March 19, 2014

Out of this WORLD: Space Studies

There is so much of my job that I makes me say hmmm, but working with the kids is definitely the best part of my day.

To celebrate the best part of my day, I'm sharing a project with you from my fourth graders.

This year all classes have been studying the 7 elements of art. 
Line
Shape
Color
Texture
Value
Space and
Form

If you can't guess, this project was our introduction to SPACE and FORM. We learned how to use shading to make a shape look like it is a form. We used chalk pastels to shade our circles into spheres. One of these spheres is our SUN. Since the sun is the light source, students made the shadows on the other side of their planets. *Tip make sure you have the students color the sun (light source) first so they know where to create the shadows and highlights on their planets. You can guess the rest of the process. The key with the splatter paint stars was to have the paint contained to one table where I monitored. This very messy process was actually very orderly.

Today was my favorite part of the lesson though. Students got really creative as we talked about FOCAL POINT. A focal point is where a person looks first when they see a work of art. Usually it is the most important part of the artwork. They created a focal point for their space painting, we brainstormed ideas such as astronauts, UFO's, space cars, space shuttles, ladders to the moon etc. 

Here are some of their awesome SPACE STUDIES.












 AHHH my desk and this is just the BEGINNING OF THE PILES!
Can someone gift me some time one day?
Me staying late to work at school means I have to answer to my family!
No one said life was easy or neat and tidy, now did they.
People who are super neat and tidy must be living in a different world then I do. . .
take me to your LEADER.



6 comments:

cassie stephens said...

Love these! and totes just put them in my "stealing Erica's Amazing Ideas" file ;) Seriously, these are outta this world!

Unknown said...

HA!!!! I totally 2nd Cassie's comment (Kudos Miss Cassie... uh again!!) I love these!!! We did the same kind of thing when I taught 5th grade... the kids LOVED it and they were such a success for all of the kiddos!!! But I think that I could do this with 3rd grade... they have a hard time wrapping their little brains around shading so I am always adding that element to a project. LOVE these!!! STEALING.. PS my fave pic is the last one... if I knew how I would send you a pic of my desk... and we could compare... that "O",word uh or.gan.i.zing????

Phyl said...

I'll keep this simple. Ditto all the above! Great lesson. Reminds me a wee bit of something Painted Paper was doing... great minds think alike!

Unknown said...

Yes! I had to google it because I was sure Painted Paper did something awesome. http://paintedpaperintheartroom.blogspot.com/2014/02/retro-rockets.html

Here is the link for anyone who wants to check it out. They are beautiful!

The only difference is (and I'm sure I'm not the first to do this) was the shading and light source study. I am writing the curriculum (insert big UGH here) with another art teacher for our district and the main idea is space and form so I have to address that.

Has anyone else written curriculum and assessments? I think we are doing the best we can with a difficult task, but each day we do it, I liken it to going to the dentist and getting my teeth extracted, any artist who claims otherwise might be a big ol' fibber;)

Unknown said...

I mean the main idea for this unit:) is space and form.

Joelle said...

Great projects and fantastic results! I just love it! Sharing!