St. Basil's patterned cathedrals.

After reading "Rechenka's Eggs", by Patricia Polacco, third graders discussed the history and characteristics of the architecture of St. Basil's Cathedral.  They loved hearing that it is rumored that Ivan the Terrible had his architect blinded so he could never create anything so beautiful again!

Students followed a simple step-by-step set of instructions to create the structure for their own buildings, and then got to work on exciting and unique patterns.  Pencil lines were outlined with Sharpie, and then colored with colored pencil.  

For a final step, students could add a bit of glitter in one or two spots.  *I set up a "glitter station" that I can monitor so that they don't turn the artwork into a glittery mess.  I let students apply the glue and choose a color and I do the glitter shaking. 

Blue Dog!

I got the original idea for a Blue Dog lesson for third graders from Deep Space Sparkle, although I have to say there were many, many inspiring George Rodrigue art lessons in the blog world that motivated me.

I first showed students a clip from CBS Sunday Morning that gave an excellent description of the life and art of George Rodrigue.  Then we referred directly to Rodrigue's website to see a variety of Blue Dogs (and Red Dogs, Pink Dogs, etc.).

I showed students step-by-step how to draw blue dog, starting with a circle for the head, a squiggle for the top of the snout, which then leads to a "wobbly vase shape" for the rest of the snout (which I also draw separately on the board to help them understand).  I do all of Blue Dog at once and then set them free.  I have found that Grade 3 is too advanced to follow me with each step, and they do a great job, as you can see from the photos!! They blow me away each year with how creative they are with accessories and settings (I tell them to keep accessories to 3 max, and settings SIMPLE).  I find that this is the project that parents tell me the most frequently that they frame.

Watercolor Pumpkins!

I found this fantastic third-grade pumpkin lesson on Painted Paper (I actually found it on Pinterest).  I introduced the project by talking about extreme pumpkin ideas.  I made a Powerpoint of some seriously incredible jack-o-lanterns, as well as of the some of the largest recorded pumpkins on record (the largest was over 1,800 pounds!).  I then showed them a video clip from National Geographic about Punkin Chunkin, which they loved.  We even looked at some photos of pumpkin field landscapes.

Next, we began in pencil by drawing a horizon line, with a setting sun.  Our tree (or trees; I told them no more than 2) started with kind of backwards parentheses like this:  )(, and then filled in with a curvy V shape to create the foundation for the branches, with lots of Y's added on.  My art room is on the third floor so I told the kids to look outside to see how high the branches reach (past our windows), because students have a tendency to make sort little branches.

We discussed how pumpkin lines do not go straight up and down like bars on a jail cell, but follow the natural curve of the pumpkin.  Students began in pencil with the pumpkins, but quickly moved on to doing them in Sharpie directly.  I always tell them that they will never notice one tiny mistake!  Students filled in their fields as much as possible.

We did the color in liquid watercolor (MY NEW FAVORITE MATERIAL!).  I encouraged them to experiment with the techniques of wet-on-wet, where they would drip one sky color on another to help with their sunsets.  Every resulting project was beautiful!!

Protractor Crazy!

As it is my first year teaching, there have been several projects that I have facilitated with 2 different grade levels, to see which works best.  I really want my students to enjoy what they are doing, and I am finding that students are most enthusiastic when I strike the perfect balance between challenge and success (I guess this might seem obvious, but again, its my first year guys!). 

One of the assignments that I did this with was my Frank Stella inspired protractor project, based on (Ta-Da!) Stella's own Protractor Series.  We discussed Stella's life and works, deliberating the notions of abstract vs. realistic art, as well as organic versus geometric composition. 

I am so thrilled with how stunning were their results!