I’m not sure if it is just isolated in our building, but it seems like THE ICK is spreading, and quickly! I am starting to become paranoid- washing my hands 24/7 and cleaning everything with my Norwex Envirocloth.
I figured with THE ICK spreading, it would be a perfect time to update all my attendance lists, seating charts, and sub binders. I am adding lessons to my TeachersPayTeachers account. Everything on there is free! (and editable)
I love using Biography.com for artist bios and creating vocab charts and questions to add to them. This week, I have been working one expanding my collection and adding a variety of simple, one-day activities to go along.
Here is my most recent add, artist Edward Hopper that I use with my 8th grade students.
Materials: exemplars, printouts, pencils, erasers, colored pencils, sharpener, rulers, black Sharpie markers, paper, newspaper, paper cutter, paper towel, water, plastic containers, liquid glue, spatula, white acrylic paint, colored acrylic paints or paint markers, mask molds, plastic wrap.
Teacher Prep: Familiarize self with Engage NY EL Protocols, prepare artifacts, Day of the Dead PowerPoint, print template pages, gather materials, cut newspaper strips, prep papier-mâché mixture. You will need A LOT of newspaper. I reach out to local businesses and ask parents to bring in newspaper all year in order to have enough for students.
Day 1: Have students complete gallery walk using template from my Teachers Pay Teachers page. I have students grab clipboards that we received from Donorschoose.org and explain directions. Students understand that they are to travel around the classroom to look at different artifacts (that are numbered). The artifacts consist of six photograph images that are similar/related to the images in the Power Point presentation you can download on my TPT page. Tip: Laminate your photos so that they can be reused year after year!I love my Amazon Basics laminator. You can find the link here.
Examples of Artifacts
Students traveling around classroom
The activity is silent and students have approximately two minutes at each station. While they are completing the gallery walk, I play themed music (Coco & The Book of Life Soundtracks are great!)
Once students have independently completed the gallery walk, I have them return to their seats are share with a partner or table for two minutes (turn and talk EL Protocol). Have students share out what they have discussed, popcorn style. Introduce lesson plan with Power Point. Hand out oval mask templates and have students create a draft sketch of what their mask will look like.
Day 2: Demonstrate how to use papier-mâché. Pass out mask molds and use plastic wrap to cover mask faces so that the newspaper does not stick to the plastic face mold, and they will come off easily once dried. I make the papier-mâché mix prior to the students arriving, and use these black commercial bins. Each table gets one bin and this seems to be working better than other ways I have tried in the past. Since I have about 30 students per class, I use almost 3/4 of a bottle of glue for two classes each day to make enough papier-mâché.
Leave the masks to dry overnight. Since I have several classes completing the assignment at once, I remove the masks from the mold at the start of the following day. I trim the edges of the masks and write the students’ names and class name on the inside of the mask with a thick Sharpie.Some masks will still be wet, so I leave them in the cabinet to dry completely until the next time I see the class.
Masks left to dry overnight
Day 3: Have students use white acrylic paint to add 1-2 coats. Allow to dry overnight. My favorite to use is the Blockout White from Dick Blick.
Day 4-5: Students will begin painting their masks. I suggest that my students use pencil to draw their design right on the mask first before using colored paint. In the past, I have used liquid acrylic paints, but recently switched to Decocolor paint markers for this year and the results have been AMAZING!
Oval template drawing
Creating mask designs with liquid acrylic & tempera paints
Day 6-7: Time to decorate! I give my students options of many different craft items to use to decorate their masks from glitter glue pens, feathers,beads, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, wire, etc. Part of the assignment’s requirements is that students must add a 3-dimensional object to their masks.
Sub Plans: I typically will leave the dvds for Coco and The Book of Life, with question worksheets.
Alternative Assignments: This year I have some students with severe allergies, and they would not be able to be around the glues and paints used. I have a few alternative assignments that can be done in an alternate setting using very few materials (computer, crayons, scissors, tissue paper).
