Buurrrr! It's cold outside!

5th graders drew self portraits of themselves in winter weather gear. They loved this portrait project because it was a cropped portrait and they didn't have to draw their faces! We discussed proper proportion when drawing bodies. So they needed to pay attention to how big their hands were, how wide their shoulders were, the size of their neck, and the width of the rest of their body. They did a great job with all the details!
(This lesson was found an art ed blog, I'm forgetting who's at the moment, but thanks!)

Polar Bears

First graders learned all about polar bears through a video called TASHA THE POLAR BEAR. The video followed a young polar bear cub through her first year of life in the North Pole. First graders used ovals and circles to draw their polar using chalk pastels. They colored them in using a cotton ball and pastels. The second class we added the face details again with chalk, and created a patterned scarf from scraps of paper. As our last step we outlined in glitter:)

Snow Owls

2nd graders learned some fun facts about owls through a video on YouTube before we started this project. I had the students use a variety of painting techniques for this project. For the snowbank and the tree I had students use a small piece of cardboard as their paint brush. For the owls, students used their thumb and fingerprints to make the owl body. I wanted students to realize that you can use a wide variety of materials as a painting tool. They used small paint brushes for the snowflakes. The second class we reviewed horizontal, vertical, and slanted lines. We used those lines for our tree details, and also added details to complete our birds. Lastly we outlined in glitter:)

MITTENS

First graders read the story THE MITTEN by Jan Brett. I had traced all the mitten shapes ahead of time for the students. We discussed what collage and overlapping means.Students used a wide assortment of patterned paper to cut out into shapes and then glue them to their mitten. They had to make sure to OVERLAP their papers so we couldn't see much of the background. We also added some felt leaves and berries, and the students practiced their bow tying skills to tie their mittens together.
(This lesson was found on Artsonia)

Chinese Dragons

Third graders learned about Asian Art before we went on break. They viewed a power point presentation on the history of Chinese dragons. It was very interesting to learn all the different types of dragons that there are in the Chinese culture. Students made these Chinese dragon sculptures from egg carton cups. I put out the call for egg cartons to be brought in by my students, and boy did they respond! I'm overflowing with egg cartons now, but good to know they are willing to help out their art teacher when in need:) Students punched holes in the cups first, then painted. The second class we assembled and added the details. They turned out awesome! 

Paper snowflakes

Not the best photographs, but these turned out really cute. I always try to do a little something that students can take home before the holidays. This was a great one- one and half day lessons. Students made paper snowflake ornaments from strips of paper. It was really easy. First the students fold strips in half, and then curl ends towards one another. When they glue their pieces together, they must glue only on the fold. I had them do eight strips total. They are hanging in our school's front hall to try to bring a little bit of a winter feel to our school, since it's almost mid January in Wisconsin, and we have no snow!