More on 4th Grades 4 Seasons Sculptures

These may not be the most refined or aesthetically pleasing pieces, but I can say with 100% honesty that my students learned more from this assignment than any "step by step to a perfect outcome" project I have taught in the past.

To read more about the assignment see my previous post 4 SEASONS

While students worked in small groups to complete this project I wrote down some things that I heard my students saying. Check it out!

"what ties all of out looks together?"
and "Tim Gunn would say... Make it Work, we have to finish today"

"I wonder if we can just keep this set up here an keep adding buildings"

I didn't catch a direct quote from this group but I did see them consciously turning
 and arranging the parts of their project to decide how to display it in the showcase
so you could see as much of it as possible. 

"Mrs. Comp, I have a lot of fish at home and I was wondering,
since were using real water, if I could bring in goldfish..."

"when she sets this up at Open House it will probably be out on the table
and we don't want people to walk around it and say... I wonder why they didn't finish it back here"

"did you know that there are artists that make art out of Lego's.  Can we bring in Lego's for our project?"

4 Seasons

What on earth are we going to do with this???

I wanted to give my 4th graders a very open ended assignment that would be both sculptural and collaborative.

This is what I came up with...

I have this print of Giuseppe Arcimboldo's, The Four seasons, hanging near the door in my classroom. Out of all of the colorful art images hanging around my room this one peeks the most interest.

I showed my students this work as well as others where the the artist depicted each of the four seasons in one work of art.

Students then formed teams. As a team they brainstormed a list of things that "see" all seasons. I gave them examples such as a tree, fence, and house. I was pleasantly surprised with what they came up with. Some of their ideas included...
cars
fashion
New York City
pets
ponds
mountain
wolves
doors
hands


The teams then chose one idea to develop into a sculpture and drew up a plan. They stretched their imaginations so far beyond my expectations, I was left in total awe.

After introducing the project to my first class, the very next day,  I had children showing up with television boxes. They were thinking BIG!!! I had students coming in with Barbies and fabric to dress in seasonal fashions. They brought in Christmas lights and bubble wrap. I even had a group ask if they could put live fish in their sculpture.

Works in progress

We aren't finished yet, but I couldn't wait to share. This project has peaked student excitement about art in a  truly unbelievable way.

S - Exploration of the seasons
T - Internet research
E - Sculptural construction
A - Aesthetics, Design, Study of famous works of art
M - Measuring, problem solving

Snowflake People

1st grade learned to cut a paper snowflake and then used their special snow crystals to create their own snow people, animals, and more.

Thought I would share a few on this beautiful SNOW DAY!!!

Literary connection: Snowflake Bentley

Fun link to cut & make paper flakes online:

http://snowdays.me/

S - investigate snowflakes, weather conditions for snow, & look for ways to capture snowflakes

T - photograph snowflakes

E - learn to fold and cut snowflakes

A - use imagination & creativity to make a snow person, animal, or something else

M - identify patterns of symmetry in snowflakes & problem solving 

Cubist Guitars

It’s full on Rock and Roll madness is the Art Room as Second graders learn about sound, cubism, and engineering a guitar.

This project was so exciting for my students as I threw up my hands and said "go figure it out".

After learning about Picasso and other Cubist artists and looking at a lot of guitars, students tried their hands a building something they had never built before. 

Their mission was to build a guitar, that could actually be played, in a cubist style.

S - Investigative process and sound study

T - Listening to music though various sources

E - Constructing a guitar from recycled materials

A - Study of artist, Pablo Picasso and Cubism, creativity, drawing, painting, imagination

M -`Problem solving skills

Here are just a few images to share about our process…

We drew guitars in a cubist style and thought about materials we may need to complete out designs.

We painted to music using blue paint, our hands, and a comb

Students collected hollow containers and other recycled objects that could be repurposed into a guitar. 

They constructed their own working guitars using adhesives like masking tape and a variety of glues.

Rubberbands were used for strings. 

objects were placed under the strings to change the pitch.

After building, students used tempera to paint their unique creations. 

This lesson has been adapted from a lesson I have taught in the past, where students created Cubist Guitar Collage.

Both lessons have been a lot of fun and highly successful.  

CHECK OUT OUR FINISHED GUITARS!!!