If you’re looking for something easy and festive to make for Christmas this year, look no further! I have seen these puff pastry Christmas trees ALL over Pinterest and Instagram, so I thought I would give it a shot.
Ready to Serve!
Ingredients:
1 box (2 pieces) off pre-made, frozen puff pastry- thawed
1 cup pesto- store bought works well! My favorite is the store brand Basil Pesto from Whole Foods.
Directions:
Allow your puff pastry to thaw to just about room temperature. You do not want it to be frozen, because it will break when you try to create your tree.
Preheat oven according to the puff pastry box directions.
Add parchment paper to a cookie sheet and add your first layer of puff pastry.
Using a brush, (or spoon), coat the top of your puff pastry.
Add the second piece of puff pastry on top of the pesto.
Using a sharp knife, cut out the shape of your Christmas tree.
Cut slits 1/2 inch away from each other on each side of your tree’s “trunk”.
Twist each slit.
Add a light slice down the center of your trunk.
Optional:You can choose to cook your scraps as well like I did, and serve them on the side.
Coming out of the oven…It wasn’t pretty at first, but sure was tasty!
Add colored ribbons instead of hooks for a unique look!
A few years ago I made some tie-dye Christmas ornaments to sell at a local craft fair. They were a huge hit! They are super easy to make- all you need are clear glass ornaments, some acrylic paints and patience.
The great thing about these ornaments are that they come in multiple sizes, and you can choose your color combinations- so they’re totally customizable!
I purchased a few different sized ornaments, and several small bottles of acrylic paints (no need to buy any specific “glass” paint, any acrylic craft kind will do!) I tried to think about which colors would look best with each other, and stuck mainly with fluorescent colors.
The first thing you need to do is remove the tops to your ornaments, and put them somewhere safe where they won’t get lost or damaged while your ornaments dry.
Using your acrylic paint, add a few drops, one color at a time into your ornament. Carefully swirl each color around to get the desired effect. Add additional colors if you want a tie-dye effect. Remember, LESS IS MORE! You can always add additional drops of paint, but if you add too much, it can ruin your design.
Turn your ornaments upside down to dry. I used an old, empty egg carton lined with paper towel. Put them somewhere safe to dry overnight.
Once the interior of your ornaments are dry, you are ready to replace the tops, add your hooks and hang your ornaments!
If you are looking for a variation, try adding glitter instead!
Instead of adding acrylic paint, start by coating the inside of your ornament with a few drops of Pledge Gentle Wood Floor Cleaner. Yes, it sounds weird, but trust me, it works.
Once the interior is evenly coated, add whatever color of fine glitter you would like! Make sure the glitter has covered evenly and turn the ornament over to remove the excess glitter.
Leave it turned upside down overnight to dry and replace cap.
One of my favorite Christmas cookies comes from Jones Tree Farm in Shelton, CT. My family visits the farm every year to chop down our trees, and I always look forward to one of their cookies after.
Lucky for us, they’ve shared their recipe with all of us, and you can find it here!
Heading to Thanksgiving dinner and don’t know what to bring? How about an easy to prep charcuterie board?
I picked up all my food supplies locally at Stew Leonard’s in Norwalk, but feel free to purchase items wherever fits your budget and needs.
The great thing about charcuterie boards are that you can customize them! You can add items that you love and leave out items you don’t. Each time I make one is completely different and includes new items since I love exploring different flavors.
Love the wooden tray from HomeGoods!
This year I made my board more “kid friendly”. Here’s what I included:
Carrots
Cucumbers
Celery
Cherry Tomatoes
Grapes
Crackers
Parmesan Crisps
French Onion Dip (pre-made from Stew’s)
Spinach Dip (pre-made from Stew’s)
Greek Olives
Antipasto
Prosciutto
Santori Balsalmic Bellavinto
Mild Cheddar
Swiss
Gouda
Brie
Garlic & Herb Goat Cheese
Chocolate Foil Wrapped Turkey
They key is to choose items that you love! You can cut items into bite-sized pieces or even use the pre-cut cheese and veggies from your local grocery store! Make sure to include a variety of textures and flavor balancing savory & sweet, mild & sharp, flavorful & spicy.
