Giant Tales

Third graders heard the story The Brave Little Tailor (illustrated by James Warhola) and then drew giant pictures (on 18x24 paper!) and wrote stories of how they would outsmart a giant.

Many gave their pictures titles like The Brave Little Hairdresser or The Brave Gumball Destroyer. I called mine The Brave Little Art Teacher.

Here is one third grader's story and picture.

My Giant Story
Written by Jamie Welch

One late evening I was planting flowers in my front yard. Suddenly, I heard a loud, booming voice. "You there!" the booming voice shouted. I cowered in fear.

"Who...me?" I whispered.
"Yes, you! Come closer!" the voice commanded. In fear, I walked to my lake. There, sitting on my wooden bench, was a giant. "Come closer," the giant said. I walked towards the giant on my shaky legs. "Yes...," the giant said. Out of nowhere, the giant scooped me up in his over-sized hand. "What's your name?" the giant boomed.
"J...Jamie," I stammered.
"I'm Mario, the only Italian giant," Mario boomed, laughing. I began to cry, for I missed my mother and father. "Stop!" Mario commanded.
I wiped my tears. "Stop what?" I asked.
"Stop your crying! It makes me sick," he replied, sighing. I began to think more sad thoughts. I cried hard, and I cried soft. Soon after, Mario's face turned blue, and he exploded. Then I went home and lived a normal life once
more.

The End.

Be a Buddy -- Not a Bully!

The motto for our school's anti-bullying program is "Be a Buddy, Not a Bully!" Third grade classes are making posters that illustrate examples of bullying behavior and contrasting that with "buddy" behavior.

First, here's mine:

Here's a couple finished posters by third graders:

Here are some up-close details of a buddy behavior and a bully behavior.

Colorful Coil Pots

Third grade classes have finished glazing their ceramic pots made using the coil method. Methods of construction and designs were inspired by Native American pots. This week we'll wrap them up and take them home!

The Coil Method

Third graders started this week by making pinch pots. That was the easy part. Next we took it to the next level! We made the pinch pots larger by using the coil method. That's when you make little snakes out of clay, and coil them around the top of the pot until it is the height you want. You can also use the coils to make handles, decorations, etc.

It's easy to remember the name of this technique, because you use little snakes of clay and coiling is what a snake does when he's about to strike.

But you have to score the coils with a plastic fork and wet them. When working with clay, remember this simple rule,

"You must scratch it,
If you wish to attach it."

Name Design Posters

Third graders are using rules to make guidelines.

Our goal is to make a poster using our names in block letters. The letters will be three inches in height and parallel with the top and bottom of the paper.

After drawing them in pencil, we'll outline them and color them with marker. Then we'll add creative details by drawing or using collage.

Painting Outdoors

Our theme for the Living History Day was the Early 1900s. At that time, plein air, or outdoor painting was very important. Why did this kind of painting become more prominent from 1800 on? The invention of something very important to artist -- the paint tube. What did artists use before that? The University of Houston website tell us,

By the 1700s the demand for oil paints had led to new subspecialties among
painters. The colourman now mixed paint and sold it to artists. He radically
changed the business of oil painting. Colourmen sold the first premixed paints in pig's bladders. Then they sold paint in syringes -- rather like grease-guns. By 1800 you could buy oil paint in tin tubes.

As cameras appeared, painters had to redefine their own purpose. Equipped with really portable oils, they changed the game. Instead of reporting the world objectively, they gave us their self-expressive response to a far more fluid world.

To experience plein art painting, we set up to paint outdoors. Students made watercolor sketches outdoors. We'll be finishing those paintings this week in art class.

Below is the scene we were looking at as we painted.

Below is my own color sketch of the scene. As kids finish theirs up, I'll post some of theirs too.

Making Macquettes

In our recent artist visit, we learned how artists sometimes make macquettes, or statues they use for reference when drawing. Some art classes are making their own macquettes.

Third graders are using plasticene, or modelling clay to make temporary models of dinosaurs to use while drawing. Caden Williams made the beautiful dimetrodon below.



Brittany Hovan got very creative with a rider and saddle.

Fourth graders are using clay to make imagainary animals. This is how we do it. First we go to the box of wildlife cards. We close our eyes and pick two cards. The assignment is to make a model of an imaginary animal that has some characteristics of both animals.

While we work, we use the wildlife cards as reference.

These will be dried and then fired. Next week we'll add color to them.

Fourth graders are using clay to make imagainary animals. This is how we do it. First we go to the box of wildlife cards. We close our eyes and pick two cards. The assignment is to make a model of an imaginary animal that has some characteristics of both animals.

