Clay Tiles

My last unit of work every year focuses on 3D artwork and clay is a great option for me to do this. Students absolutely love working with clay and they get to take their creations home at the end of the lesson.

The learning objective for Grade 3 students was to recognize and explain the meaning of texture. They also had to differentiate between above and below the surface textures and eventually create a texture board of their own that would demonstrate their understanding and skill of working with a 3D material.

Materials required:
- clay
- black card
- white labels 

Duration:One lesson of 80 minutes

Prep: Stick labels onto black card (in a corner) for students to write their name & grade.

1. We started talking about texture and all the different kinds of textures we can find in the world around us such as soft, spikey, rough, smooth, pointy, fluffy, etc. I showed them real work examples of textures on a powerpoint  such as the road, a dog's fur, a pineapple and so on.
2. Through questioning, students learned the difference between above and below the surface textures.
3. I then did a demonstration for them on how to roll the clay into a ball, flatten it out to the shape of a pancake, neaten the edges and/or cut it to their desired shape, and how to smooth out the ridges with some water. I also showed them two examples of how to create above and below the surface textures. Once they saw that, they were eager to get some clay into their hands and start working.

How do you think they turned out?

Abstract Tones

This is great lesson which allows Grade 3 students to practice and develop their skills to create and blend light, medium and dark tones using oil pastels.

Materials required:
- A3 black paper
- oil pastels

Duration: 2 lessons of 40 minutes each

1. Briefly recap different types of lines with the students and have them draw a variety of 6 - 8 lines on their paper. The lines may or may not be parallel to each other. 
2. Next, demonstrate to students how to select light, medium and dark colours for e.g. yellow, light green, dark green & blue. Have a handout of the colour wheel available for low ability students.

 

Step 1 & 2: Work in progress

Here are the finished pieces!

Wayne Theibaud cakes

I love this project for many reasons. It promotes observational drawing, it develops the skills to create tones and the kids get so excited to draw their favourite dessert!

I did this with Grade 3 but it can easily be adapted for any grade level.

Materials required:
- A3 black cardstock
- handouts for students showing a variety of cupcakes, pies, ice creams, etc.
- oil pastels
- pencils & erasers

Duration: 1 lesson of 80 minutes

1. The learning objective for this lesson was to become familiar with the works of artist Wayne Theibaud, to identify highlights and shadows and eventually to realistically draw any dessert showing highlights and shadows.
2. I started off the lesson with a short video about the artist. While watching the video, I asked students to look for the answers to two questions:
- What did he paint?
- Why were his paintings famous?
The students were absolutely amazed at how his application of thick oil paints mimicked the actual frosting of a cake.
3. Then I showed them more images of his work, asking them to figure out what else made his paintings look realistic. This made them recognize the use of tones to create highlights and shadows.
4. For my demonstration, I showed students how to draw a cake/cupcake, creating tones of light and dark colours with oil pastel, blending and layering two tones together & choosing the appropriate colours for highlights and shadows.
5. The students began by selecting either a cake, cupcake, pie or ice cream which they enjoyed and then followed my demonstration. I gave a step-by-step drawing guide for my low ability students to use and a variety of cake designs to extend the high ability students.

Left: Handout for low ability students
Right: Handout for high ability students

6. Here are some of the works in progress:

Don't the finished pieces look gorgeous?

Line, Shape and Pattern

This is one of my favourite projects to start off the academic year with. It's minimum prep and very little clean up which leaves you with maximum time to focus on getting to know your students' abilities. The beautiful results are a bonus too!

This lesson is based on line, shape and pattern. I did it with Grade 3 but it can be applied to any grade level.

Materials required:
- square paper
- markers & colour pencils
- pencils, erasers
- thin black markers for outlining

Duration: 3 classes of 80 minutes each

1. Discuss and brainstorm with students about different types of lines (wavy, zig-zag, swirly, straight, etc.). Do the same with basic geometric and organic shapes. Ask them to point out the different lines and shapes they see within the classroom.
2. I gave each student a blanl, square sheet of paper and through verbal instruction only, I asked them to draw five types of lines: a wavy line, a zig zag line, a straight line, a curved line and a loopy line. I told the students that each line must go from one end of the paper to the other. The lines could be drawn in any direction and must overlap/intersect each other.
3. Now students had to draw patterns into each section and outline with a fine black marker. This was the end of the first lesson.

Lines & patterns drawn in pencil and outlined with marker

4. Here is the part that the students love - colouring! This was done in the second and third lesson using both colour pencils and markers. I stretched my high abilities by getting them to add tones of light and dark within their patterns.

Just gorgeous!

Mixed Media Chameleons

Perhaps this is my favourite Grade 3 art project because the results are always stunning and the kids LOVE chameleons! This is a great cross-curricular project that ties science into art since the students talk about key characteristics of chameleons. The end result is an ink/oil pastel resist technique.

Materials required:
- A3 paper
- pencils, erasers
- oil pastels
- inks (can use watercolours as well but I prefer the vibrancy of ink)

Duration: 3-4 lessons of 80 minutes each

1. I show students a finished example of the project so that they get an idea of what is expected. We began by talking about chameleons, where they live, why they change colour, how their eyes move. More importantly, we discussed what basic shapes can be used to draw their body such as triangle for the head, oval for body, etc. When they start to draw, I emphasized two points: (a) draw big & (b) draw light. I asked the students why they were supposed to draw big and light and they all came up with reasons like "so we can see it clearly, we have enough space to add colours and patterns, so that we can erase it easily, etc." I love how their logical minds work!
2. For the low ability students I had a step-by-step drawing guide. As for my high abilities, they used photographs as a reference and could draw a chameleon from different angles.

Step-by-step drawing guide

3. After the chameleon drawing was complete, students had to draw patterns on the body and develop a background. I displayed an image on the board with different kinds of leaves, flowers, etc. Of course students were not limited to this and were welcome to use their own ideas as well. This was the end of the first lesson. 

4. As a starter for the second lesson, we watched a small video clip of how chameleons change colour. The kids loved it! During this lesson, we outlined the drawing in oil pastels and coloured in a few, selected areas only. I think the key aspect here is telling them to press down hard with their pastel as you will always get some students who are rushing to finish and their outlines are too lightly done to withstand the ink which will be applied on later. What do you think of the work in progress?

5. In the third lesson, we began using inks. The kids love how the resist technique works and I think it is important to question them about why oil pastel and ink resist each other as it makes them think scientifically about the materials they use.

6. In the fourth lesson, students outlined their work with a black marker. The idea here is to tell them to outline around the oil pastel instead of over it. Don't they look gorgeous?