I added some small festive bowls to hold the “messy” items and arranged everything so it fit nicely in the tray.
Tip: Add a sheet of aluminum foil first to protect your tray and make cleanup a breeze!
One of my favorite things about living in New England (besides our autumn) is our coastlines. I have been blessed with my last few apartments being not too far from the beach.
That being said, my entire home has a beach-vibe theme going on…I prefer to call it Greek Isles themed, but it definitely has some coastal New England charm. This theme follows me through all my seasonal and holiday decor.
I decided to take advantage of the extended long weekend to carve some nautical themed pumpkins for my front porch. I was expecting the process to be a lot messier and more difficult than it was, and was happily surprised.
3. A Dremel. This “pumpkin” Dremel is perfect for using on real-life pumpkins as well. (Stay tuned later this month to see how I use it on my real pumpkin). Dremel 7000-PK 6-Volt Pumpkin Carving Kit
4. Pencil, erasers, reference images, clean up materials.
The most difficult part was deciding what I wanted the pumpkins to look like, and which design would fit best on each pumpkin. After deciding, I used pencil to draw the design on the pumpkin’s face. If you have trouble drawing the image, you can print one from offline and trace it!
Next I used the X-Acto knife to cut along the pencil drawing and carve out the large portions.
I used the Dremel to carve out any curved edges and to smooth the edges down from the X-Acto knife.
Last, I used an eraser to get rid of any stray pencil marks and my pumpkins are now ready for display-yay!
Update: my only complaint is that on severely windy/stormy days the pumpkins tend to fly away off my porch since they are so light. I fixed this by adding some small rocks inside to weigh them down.
Skeletal Fish Bones & Anchor PumpkinsOcean Wave & Sea Star Nautical Pumpkins
I think it’s impossible to grow up in New England and not LOVE autumn. Despite my allergies trying to sabotage the season, it truly is the best time to be in Connecticut.
Angry Orchard Crisp Apple is my favorite cider. One day I happened to notice the bottle listed Walden, NY as its location so I happened to Google it. Turns out, it is just a bit further up from Danbury, CT…so a trip was definitely needed. https://www.angryorchard.com/our-orchard/plan-your-visit
A few years back, we took a trip up to the Angry Orchard orchard in Walden, NY. The orchard itself was gorgeous. At the time, the tree house was opened for viewing.
Inside the Cider House we were given a token and were able to choose a flight to sample. Did I mention this was all free?
They have so many varieties of ciders that I had not seen in store. You can also pick up a growler of your favorite to take home!
We cannot wait to visit again this fall!
Sample Flight. Who says no to free cider?Cider selections on tap the day we visited. #exploretheorchardTouring inside the cider house.
A few years ago, I started posting monthly art challenges that I use for extra credit opportunities in the art classroom.
Last year, I started creating my own and it has been a lot of fun! I tried to create them month by month last year, and this caused a lot of extra work having to recheck drawing prompts to make sure they hadn’t been used previously. So this year I decided to create them all over the summer. Scroll down to check out September-May Art Challenges.
During the first week of school I introduce my students to the extra credit art challenges. I post them at the start of each month on our classsroom Instagram page. I suggest that my students purchase or utilize a sketchbook for their drawings, but it is not necessary. I do ask that all art challenges are numbered (and include the month, first name, last name and classname, if on printer paper). They are not required to do all (or any) of the drawings, but it is a good opportunity for them to earn extra credit points, or for insurance purposes to make sure they earn that A!
