We had two different sessions with the artists-in-residence who are coordinating our school-wide mural project.  This mural will be painted on the six panels on the wall in the undercover area by the school’s front door.  Intermediate students will be working on the backgrounds and the primary students will be doing the added details.  These details will be in the form of mandelas – circular pieces of art.

In preparation for this mural the artists came into our class and taught the students about ‘mandelas’.  Mona discussed the theme of nature and introduced the concept of symmetry.  Students were encouraged to make designs which were important to them and representative of themselves.  They began by tracing circles onto their paper. Smaller circles were placed in the centre of these.  Lines were drawn on which dissected these circles.  Designs were created within and without these areas. Students used coloured Sharpie felt pens and special pastels which are a sort of combination of chalk and oil.

 

The artists came back the week later for our second session.  At this time students worked on styrofoam sheets which had circles drawn on them.  Students drew their designs using ballpoint pens which basically carved their designs into the base. Students then chose a coloured paper and an ink.  Using rollers the students covered their designs with the ink and then placed their paper on it.  They needed to rub the two together in order to ensure that a good contact was achieved.  The plates were then peeled off to reveal their print.

When they were dried there were placed on the bulletin board interspersed with their original mandelas.  These will still be on the bulletin board when you come in next week for our Student Led conferences. 

Here are a few of them:

 

 

Students have created some very cute penguins which are sitting on icebergs and attached to beautiful water coloured backgrounds.

Check them out if you are in the classroom – or the hallway outside of our door.

We spent some time experimenting with colour theory by using the three primary colours – red, blue, and yellow – to create some interesting looking variegated leaves. We used leaves cut out of special colour diffusing paper.  On one of the leaves students coloured it with the three primary colours using food colours; with the other one they used Solucryl water colour paint.  Most students enjoyed using the food colours better than the paints, with this particular paper.

These leaves are placed around the bulletin board in the hallway which holds our bat pictures.  These bat pictures are the students’ third bat drawings.  We initially did two directed drawings of the same bat on regular drawing paper.  The students then created this same bat drawing on grey construction paper.  They could then add some background details that would be found in the Fall.

On Friday we spent some time reviewing Colour Theory, including:

• Primary Colours – yellow, blue, and red
• Secondary Colours – green, orange, and purple
• How secondary colours are made from primary colours

Students then made a tesselation on their paper; initially drawn in pencil and then traced over with black marker.  The criteria for their artwork was to fill in each section by only using the three primary colours in wax crayon.  They were to create their own secondary colours.  Students were allowed to do some sections in primary colours but the goal was to create mostly secondary colours.  Adjoining sections needed to be different colours.

These art pieces are placed on the bulletin board at the back of our classroom.  There are some not finished; they will be added to the board when they are completed.  I think the lesson reinforced the colour theory for the students.