Second Grade Aztec Suns

Continuing with our Latin American projects, second grade did suns inspired by the artwork of the Aztecs.

Everyone began the project by drawing their idea for a sun in their sketchbook. They had to make sure that their drawing was large (one of my focuses for my 2nd graders this year- they love drawing everything tiny!), that it had a variety of patterns and that it used 1 color scheme (they chose from warm, cool or complementary colors.

Once they had finished their preliminary sketch, they chose which project they wanted to work on.

Their first choice was an aluminum bas relief. They drew their sun on a piece of manila that was cut to the size of the aluminum (5 x 5). Then they taped the manila onto the foil and traced the design. They were told to do the tracing while the aluminum was sitting on top of their sketchbook, so that it would leave a nice impression. After tracing, they removed the manila and used their pencil to color in certain sections of their design, creating the bas relief. Color was added with Sharpie markers and then the aluminum was stapled to a piece of black construction paper to create a matt.

The second choice was a printing project. The students drew their design on a piece of 5 x 5 manila paper. They taped this onto a piece of styrofoam that had been cut to the same size. Once the design had been traced, they removed the manila and used their pencil to color in certain sections. They chose pieces of construction paper that fit their color scheme and printed their design onto the paper. The prints were glued onto black construction paper to create a matt.

The third choice was a sculpture project. The students used recycled materials to create a sculpture of the sun that they had drawn in their sketchbooks. I have a variety of boxes outside of the artroom where the faculty can drop off their recycling. I have egg cartons, boxes, newspaper, bottle caps, lids, containers, cardboard rolls, magazines, etc. The students have gotten used to going to these bins anytime they are in need of materials. 

The students collected the materials that they wanted for their sun and stored them in a zip-lock bag. They were glued onto a piece of cardboard (saved from packs of construction paper that the teachers get with the students school supplies at the beginning of the school year) with craft glue (Elmer's is not strong enough for this project). When everything had been glued in place and was dry, they used markers and tempera to color it in their color scheme. The last step was to add details by gluing sequins onto the sculpture.

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Second Grade Day of the Dead

We started out by looking at a presentation on the Day of the Dead and discussing where and when the Day of the Dead is celebrated. We focused this project on the Day of the Dead calaveras (skulls). They children practiced drawing their skull in their sketchbooks and colored them using complementary colors.

There were 3 choices for projects:

The first one was a calavera made out of Claycrete. The students mixed the claycrete with water and glue and formed the shape of the skull. Once it was dry, they painted it 1 color with acrylic paint. They added facial features with sequins, pipe cleaners and other materials that they found interesting.

The second project was a calavera in a frame. They drew the skull onto a transparency and painted it with white acrylic paint. They turned the transparency to the back side and used Sharpies to decorate it.

The third project that the students could choose was a printing project. The student drew their calavera onto a piece of cardboard. They traced it with white glue and let it dry. Then they made three different prints using the cardboard. The first print was a crayon rubbing. The second print was done by rolling ink onto the cardboard and creating a print on white paper. For the last one, they covered the cardboard with a piece of aluminum foil and then rubbed the foil so that the glue created a bas relief. They used Sharpies to color the aluminum.

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Second Grade Calaveras

Second grade repeated their Day of the Dead project from last year: Day of the Dead Calaveras

Here are this years outcomes:

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Second Grade Aztec Art

The projects from last year: Second Grade Aztec Art

This year's project added a couple of choices for the students:











1.  copper repousse by itself












2.  printmaking












3.  copper repousse and printmaking together

I stressed to the students that those that opted for choice 3 would really have to stay focused, since they would have a lot more to do to complete their project than the other options.

From there, we began our project by creating 2 practice drawings in our sketchbooks, after having read the book, Musicians of the Sun. They were allowed to create a drawing based on one of the characters and stylize it as they saw fit.

We learned about complementary colors and they colored their sketches.

They chose 1 of their drawings and copied it onto a piece of 5 x 5 manila paper, without coloring it.

As they were doing this, I began meeting with small groups to demonstrate the steps for each different project.

Project 1:
They taped their manila paper to a piece of copper and traced the design. I made sure that they knew they had to place their copper/manila paper on top of their sketchbooks in order for the design to come through.

Then they took their manila paper off and used their pencils to color in different parts of the positive space, making these "pop out" of the copper- lots of oohs, aahs and Wows! during this stage.

They used Sharpies in their chosen complementary colors to color their design and it was glued onto a piece of black construction paper.

Project 2:
The manila paper was taped onto a 5 x 5 piece of Styrofoam. The design was traced with their pencil.

Then they took their manila paper off and used their pencils to color in different parts of the positive space (same as the copper project).

They picked up 4 pieces of construction paper (2 of each of their complementary colors) and went to my printing station. They created 4 prints that were exactly the same and set them on the drying rack to dry. The next week, they came in and glued these onto a piece of black paper.

Project 3:
This was a combination of the 2 projects. I had them start with the Styrofoam. However, instead of creating 4 prints, they only created 2. When these were completed, they used the exact same piece of manila paper with their design on it and taped it to a piece of copper. They followed the steps for the copper project, however, they had to create 2 pieces of copper instead of only 1.

