Yummy Cupcakes

It is time again for those yummy Thiebaud Cupcakes!  I had to put a new spin on this lesson when I realized that I was running out of days before the trimester ended.  Instead of having 6 to 8 cupcakes in our composition, we just concentrated on drawing one large cupcake.  These pieces turned out beautiful and I must say, definitely look good enough to eat!

You can check out the original lesson here: Wayne Thiebaud Cupcakes.  The link will give you information about the artist studied, see examples of student work and will allow you to view a great youtube clip I share with my students on artist Wayne Thiebaud.


Student Examples:

Mixed Breed Animals

Fifth Grade
3 Class Periods

Mixed Breed Animals, Fifth Grade Art Lesson

Day 1:  
To begin this project we examined photographs of mixed breed animals:  Zonkey, Jaglion, Grolar Bear, Leopon, Tigon.  We discussed the parts of each animal that we recognized in each new breed.

Jaglion

Liger

Zonkey

Students examined various photographs of different animals that I had on file, ranging from spiders to elephants.  Students were instructed to combine numerous animals together to create a brand new breed in a drawing.

Students were also asked to think about the environment in which they would find this animal.

Day 2 and 3:
Students took the next two to three days to color their artwork using colored pencils or crayons.  Blending techniques were discussed and craftsmanship was emphasized.

Student Examples:

And another year begins...

Let the unpacking begin!  Time to get things organized and ready for a new school year!  I love checking out the new supplies for the new year. :)

Shoe Fish

Kindergarten
3 Class Periods

Shoe Fish, Kindergarten Art Lesson

Day 1:
On the first day of this lesson we examine various photographs of fish in the ocean.  We discuss fish anatomy:  eye, dorsal fin, tail, nares, gills, pectoral fin, pelvic fin, mouth and scales.

Students remove their shoe for this lesson and trace the bottom of their shoe three times on their paper.  The paper should be horizontal in front of the student.

Student's tracing shoes for fish body.

We then turn our paper vertical and transform each shoe outline into a fish by naming the parts and drawing that part on each shoe outline.  Magically the shoe becomes a fish!  Students are so impressed by this.

We end the class period by outlining our fish with a black sharpie marker.

Day 2:
On the second day we re-examine the photographs of fish.  We discuss patterns and the colors we see. Students use this class period to color their fish using markers, crayons or colored pencils.

Day 3:
Each child is given a blue piece of construction paper.  I like to offer a variety of blues to give them more say in what their artwork will look like.

A brown piece of paper is then cut and glued along the bottom to create the ocean floor.

Green strips are used to make the sea weed.

We next cut out our fish and glue them in the composition.  I demonstrate to student the concept of overlapping.

More green strips are added for sea weed.  Students are shown how to also create coral from construction paper.

White tempera paint is used to create bubbles, sand is glued to the brown construction paper and a shell is added to the composition with bottle glue as our finishing touches for these masterpieces.

Examples of Student Work: