Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Dreamcatcher

We are working full force on our mural.

Here are some pics of the work in process.






















Sunday, January 25, 2015

Mandalas

Here are a selection of the many marvelous mandalas that my students created.  Most of these took nearly two weeks to complete and some are still not done!

This lesson is a pefect way to integrate math and geometry.  This lesson also fit right in with our multi-cultural unit because mandalas are a big part of Indian culture.

The process was quite simple:

I introduced the concept of a mandala (which means circle in Sanskrit) with a power point.  We looked any many beatiful examples including a Tibetan san mandala..  We also talked about radial balance and symmetry.

After the slide show, we created a template for the mandala using a compass, protractor, and a ruler.
We did this together and I used the document camera to model the steps.  The outer circle is 11 inches and I instructed students to make at least four more circles inside using the compass.  Then we used a protractor to divide the circle into 12 equal sections..
The students did surprisingly well with this part. (Compasses are not that easy to use!)

Stdubts used the template to create their own unique radially balanced design.














Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Blazing Banyan Tree

Another great lesson from Denise Logan's book!

Students really enjoyed this one.  It was our first lesson using oil pastels.

I introduced the lesson with a power point to show pictures of real Banyan trees which are unique because they send out branches that grow straight down.  When they touch the ground they take root.
We also talked about analogous colors which are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel.

Process:

1.  Students used a step by step handout to help them draw a banyon tree with multiple branches.
They were given the option of placing their tree near water which would produce reflections.  Most chose to do this.

2.  After the line drawing was complete. They painted the tree with black tempera paint.  They also painted the reflection of the tree was by water.

3.  Next they colored the background with oil pastel.  This was an opportunity to introduce the concept of negative space whic is otherwise known as the background.  Students were asked to blend two analogous colors in at lest 5 sections.

Another stunning collection of art.  I Love the abstract quality of some of these.