Winter Fun in the Art Room

 To celebrate the fact that our Wisconsin winter is finally underway with at least a little bit of snow, we are working on a whole array of winter projects.  In addition to having a little winter fun, students are also learning and experiencing the concept of THEME in art.  Students' work is structured around a variety of  stations set up throughout the room.  The projects stemmed from suggestions and a few examples I made, but it has been exciting to see other student-driven ideas develop as we work.  Another great aspect of this project is that students who can really focus in and work for an extended period of time on one idea are able to do this to until their heart is content.  Students who prefer to try many different materials and work with many ideas over the course of one or two art times, can do THIS until their heart is content.  It has turned out to be a very handy differentiation strategy.  

Angry Birds with Santa Hats

A "Winter Wonderland" sculpture, Gr. 2

Cold Outside--Warm & Cozy Inside

With my first grade classes we read several poems from the book Winter Eyes by Douglas Florian.  His poems are perfect for young readers and best of all, he illustrates each poem with really great paintings that are also very approachable for young artists.  Florian's images provided an excellent springboard for teaching my lively first graders about warm/cold colors and also the opportunity to teach them how to draw the interior of a room. 

We read a few poems and then zeroed in on two in particular.  One was about a cold "wintry, wondrous" night.  The other was about being cozy and warm inside.  We looked at the details of each painting and especially at the colors.  I demonstrated a few possible approaches to drawing either a Cold Outside picture or a Warm, Cozy Inside picture. 

Cold Outside

Cold Outside

Warm, Cozy Inside