This Monster Needs a Haircut

This Monster Needs a Haircut written and illustrated by Bethany Barton is a comedic piece of children's literature that will grab your students' interest and offer them the opportunity to stretch their imagination and refine their skills in art at a young age (lower elementary).

I had my second grade students create monsters named Stewart (inspired by the main character in the children's book) or Susie (a female version of Stewart that I introduced through an example).
Many of my students mentioned to me that they loved their monsters and they could not believe that they created a monster that looks "as good" as the illustrations in the children's book.  It also made me smile when I heard them discussing how much they enjoyed styling their monster's hair. 

In the background students created spider web kingdoms which is referenced in the text. 

The finished pieces of art are unique, colorful, and humorous.  The best combination!

-GRich

Up-Cycle Bowls

5th grade students used old magazines to create   Up-Cycle Bowls.  Students learned that art can be created with the simplest items that often people throw away once they have finished using. 

One of my most frequently asked questions now... "Ms. G, how could I up-cycle this?"

 

-GRich



Nylon Sculpture

 4th grade students created Nylon Sculptures for the first time this fall.  They loved being able to create the wire armature, stretch the nylon over the wire, and then added primer and paint to their sculptures.  Students were allowed to use the primary colors, white, and black paint to finish their artwork; for a little extra punch students were given Silver Sharpie Markers to outline and add tiny details if they wished.  It was a super project that will definitely be repeated in future years.


-GRich

Art Prize 2012

Art Prize 2012 Grand Prize Winner
Adonna Khare
Elephants

   Art Prize in Grand Rapids, Michigan is INCREDIBLE!  To have such an amazing ART event that brings great discussion and consideration to "What is art?" makes me exicted as an art educator and proud as a West Michigan native.     
                   


For the last three years I have seen this celebration of art continue to grow and each year I'm left more eager for the next. 

I believe one day I will enter my own artwork into the competition, but for now as I'm focused on growing as an educator and building my portfolio, it is enough to be able to just spend two weeks each year recongizing ART!

-GRich

First Grade Self-Portraits

 
First grade self-portraits are a great way to start a new school year! 

My students were very eager to create portraits that resembled them in real life.  The students did not use any aids in creating their self-portraits; I wanted to see their abilities with instructional drawing along with encourage each of them to not focus on perfection.  For their background students repeated circles which began small and then grew larger and overlapped each other.

Through this project the first graders learned the true meaning of stylized and they now use the vocabulary during class discussions whether it be describing the art techniques used by an artist to create a masterpiece or new projects.

-GRich

Zentangle

4th grade students showed their skill in the art of Zentangle with nothing more then a Sharpie Permanent Marker and their imagination. 

 

Weaving [[]]=[[]]=[[]]=[[]]=[[]]

My students have always loved weaving projects.  I've seen multiple art blogs share examples of projects that used a wire hanger as it's base because it already has a well formed hook to hang the finished work of art for presentation.  This is a photo of a weaving project that was created by a 5th grade student with multicolored yarn.  The lesson is great because no matter how large or small the diameter of the circle each student's work looks amazing once the yarn is wrapped around the rim and unused space inside the frame of the hanger. 

-GRich