The idea is to complete one challenge per day (ie: there are 31 days in October, so the October Art Challenge contains 31 challenges). I tell my students that if they want to complete all the challenges, I am not there at home to know if they are really doing one each day, or all of them in one week. But the idea is to get creativity flowing on a daily basis.
By doing the art challenges, my students are given the opportunity to earn UP TO 10 points for each drawing. While most students earn between 3-5 points, it still boosts grades. I collect all extra credit the first Friday of the following month. Because it is extra credit, I do not collect any late work.
I love Kaitlynn Albani’s Classroom Rule Posters! They’re adorable (and watercolor themed), and match with my classroom decor perfectly!
They are listed in Kaitlynn’s TPT page, and best of all- its FREE! The link for the freebie is here. Check out her page, she has a lot of awesome resources for elementary teachers!
I just finished laminated them using my Amazon Basic Laminator Machine and sleeves- for direct like click on the images below. I plan on hanging the posters up in my classroom near my RESPECT posters. Check out my Instagram page later this month to see how I use them in my art classroom!
My great-aunt used to make this recipe for me for special occasions, and it always has been a favorite. Now that she moved out of state, I had to learn how to make this easy and (Bis)quick recipe. It is definitely a crowd pleaser!
Zucchini Quiche using Bisquick
Ingredients:
2 large zucchinis
½ medium sized white onion
1 cup Bisquick
4 large eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
½ cup grated Pecorino Romano Cheese or Parmesan Cheese
To celebrate #nationalzucchiniday I am sharing some of my favorite recipes using zucchinis! This recipe was inspired by one off I found on Pinterest. The link for Jamie Cooks It Up’s recipe is below. I purchased all these ingredients from my local Price Rite.
1.5 lbs of london broil, or flank steak cut into thin slices
1 tbsp toasted sesame seed
Teriyaki Sauce Instructions:
Combine all of the Teriyaki sauce ingredients into a saucepan and make sure to whisk them so that they are blended together. Let the sauce simmer, while continuously mixing. It should start to thicken and become a nice glaze. Once it looks like this, remove from heat and set aside.
Cut ends off zucchini, cut in half to make easier, and use OXO Spiralizer to make zoodles. I hate when my zoodles are soggy, so I place them into a colander and lightly salt them. Leave them set aside while you toast your sesame seeds.
Cut all veggies accordingly and place together in a large bowl.
OXO Good Grips 3-Blade Tabletop Spiralizer is my favorite. I have purchased several before this that just didn’t work (or broke). This one from OXO is great, it has 3 different blade settings that you can use to get different size and shapes for your veggies, and has this great suction cup on the bottom to stop the spiralizer from moving while you are using it.
Toasting Sesame Seeds:
Preheat frying pan, toss a small handful of sesame seeds into the dry, heated pan and allow them to brown slightly. It only takes a few minutes so keep a close eye on them! Remove from pan and place aside for later- you will use them as a garnish.
Stir Fry Instructions:
Using the same frying pan, preheat and add some olive oil to coat the surface. Once you see some heat rising from the oil, reduce heat and add your stir fry veggies, with the exception of the zoodles. Add salt and pepper to taste and allow to cook while stirring occasionally. If you notice your veggies are starting to stick to the pan, but still need more time cooking you can add a few tablespoons of water as needed. It will help give the veggies that boost! Once your veggies are almost done, add in your zoodles and cook until zoodles are tender. Remove from heat, and place all your veggies together into a large bowl.
Using the same pan, add your beef strips to cook. Flip and cook on both sides to your preference, or until they are no longer pink.
Once the beef is thoroughly cooked, add your veggies back into the skillet, pour your teriyaki glaze on top and mix well. I suggest only adding a little at a time to your preference. Top with toasted sesame seeds.
Once everything is heated, it is now time to serve your dish. Enjoy!
I don’t know if there is a black hole in my classroom somewhere that swallows up every cap, but for some reason caps seem to go missing in my art room. At the end of the 2017-2018 school year, I saved EVERY SINGLE cap from dried out markers, pens, glue sticks…EVERYTHING! Although I did not have many, it was a start.