All of their pieces were glued onto a piece of black paper.






All in all, giving the second graders these choices worked pretty well- better for some classes than others, but as a whole, well. I think it will work much better the next time, because they will be used to making their own choice, reading directions and problem solving, instead of depending on me to give them all of their answers.

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Second Grade Amate Bark Painting

To continue our study of Latin America, second grade began a project based on the Amate Bark Paintings of Mexico. I started the project by showing them this video I found on YouTube.


Then I gave each student a piece of Kraft paper and had them crumple it up and smooth it out 10 times. I had them repeat this 10 times, because the longer they crumpled their paper, the softer and more pliable it became.

They painted the Kraft paper with watered down brown tempera paint, giving it a quick coating- I didn't want the entire paper covered in brown paint, but wanted to give it the look of the bark paper.

The students then began planning out their compositions. I had them draw an animal that could be found in the jungle. They had to practice drawing it bigger than their hand (very difficult for some!) and they had to embellish some aspect of their animal (make it fancy!). They gave their birds curly feathers, long toes on their lizards, crazy manes on their lions, etc. Once they had their animal, they had to have at least 5 pieces of foliage in their jungle. Each piece had to be touching their animal and the side of the paper.

Once they had their picture ready in their sketchbook, they were ready to draw onto their Kraft paper. I had them draw with pencil first and then trace over the drawing with a black marker.

I gave each table a tray of fluorescent tempera paint (no green yet). They were allowed to paint their animal any color they chose- the wilder the better!

When the animals were finished, I gave them a couple of different greens and some white. I showed them how they could mix the colors together to get different tints of green and explained that I didn't want any of their plants to be the same green as any other. They all had to be different.

Once the entire project was dry, they used the smallest brushes I had available and embellished their pictures. Some just added a little bit of white, others added patterns.

The last step was to go over the black marker one more time and retrace it.

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Second Grade Oaxacan Animals

Second grade just completed their clay project. They learned about Oaxacan Wood Carvings and how they are made. My rule for their animal was that it had to have either legs or fins (I wanted to stay away from having a bunch of students make snakes).They drew their practice
 sketches in their sketchbook and then
they were ready to learn how to make their animal. I found this very simple YouTube video on making four legged animals. After watching the video, I passed out their clay and tools and they got started. I walked around helping them build their animal. The main issue I found, was not using the knife to cut deep enough into the clay for the legs. I had to help quite a few students with this part. I also had to show them how the legs should be about as big as their finger, otherwise they wouldn't be able to stand up. I still got a few animals with matchstick legs, but overall, I think they did pretty well.

 Once the animals were fired, I made the decision to paint them with tempera paint. I wanted them to have the vibrant colors of the Oaxacan animals, and I was afraid that we wouldn't be able to get that with the glazes that I had available.

I had each student choose the color that they wanted to paint their animal. They painted the entire animal and then we left them to dry.

The next week, I pulled out the neon tempera and my smallest paintbrushes. I gave each table a plate with every neon color on it and showed them how

paint patterns.

Their first instinct was to paint the entire animal again. I had to remind them to leave the original color showing- they were only painting PATTERNS!

The last step was covering each animal with a coat of tempera varnish.

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Second Grade Day of the Dead Calaveras

 Second grade is traveling to Mexico, Central America and South America in the art room this year. For our first project, they created their very own Day of the Dead (Dia de los muertos) Calaveras (skulls).

This worked out well for my 98% Hispanic school. The students were actually able to give me information about the holiday that I didn't know.

We started out by looking at a variety of calaveras to get their creativity flowing. They made a quick drawing in their sketchbook to show what they wanted it to look like.

Then came the fun part. If you have never worked with Claycrete before- I highly recommend it! I order mine from Sax 
and a 20 lb box is usually enough to get me through an entire grade level. I give each student their own individual bowl with a heaping 

handful of Claycrete. I pour about 3/4-1 cup of water into it and about 3 tbsp. of glue. They use their hands to mix it up really well. I go around with a pitcher of water and add water to the bowls that are too dry. It should not be dripping wet, but the entire mixture should be moist.

Once it is completely mixed, pass out a skull pattern to each student. This is just a basic shape that I drew and xeroxed. I also give each student a piece of wax paper with a small piece of masking tape on it (to write their names on).

The wax paper goes on top of the pattern (you can see the pattern through the wax paper, without getting Claycrete all over it). The students put the Claycrete onto the wax paper and begin forming their skull. It should be about 1/2"-3/4" thick and smooth.
By the next week, the skulls are dry and we choose 1 color to paint the entire surface. I use acrylic paint for this (I'm not sure if

 tempera would work or not). Then they add facial features and designs with other colors.

The last step is to use beads, sequins, and broken pieces of jewelry (I have tubs of discarded jewelry that were donated by a local store- Charming Charlie's http://www.charmingcharlie.com/home. That was a HUGE hit!!!) I had them glue these on with craft glue, instead of school glue and that seemed to hold the pieces on a lot better.

I have been putting all of the finished projects into a display case in our main entryway. There are still 2 classes that need to finish this week, but I will add pictures of the finished display once they are complete.

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