Third Grade Didgeridoos

The last project that the 3rd graders worked on this year was an Australian didgeridoo.

I started out by reading the book Do You Do a Didgeridoo? to them. It's a very silly, sing song book and they loved it! After that, I showed them a Power Point that I had put together explaining what didgeridoos are, how they are made and at the end, included a YouTube video of an aborigine man playing a real didgeridoo.



After this, we went to the teacher work room and each student got a piece of butcher paper (I let them choose their color). We went back to the room and I had them divide their paper into at least 8 sections. I demonstrated how to fill each section with a Zentangle design using their fine tip black marker (we used quite a few of these- 3rd and 5th grade were both using them and with 200 students using markers, they either dried up or the tips got smashed).


When their designs were completed, I showed them how to take either paper towel rolls or toilet paper rolls (I always haveb large bins outside of my door where students and faculty can drop off any items that they want to recycle, so I had plenty for this project!) and tape them together so that they were long enough for the butcher paper to wrap around.

We used clear packing tape to tape the outside and I have stored these for the summer so that I can put them on display when we go back to school in August.

Unfortunately the pictures are not the best, but hopefully you will get the idea. I think next year, I will give them more than just black markers.....

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Third Grade Aborigine Dot "Painting"

Continuing with 3rd grades trip to Australia, we, of course, had to do a project based on the aborigine people.

We looked at a couple of Power Points that I found on the aborigines and discussed the similarities and differences between aborigines and Native Americans.

I have included one of the Power Points that we looked at, however, I  am not sure who/where it came from. I apologize for not giving credit to the author!
I added in a YouTube video at the end of an aboriginal artist creating a dot painting.


Note- I had looked everywhere trying to find a class set of Presto Dots and was unable to find them anywhere, only the single packages (which was way out of my budget!). Luckily, when I went to our state art conference (TAEA), I stopped by the Crayola booth in the exhibit hall and explained what I wanted to do to one of the Crayola representatives. She was so wonderfully helpful and understanding- she sent me a box of 60 Presto Dots! A HUMONGOUS thank you goes out to Crayola for their help on this project!!













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Mosaic Boxes

I found this lesson plan in one of Sax's lesson plan booklets- Mosaic Embellished Boxes. The students had a great time with this, however, I have to say, that the pre-made tiles got pretty expensive. If I do this one again, I will focus more on having the students make their own tiles using FIMO clay or maybe even having them make some with Longhorn white and then glazing them.

However, since this was the first time doing this lesson, I stuck with the plan as is (live and learn). I connected this to Byzantine mosaics, thus keeping with our focus on Art Around the World. We looked at a variety of mosaics found throughout Europe and Asia and noticed colors (lots of gold) and features.

The students chose a color scheme and then I had the students paint their boxes with acrylic paint first (inside and out). Then they measured out a piece of graph paper that fit the top of the box, so that they could plan how they wanted their design to look.

I had a variety of glass tiles in different sizes that they were allowed to use (for this year- probably not next year, or I might need to limit how many of these are used).

Once their design was ready, I showed them how to use FIMO clay to make any special tiles that they wanted. They used different texture plates and clay tools to make these unique. When they were ready, I put them into the toaster oven and baked them for 30 minutes and then saved them in a ziplock bag for each class. This is another aspect that I need to refine. We had a hard time sorting out the handmade tiles once they were baked. The larger tiles had room for the students to carve their initials into (on the back). However, the tiny ones, didn't have room and it got very confusing when we needed to pass out tiles.

Once all of the tiles were ready, we used adhesive to stick them onto the lid, following the plan that was created at the beginning of the project.

I had then had a variety of beads, sequins, bottle caps and other randomness for the students to add embellishments to their boxes.

I will definitely be doing this project again, but will need to rethink the logistics before putting it into action!



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Mehndi Hands

I found this lesson in the April 2011 issue of School Arts magazine. I started the

project out by reading the students the book Nadia's Hands by Karen English and 

Jonathan Weiner. Then we discussed what Mehndi is and compared it to tattoo art, 

which, of course, they are all fascinated by.

I found this wonderful Power Point by Linda Welling that had some great info and really nice photos (I have used a lot of her Power Points in my art room and would like to thank her for the resources and the time and hard work that she has put into them!)

I had them trace their hands onto a piece of watercolor paper at least 2 times.

At this point, I found a couple of YouTube videos that gave good demonstrations of Zentangles.

I had a wide variety of Zentangle resources ready for them to use. They divided each hand into at least 3 sections and then filled each section with a different Zentangle pattern using a fine point Sharpie marker (just an FYI- we went through a LOT of markers- with 120 students, I had to keep a supply on hand).

Once the hands were filled with patterns, they chose their color scheme. I demonstrated how to do a wet-on-wet wash and they filled in the background using liquid watercolors (I have pretty much stopped using the pan watercolors- the liquid lasts so much longer and the colors are beautiful!), letting the colors bleed together.

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