When last school year began, I put out a small container with all the extra caps so students could access them whenever they misplaced a cap. Students also knew to put any found caps into the container as well. We participate in Crayola’s Color Cycle, (which is an AWESOME recycling program), and we saved all the caps from the markers that we sent in for recycling. You can check out how we use Crayola’s Color Cycle on my Instagram post!
Last year I noticed that my students were having trouble (and spending a lot of time) trying to find correct caps since they were all mixed together. I was on Instagram this weekend and came across ArtTeacherK8’s profile and saw a post on how she is organizing her art classroom and was inspired! (thanks Heather!) She keeps all her markers and supplies in plastic drawers. You can check it out below.
I purchased a six pack of these Sterilite drawers yesterday from Amazon using Prime and it came today! They were less expensive per unit than anywhere else I checked.
I next used my Cricut to create labels for each drawer, so now it should be easier for my students to not only access, but find the caps they are looking for. I created a “Miscellaneous” drawer as well for those random items that we use, but may not have enough to fill an entire drawer. You can check out my process below! Check out my Instagram page later this month to see how I used it in my classroom!
Prepping the drawers: I always clean the surface with rubbing alcohol before starting!Labels are ready! I used the font “Junette” and alternated colors. In process.
Friday August 2 was National Ice Cream Sandwich Day, and I am a sucker for anything ice cream related.
Last summer I had a family emergency, and had to take an unexpected road trip to Chicago. Somewhere on the road at one of the many rest stops in Indiana, I found Andes Mint ice cream sandwiches, and they were AMAZING! Unfortunately, they have been impossible to find in Connecticut. Emma Lord from Bustle wrote an article about these yummy treats using the pic I snagged of them, and you can check it out here.
There have been a few other articles written using my pic below, but none have included where I can snag these in Connecticut. Until then, I will still be on the hunt for these yummy treats!
One of the most beautiful (and memorable) vacations that I have taken with my family was one where we visited Las Vegas, The Hoover Dam and The Grand Canyon back when I was still in college. We flew into Las Vegas stayed two days and then rented a car to drive to the Hoover Dam and The Grand Canyon before returning back to Las Vegas for an additional day.
It was a long journey- and a lot of time spent in the car taking in the scenery from the car window but I loved every moment. In fact, I actually secretly enjoyed it since that part of the country is known to be quite hot, and I was able to sight see while staying cool.
Window views. Taken while we were driving.
The first stop on our day trip was to The Hoover Dam. It was an interesting place, just not my cup of tea. I was more excited and anxious to reach our destination of The Grand Canyon National Park.
Finally in Arizona!
After a short stop, we were back on the road. I was especially excited to see the Arizona sign. Little did I know how much further we had to go! I seems like in New England you can travel across the entire Northeast and visit multiple in just a few hours. Once we made it to the Grand Canyon National Park, I was ready to start exploring. We were told that a potential storm was rolling through so we had just a short time to take in as much as possible- and take as many photographs as I could capture.
Capturing some photographs with my Nikon D60.
Photographs do no justice.
Unfortunately we only had a limited time at Grand Canyon National Park because a thunderstorm was rapidly approaching. The park rangers safely escorted everyone off the ridge and we made it back to our cars right before the pouring ran began.
Probably one of the few family photos we have. I have this framed in my classroom.
Since it was pouring rain and lightening (go figure the day we went, it was raining…in a desert), we made our way back to Las Vegas, making a few pit stops to sight see along the way. Although it was a brief trip, I got to see so many beautiful sights and cannot wait to plan a trip to camp and hike at the Grand Canyon.
I am one of those people who cannot work in silence. I have always incorporated music into my classroom whether it be just for background noise, or to enhance our lesson plan. A few years ago I subscribed to Spotify Premium which I definitely did not regret. My first year teaching, I used Pandora, but quickly got annoyed at the interrupting ads.
