3-D Family/Season Trees

Are you ready for total and utter cuteness? I hope so! This project turned out way better then expected! I seriously love when you try a project for the first time and it actually works out awesome!

In second grade, students learn all about different life cycles (seasons, plants, animals, etc.) They also do a family study and read Tomie dePaola stories. In art, we create a family tree with images the children bring in from home. The past few years we have learned how to draw a non-broccoli tree and added a season to one side and the photos to the other. It was not the most creative, but it was a valuable lesson and the kids enjoyed it!

I found this website on good ol' pinterest. Thank you for showing this project in photo form:)

In progress trees

Students created their trees using a RECYCLED paper bag, added a season with tissue paper, and then their family photos! It was hard for the kids to twist the paper bag, but it was great for hand strength! I helped them when they got tired, but the kids were able to do most of it by themselves.

I love the end result!

What a sweet family keepsake!

mesoamerica comes to an end...

So here is the finale in our tour of Mesoamerica... Effigy Vessels!!!!!!

Effigy...

means to look like a figure or animal; a representation or image, especially sculpted, as on a monument. 

Purpose of the Effigy Vessels...

•Used in ceremonies such as weddings, rituals, births, and deaths.

•Different animals have special meaning depending on which tribe or culture.

•The vessels have religious meaning and symbolism. 

We learned these clay terms... Slip, score, slab, pinch, coil, bone dry, and glaze.

 

My students had to create a vessel with a lid. They also had to create an animal that related to their personality.  The great thing about this project is we have an amazing Mesoamerica exhibition at the Mint Museum in Charlotte. The kids get to see a bunch of REAL effigy vessels... which is kinda mid blowing because of how old these pieces of art actually are!

5th grade Effigy Vessels!

  

Artwork at the top of post:

Bird Vessel, 12th–9th century b.c., Mexico; Olmec

Source: Bird Vessel [Mexico; Olmec] (1986.45) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

president...

busts!!!!!

Oh my... 

So my first year teaching (3 long years ago) I decide to take on a monstrosity of a project. Call it a novice mistake or call it youthful thinking... but this project was big, messy, and took forever....

BUT IT WAS NOTHING SHORT OF AWESOME. 

Here it is... the presidents of the US (bust only) create by my 5th graders (of 2008).

Vocabulary:

•Three-dimensional - Having height, width, and depth

•Sculpture - Artwork that is three-dimensional

•Form - Forms are 3-Dimensional. They occupy space or give the illusion that they occupy space.

•Bust - The head and shoulders of a person

•Realistic – The representation in art or literature of objects, actions, or social conditions as they actually are, without idealization or presentation in abstract form.

•Positive space:  The space a form occupies in an artwork. The actual material of the sculpture

•Negative space:  The empty space in and around an object that helps define the sculpture.

Background Info:

Sculpture is the creation of three-dimensional forms. A sculpture is a three-dimensional object, which means that you can walk all the way around it and see many different views. A form is an object defined by height, depth, and width. Sculpture is created through three basic processes: carving, modeling, or assembly.  

Each student was doing a report in LA/SS on a president. They had to create a paper mache bust of that president. We used thin and thick cardboard for the shoulders and neck and a balloon for the head. We paper mached the entire thing and added cardboard facial features.

So it only took about 3 month to create these bad boys... worth it? I think yes. Will I do it again? Perhaps I will muster up the courage....one day...

 

tribute to a chief...FINISHED!

So... the tribal shields and masks are complete. The 5th grade did a very nice job making these bad boys look authentic....

We are now currently working on the performance art piece. I was nervous to introduce this part of the lesson. We looked at the blue man group (which the kids loved when I pulled up youtube) versus the Nutcracker. I was unsure if the kids were going to be able to understand the difference and point of performance art. But to my surprise, they understood beautifully and are creating some really neat performances.

CLAYYYYYYYYYY.....

And seriously... if you want kids to wig out... tell them they are working with clay. The result... an explosion of yells...

So here it is... the final region of the N.C. regions study The Piedmont! We looked Catawba Indian pottery. They have a very simple and elegant style. We recreate vessels using the techniques of the Catawba Indians. 

Start with the coil method. Build and layer coils. I gave the students freedom with design (they could add legs, handle or a spout) The students needed to smooth the coils out when they finished building the vessels. 

Vocabulary:
Coil
Slab
Score
Slip

In progress...

Vessels!!!!!

Artwork at the top of post:

Two Small Rebecca Pitchers

Left: by Florence Wade, 1993

Right: signed Catawba Indian, undated

homes from around the world...

2nd grade learned about different homes from around the world in S.S... In art class we used recycled materials (cardboard, paper bags, popsicle sticks) to recreate these homes! Each student created a different home. I let the student choose the home they wanted to create, so they were very excited about the project. Ahhh, they are so easy to please! I only have six 2nd graders, so it is possible for me to do these large scale projects with the kids. I used the glue guns, but the kids designed, colored, and painted the homes. They did some visual researched from a some books about homes.

They are so cute!! We have a tepee, adobe, apartment, a stilt house, mansion, and beach house (not pictured).

Neato huh?

Photo at the top of the post:
Stilt house