Wednesday Works - lifeskills large scale "paintings"

I used paintings with the quote signs because they kids did not actually use traditional brushes for these, we used print making rollers and other assorted clay rolling tools, plus some plastic ceramic tools for writing into the wet paint.  

With this group I am finding more and more it isn't about the final product, it's about the process.  The textural paint, the motions of using a roller to spread the paint and mix colors, the way the papers feel when the paint is dry (or wet in some cases :) )   They engage much better and for longer periods of time when they have a real sensory experience with the art materials.

Monday Motivations - A Pep Talk from Kid President

Wednesday Works (Thursday Edition) - Aboriginal Animals

Started a new lesson with my 5th grade sections last week.  We talked a bit about Aboriginal Art, watched some video clips of traditional and contemporary Aboriginal artists like this one....

...and this one....

 (disclaimer....I did need to skip the first 115-20 seconds of the introduction to this video for showing it in the classroom) 

Then the students picked an animal and started on their contour drawings.

We painted in six colors with pencil erasers using dots only.   This is progress at the beginning of day two.

Wednesday Works - GYOTAKU printing

Fish prints!

First we watched this short introductory video on TedEd.

Then we began printing.    This will likely be a 2-3 day lesson as far as the wet printing goes.  Then I would like to take a day to talk about signing the prints, displaying them, and working in a short critique/rubric session with the class.

Monday Motivations - Van Gogh Parodies