Georgia O'Keeffe Suncatchers

This project was thanks to a post I found on Mrs. Taylor's Artopolis. It was one of the most complimented projects that we did this year and also one of the easiest!

Thanks to the generous nature of my faculty, I have a large supply of overhead transparencies. With the advent of smart boards, classroom teachers are not using them anymore, so lucky me.... I get all of the leftovers (and save a bundle in my budget in the process!).

I gave each of my PreK students a transparency and a black Sharpie. They wrote their name on the transparency and then returned them to me. I gave each of them a bottle of glue (another supply that I have in large amounts, thanks to my faculty) and showed them how to squirt a large blog of glue onto the transparency (making sure not to go over the edge).

Then the PreK assistant and myself walked around with squirt bottles of food coloring (red, yellow and blue) and squirted 2 drops of each color onto the glue.

I showed the students how to use the handle of a paintbrush to swirl the colors around in the glue. This confused some of them, since we had just learned how to use the paintbrush the right way. The next time I do this with my students, I believe that I will try giving them toothpicks or popsicle sticks to avoid this confusion. Another ah-ha moment, which I will fix next time, is that  when I squirted the 3 primary colors onto their glue, they had a very difficult time knowing when to STOP swirling, so many of them got muddy. Those that had the control to stop, turned out beautiful. Next time- either warm or cool colors.

I placed these onto the drying rack to dry (they actually took 2 days to dry all the way through).

For the next class, the students took a black Sharpie and traced around the outside of their glue, giving them a guide to follow for cutting. They cut along their line and then the adults helped them use a hole punch to create a hole. They were given ribbon to tie through the hole. These were then hung up in the window right outside of the art room, where they caught the morning sun everyday.

After a few days, the transparency began peeling off of the glue. I'm wondering if it might work better if we went ahead and peeled it off completely before adding the ribbon.

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Third Grade Picasso Portraits

I have seen many versions of this project- here is my spin on it:

My third graders learn how to draw a self-portrait. I teach them how to divide the face, which proportions to use and they get to work drawing their portrait from the front. After they have finished, they trace over it with a black marker- pretty basic.

Then I show them how to draw their portrait as a profile. This one takes them a little longer. Again, we talk about measurements, proportion, etc. When they are finished, they trace this one with black marker also.

At this point, they have 2 different portraits, on 2 different pieces of plain 8 1/2 x 11 xerox paper.

Then I give them a 3rd piece of paper. I have them trace their first portrait and then set it aside. Then they take their profile and place that one underneath. They can move it around to wherever

 they think it looks best and they trace that one. They have now combined both portraits into 1 single, Picasso-ish portrait. After they have traced both portraits, I have them take the 2 originals home, so that they don't get them confused.

For the next step, I give each student a transparency. (With the advent of SmartBoards and document cameras, the teachers at my school have given me TONS of transparencies. I used to have to buy them every year, but now I have a supply that should last me for years to come!)

They tape their Picasso portrait to their transparency so that it doesn't move around. I have them trace the entire portrait with a permanent black marker.

Then it's time to color. We use oil pastels to color the different sections that were created by combining the 2 portraits.

 I stress to the students that no white paper (the paper that is still taped to the back) should be showing through, so this helps them know if they have colored enough with their oil pastels.

When they have completed their oil pastels, they remove the white paper from the back and they pick a piece of construction paper that is complementary to their background and I staple it to their project. Make sure that when you staple them, the oil pastel is touching the paper (the shiny side/uncolored side of the transparency should be face up).

The last step is to use gel pens/markers to add patterns. Again, the students use complementary colors to fill in the spaces with a variety of patterns.

I used to use Phooey Gel Markers, but now I can't find them anywhere. They had the best overall effect and lasted the longest when a grade level of 120 students were using them.

For the last few years, I have been experimenting with a variety of gel pens and markers and have not found anything that works quite as well. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment. I would love the ideas! Pin It