I created a classroom playlist that I continuously add to whenever I hear catchy (but appropriate) songs that not only do I think my students would enjoy- but I will love hearing as well. After all, as the teacher, you are the one spending the most time in your classroom! I set mine up by creating a “Classroom Mixes” folder under my Spotify playlists. I keep one playlist as songs to review. This is where I add songs on the fly (ones that I hear on the car’s radio, or out in public, but do not have time to preview). You would be surprised how many songs make it on the radio but are not fully censored! After I listen to them fully, and Google the lyrics, I will add them into my “Classroom Playlist”.
My classroom playlists
Last school year, I added a student suggestion box to my classroom where students can leave me suggestions for songs that they would like to hear on the playlist. I purchased a raffle/ballot box of Amazon in green to match Spotify’s logo.
I made the label in Word and then cut it down to size so that it would fit into the clear window.I usually leave a basket of scrap papers next to it where students can write their suggestions, and I check it at the end of each month and then add them to the “Preview” playlist and review at my leisure.
My students know that they are allowed to make suggestions as long as the song is “school appropriate” and only after they have finished their assignment and cleaned up. So far, my students have really enjoyed giving their input into our playlist and love that I value their opinions. Music is a great way to bond with your students!
If you are looking for a place to start- you can check out my classroom’s Spotify playlist and create your own! Feel free to select/drag any or all of the songs included in my playlists!
Posing with my ice cream cone in front of the Buttonwood Farm sign
Visiting Buttonwood Farm Ice Creamery and Sunflower Fields
This past Monday my aunt and I took a trip up to Griswold, CT to visit Buttonwood Farm. If you are familiar with the area, it is just a bit more further north than the casinos. Not only does Buttonwood Farm make their own ice cream, and waffle cones, but they also have gorgeous sunflower fields!
Buttonwood Farm sells bouquets of sunflowers for $10 and all proceeds benefit Make-A-Wish Foundation of Connecticut. Not only are you getting beautiful, fresh cut flowers, but you are also helping out a great cause!
This year, their sunflowers are available from July 20-28, so if you haven’t made a trip to visit their farm yet, you should soon!
My aunt and I had such a fun time visiting the farm, and I cannot wait to come back next year and make it an annual trip.
Fresh waffle cone with cookies and creme ice creamEnjoying my homemade ice cream al-fresco!Inside the walking trail of sunflowers. You can pay to take a hay-ride through the fields too!
Located nearby Hartford, CT, Penwood State Park offered maintained trails that were easy enough for the whole family to enjoy. One of my good friends and I decided to take her brother (then 10) with us one fall and he had a blast exploring the trails and nature.
When I worked in a K-8 school, my best teacher friend the school librarian and I had wanted to plan a collaborative trip for our students to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art as it would be a great cross-disciplinary trip and opportunity for multiple lessons based upon the books and artwork displayed in the museum. Unfortunately the school we were working at did not have the funding or rescoures allowing for us to both go with a large group of students, we decided to go for a visit two summers ago. It was an adorable museum located on a beautiful campus. It is great for a day trip if you are in New England looking to take your PreK-grade 2 aged children during the summer! Located in Amherst, MA.
Materials: Pencils, erasers, scissors, index cards, newsprint paper, black Sharpie markers, white drawing paper
Teacher Prep: Make an example for each step
Day 1: Introduce positive and negative space using Prezi. Have students sketch 3 different symmetrical insects, with a symmetrical pattern. Once students have sketched 3 designs, have them choose one insect that they will use for their drawing. Students will fold an index card in half and then draw 1/2 of the insect to create a stencil. They will cut the stencil out. (Make sure they write their names on their stencils once they cut them out!) After this, students can begin tracing the insects on their white paper. I have done this lesson with two variations. Variation 1: Students trace the insects with at least 6 overlapping insects. Variation 2: Students trace the insects with no overlaps, and use a single geometric shape (that they create with an index card stencil) to overlap. I prefer variation 1.
