In the Art Room...#23- Portrait Assessments and Fall Projects!

5 days, three fire drills and one open house later I have finished and survived the first full week of school =) 

We spent the first four days doing one day drawings, going over a few more rules, getting assigned mat seats, and probably having some part of that interrupted by a fire drill! I have been doing one day drawings since I started teaching elementary. Basically, students get a pen and paper and write  visual journal of something they did that summer. I encourage them to include themselves and background and the advice stops there. You can read more about the process on this post.  It's an excellent way to see what student interests are and assess their drawing skills. It also makes a great sub plan if you are in a bind! 

Second graders are getting started on their Radial Prints. We learn about symmetry, patterns and types of lines. We do a rough draft on a handout, next time they will get a Styrofoam square to make their stamp on. Then we PRINT! It's a good project to start with because I can hang a print in school and send the rest of the prints home. 

I got brave (or crazy) and decided to paint with my kindergartners on the second day of art class since they do one day drawings on the first class. The group overall has pretty good self control and I was feeling pretty confident they could handle it. We made orange paint and painted a 9x12 paper. This is the start of their Silly Secondaries Pumpkin Project, check out the lesson here. 

3rd graders started their fall still life project. We talk about what a still life is, look at some artists who make them (including local artist Kate Timm), and get to work. We start with the biggest object and work our way to the smallest. We got two pumpkins done and will draw the rest next week. Their pumpkins turn out beautiful-I am always impressed with their observations and drawing skills. 

3rd graders will trace their lines with glue (let dry) and finish their projects with chalk pastels. They are quite stunning. ***TIP***I also hot glue the objects to sturdy mat board so we can move them around between classes. 

How soon do you start projects? How do you go over art room expectations?