones they did before. After, they choose another color and do the same thing. They keep doing this all the way down, using at least three different colors. After, they take their woven project and glue it down onto a bigger sheet of construction paper, making sure all the tabs are glued down. At the bottom of their artwork, they add four takeaways from the lesson that they learned.

 

Extension:  

The students will research into cultures that use weaving and explain what type of projects they make. Additionally, the will explain how they use weaving and why it is important to their culture. 

Fall Changing Colors Tree Finger Painting

 Activity: 

Students started by listening to a book about how the colors of the leaves turn. After, students made their own tree. They started by tracing their hand in the middle of the paper. Next, they colored their hand in with brown to show a tree trunk. They also drew small leave piles on the bottom of the paper. Next, students got red and yellow paint. They mixed them together to get orange so they had three colors. They then used their thumb to make prints for the leaves. They finger painted all of the tree, the leave piles, and falling leaves.

Extension: 

An extension to this lesson is talking about the different types of trees and which kind lose leaves and which keep them during the winter. Additionally, students will make a poster with the different type of tree and describe it.

Drawing Monsters

 Activity: 

Students started by listening to the book The Color Monster. This book talked about monsters and their emotions. Students had to think about four different characteristics of a mon
ster and write it down. Then, they had to pass their paper to a partner and the partner had to drawn a monster with those characteristics. The student then created a rough draft of their monster before creating the final version. Once they drew their final monster, they had to use three different materials to create their monster. The monster also had to represent a certain emotion and have a name. Finally, the student had to write four sentences about how their monster was feeling and what they do on their off day.

Extension:  

An extension activity to creating a monster is to have the students write a story about their monster. The students could explain more in depth how why their monster was feeling that way. Additionally, they could write a whole essay about the background of their monster and how they got into scaring people.  

Hidden Safari

 Activity: Students got to choose a safari animal to draw in a light blue colored pencil. After students drew the animal, they used warm colors (red, orange and yellow) to create different patterns that covered the entire page. There were able to use different colored crayons to create at least three different patterns. The patterns were to help disguise their animal. After, students glued their paper to the background color. They also wrote three clues to help people guess what their animal is. Students then used the red film glasses they made to see what each other's animals looked liked.

Extension: Students can reteach more about the animal they picked and create a diorama of their habitat in the wild. Additionally, they can explain why their animal may be in hiding (hunters, poaching). 

Vincent Van Gogh Inspired Collage

 Description:

Students first learned about the artist Vincent Van Gogh and his type of artwork, especially the abstract line work. Students also had to write three things they learned about Van Gogh. Students then created a project by using tissue paper and glue as the background. Students the created a black foreground/silhouette to be the man focus of the project. Students then used oil pastels to create the famous Van Gogh swirls and added onto the foreground to make it pop.

Extension Activity:  

Van Gogh often painted different types of flowers so a science unit about flowers could be incorporated into this activity. The students will do a project that shows Van Gogh's paintings and then explain what type of flower it is, along with the lifecycle, structure, pollination, and environmental impact. 

Dot Day

 Description:

 Create a 'dot' by incorporating the use of different media such as watercolor crayons, crayola markets, oil pastels, and paint. Students will create a design on a coffee filter using the materials and then blend them together with paint to make everything come together. I created an inspiration quote with the colors purple, blue, and yellow. I hid a message using white crayon before using paint to cause it to show up. It is a cool project as the white crayon is not visible until you add paint.

Extension Activity: 

Since this activity involves using crayon that disappears until you use paint, this could be a great catalyst into talking about famous people who just disappeared. For example, students could do a research project on Amelia Earhart and her disappearance and theories on what happened to her.