Day 2: Students continue to trace their insects from the stencils. Have students trace the outline of the insects WITHOUT the pattern drawn, in Sharpie. Students will then draw the symmetrical pattern inside of the insects in Sharpie. When the student completes their patterns, they will label what is positive and what is negative with pencil using “B” for black and “W” for white. Remind students that when they are using the Sharpie markers, they will NOT trace over the “B”s and “W”s. Keep in mind, that whenever the insects overlap with another insect(variation 1), or the geometric shape (variation 2), the positive and negative flip flop. What would normally be white in their design will become black for that overlapping section only, and what would normally be black becomes white in that overlapping section.
Day 3-4: Students continue working on their designs. When everything is labeled correctly, (encourage students to have you check over their labeling before working with Sharpies), the students will begin shading in any areas they labeled as “B” and leave the “W” empty. Once completed, students erase any “W” marks, and stray pencil marks. Students fill out self-evaluation rubrics.
Tips: Do EVERYTHING in baby steps! I tried demonstrating the entire lesson together in one day and it was a complete disaster…students rushed to get Sharpies and we wasted a lot of ink and paper that semester 🙁 You live and you learn. I was proud of the students’ work the semester after once the lesson was revamped. Also, remind students that they will be using Sharpie markers to color in their designs, and that the Sharpies are thicker than a pencil tip…I had several students who came up with intricate designs that were gorgeous, but not realistic for this project as the Sharpie would not be able to show the detail, and it would be difficult to show the reversal of positive/negative space. I have a downloadable copy of the steps and instructions on my TPT Page HERE (great for students who were absent on instruction day)
I also have these steps written out and laminated for students who may have been absent and missed some directions, or just need to view them at their tables, which has been a huge help!
Lesson plans. L.P’s. Whatever you might call them, they’re always in the back of our minds…especially when you have to submit them weekly to your administration. Here’s a screen shot of the form I use for my lessons. I add times, dates (under the days) and class/teacher names in each box above the objectives and fill in each week as needed on Microsoft Word.
Tip: I save it as a PDF before sending it off, and always print off a copy for my curriculum mapping binder :-)
You can head over to my TpT account and download it for FREE!
Materials: Cardboard boxes/scraps, glue, scissors, paint, sponge paintbrushes, cups for paint, cups for water, paper towel, sink for cleanup
Teacher Prep: Collect cardboard (boxes, paper towel tubes, shoe boxes, etc). Cut cardboard boxes into bases for students to select from, label bins (one for bases, one for scraps), distribute cardboard into bins
Objectives: Students will be able to identify works belonging to artist Louise Nevelson, define “form”, and plan and create a cardboard/mixed media sculpture.
After the lesson introduction and showing examples of the artists work, and students work, students independently read the artist biography and complete question packet (link for bio and questions, and CT State Standards on my TpT page)
Day 2: Demonstrate different joints and how to glue the cardboard together. Go over rubric and requirements (low, medium, and high relief). Students who need to complete biography packets do so, students who completed questions may select one base to begin their sculptures.
Day 3-4: Students continue working on relief sculptures. Once completed, they select one color to paint their monochromatic sculpture.
Day 5: Paint sculpture, or add second coat of paint to sculptures/touch up spots, fill out self assessment rubric.
Tips: Pre-cut the bases for students (to avoid sculptures being too small or too large), have boxes labeled clearly so that students can sort bases vs scraps. This is a great project for when supplies are short, or you have a small classroom budget as the main supply (cardboard) can be found or donated to your classroom.
Teacher Prep: print out copies of Starry Night and laminate for students to reference at their tables, collect yarn
Day 1: Introduce the students to the works of Vincent Van Gogh using Prezi. Have students disect the painting Starry Night. Introduce Nierikas, their purpose, and cultural background of Huichol people. Show several examples of Nierikas. Explain to students that they will be “simplifying” Van Gogh’s painting to basic shapes and forms to create a Nierika. Students begin examining Starry Night in pairs and sketching a rough draft of their own interpretation.