Painting and Collage

Second and Third grade classes have been combining collage techniques with acrylic painting. Each artist started with a sea animal and used colored paper, wallpaper, stickers, etc. and paint to fill in the scene.

Secret Messages -- Third Grade Oil Pastel Drawings

Remember how we were learning about the art of Paul Klee? It's almost as if he used symbols to make hidden messages in his paintings -- and never told anyone what the meanings were! I asked third graders if they wanted to hide messages in their oil pastel drawings. If you decipher Colin's drawing below, it shows you step-by-step how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. McKenna told me the secret message in her drawing below: "No one can judge you for the things that you love."

The Art of Paul Klee

Because our Living History theme this year is the 1930s, we'll be learning about artists who were working during that time period. Third graders are learning about artist Paul Klee. One of the interesting things about this artist is that he was one of the first modern artists to recognize the importance of children's art and give it equal place among the other fine arts. He often borrowed directly from children's drawings. Here's what he had to say about it:

"Children also have artistic ability, and there is wisdom in there having it! The
more helpless they are, the more instructive are the examples they furnish
us; and they must be preserved free of corruption from an early age. " -Paul Klee

I think what he was getting at is that maybe sometimes we are in too big of a hurry to get them to draw like grown-ups. Artists like Klee and Picasso envied the way children freely and spontaneously created such lively images. At first glance, some of Klee's work looks like a child did it, but they are full of symbolism and ideas.

The PA Standard for this lesson is:

9.3.3.E. Recognize and identify types of critical analysis in the arts and humanities: contextual criticism, formal criticism, intuitive criticism, contextual criticism, and formal criticism. That sounds like quite a mouthful, but it's actually a benchmark for third grade. It actually sounds more complicated than it really is because it's written in Educationese. Here's how I describe it.

There's three ways to look at a picture:

1. What do you think? (Intuitive criticism). When we look at art and talk about it in this way, there are no right or wrong answers. Sometimes it's fun to look at art and explain what we think is going on. For instance, someone looked at this painting by Paul Klee and called it "The March of the Pajama Bottoms". That's not really what the artist had in mind, but it sure is a fun way to look at the painting.

2. What do you know? (Contextual criticism). This is when we learn more about the artist, what was going on during his or her lifetime, and what did they have to say about their art. Sometimes from reading about an artist we can learn things that help us to understand and appreciate the art more. In the painting below, I didn't realize until I read about it that there's something unusual about the numbers on the clock. The numbers 1,2,9 and 5 are in red. It was painted in 1925. Maybe the secret message is, "The Time is Now!" It looks like there's a net or fishing pole trying to catch the clock, but the fish are all going on their way, business as usual. It's as if there's a secret message in the painting, but Klee never told anyone what it was. I think he wanted us to decide for ourselves.

3. Let's talk about the design (Formal criticism). This is when we look at a work of art and analyze it based on the elements and principles of art. We might describe colors, shapes and lines and talk about how the artist arranged them into a composition.

Vessels of Color

Clay update: If your third grader hasn't brought theirs home yet, they will soon! The coil pots they made have been glazed and fired again. This week in art class we're wrapping them to ensure safe transportation and sending them home!

Pueblo Pots

Pueblo Potters (Black, 1997) is a story that is part of our school's third grade reading program This story teaches the history of this Native American tribe and their way of life, including their potttery. Students read this story in reading class and learn about Puebo beliefs, traditions and the techniques they use when making clay pots.

After reading the story in Reading class, they get to try these techniques in art class. It starts with a simple pinch pot, something learned in first grade, but then we take it to the next level!

Students make coils of clay and then build up the height of the pot by adhering them. The only way clay will stick to clay is by using scoring techniques and wetting both pieces.


The pots are built and fired. In this week's art classes, students will glaze the pots and then they'll be fired again.

Name Design Posters

"The essence of our effort to see that every child has a chance

must be to assure each an equal opportunity,

not to become equal, but to become different --

to realize whatever unique potential of

body, mind and spirit he or she possesses."

-- John Fischer

This was our first lesson of the year for third grade. In my opinion, the ideal art project is a balance between a structured activity and a free activity. In other words, there is something challenging to try, but it is open ended, with plenty of freedom to experiment and explore with materials.

The structured part of this lesson is to use a ruler to measure and make guidelines correctly. Of all the math objectives, this is one students will use the rest of their lives whether they make art, do carpentry, sew or do any number of hands on tasks.

Students demonstrated the ability to measure at the one inch and three inch mark. They connected their lines to make guidelines and make their names with block letters. Then they made pictures that expressed their interests.