Day 2: Students continue sketching their interpretation of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Remind students to simplify shapes, and not use tiny details, as they will not be able to show using the yarns. Once students have completed the sketch, I had my students color in a “map” of which colored yarns they would use in each place. With my first group I did not have them color in the drawings and found they were confused as they neared the end of the project with the yarn as to which colored yarns to place where.
Day 3-9: Students continue gluing yarn to complete Nierika.
Final Day: Students fill out self assessment rubric. Gallery walk/critique of peer works.
Tips: I did this as a lesson following soda straw weaving to get rid of yarn scraps (see my post about soda straw weaving here). Some of the yarn came from leftover project materials, but most of it came from friends and family members that knit and crochet and graciously save their odds and ends scraps for my classroom (shoutout to you). For one group of students, they finished this project in a little over a week, the other group I did this project with took over two weeks. You really have to figure out the duration for your students as you work on this one. Remind students that less glue is more! The yarn will not stick to the paper if the students use a lot of glue at once. I had students work one strand of yarn at a time. The students who covered an entire section with glue at once and tried to work one yarn at a time had a lot of difficulty as the yarn would move around in the glue puddles. This project takes a lot of patience, and I had to motivate my students a lot towards the final days of the project.
Laminated Examples for partner use at tables. Simplified sketch example of Starry Night“Map” where students color in large sections where yarn will be placed upon
In Process: Students adding yarn one strand at a time
Class Dojo is all the rage. Google it and you will find hundreds of support pages, instructions, incentive/prize ideas, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Class Dojo, however, in the three years I have utilized the resource, I have found it difficult to reach my middle school students (particularly in 7th and 8th grade). Some students appreciated the Dojo program, while the majority of the middle school students found the Dojo “monsters” to be juvenile. Pretty much by the final semester when I was teaching K-8, I gave up using Class Dojo with middle school students completely. One summer, I thought back to what rewards and incentives my teachers used while I was in middle school. I remembered that the majority of my teachers used in-house (meaning specific to their classroom only) incentive dollars that we earned based on a variety of criteria posted in the classroom, and we were able to “cash in” our “dollars” for prizes. I spent a large chunk of that week searching for art specific or art themed “dollars” that I could use in my classroom this fall, and only found one. The one I found online was great, however the dollars were quite small (about half the size of an actual dollar bill), and I felt that students would be more likely to lose them. I went with the theme of Salvador Dali (because why not?). Below is my design and the rewards that I will use this fall. You can download a PDF copy of my Dali Dollars on my TeachersPayTeachers Page.
The first year that utilized the Dali Dollars, I had students save them to “cash in” for a prize of their choice and had the points posted in our classroom at all times:
10 Dali Dollars: piece of candy
25 Dali Dollars: eat lunch in art classroom
50 Dali Dollars: free draw time (last 10 minutes of class)
75 Dali Dollars: swap seats with anyone for one class period
100 Dali Dollars: bring grade up by 5 points
I found that this wasn’t enough incentive for my students, and many were losing their Dali Dollars before they could cash them in.
Instead, last school year I began treating Dali Dollars as raffle tickets. I give out Dali Dollars as rewards and still use them as incentives for good behavior. I also use them as rewards for students bringing in supply donations. You can read more about how I receive donations here. Students write their full name and class name on the Dali Dollars whenever they want to add them into our raffle bucket (a recycled animal cracker bucket from BJs). Students can choose to add their raffle tickets as they receive them, or save them until their chances are greater- when they have more, or when there are less competitors in the bucket. On the last school day of each month, I choose one winner from the bucket during last period. Whichever student’s name is chosen gets to pick something out of the prize basket (candy, toys, etc).
