Art with Mrs. O'Neill

I introduced 4th graders to some perspective drawing techniques to create their own bedroom design... We had some very creative results!

Second grade has been reading the snowy day & they have created these beautiful mixed media collages based on the story. This is always a very successful lesson. Students color a chalk background, then use dabbing techniques with a sponge & white paint (this gives a similar effect to the stories illustrations). The next class is spent adding an art tissue collage of a snowy day scene.

1st grade has been learning art history, and were just introduced to the cave paintings of Lascaux France. I have collected the brown packing paper that often comes with school orders & we pushed the art room tables together to make large "cave drawings".

This is an oldie but goodie! Students learn about Positive and Negative Space by cutting a symmetrical face out and then cutting the face in half then placing the pieces like a puzzle to create a whole face. This is also a great way to teach about contrasting colors!

Art Club has been working on these warm and cool colored masks. We used mask forms and art tissue strips with glue and water. After they dried, students added embellishments. We had some very dramatic results...

Every year our school does arts in the school night in April. Each grade level does a different continent. 4th graders do south america. Since it is the time for the traditional holiday of Dia de Los muertos (day of the dead) which is celebrated November 1st & 2nd. Students have made Qtip skeletons and decorated them with colorful construction paper...lots of fun, but Qtip pieces are everywhere!

Second graders have been working on 3 dimensional animals & their habitats. They have had a great time with this project. I gave them patterns to trace with a choice of 4 different animals. Explained how to fold the paper & cut to make a symmetrical animal. Then we used another lesson to create the animals habitat.

Every Tuesday morning we have a faculty meeting, and today's meeting was used for a storybook pumpkin decorating contest among the faculty at Rossview. Each grade level has to decorate a pumpkin to match a story book character. Then, we set them up in the front foyer of the school and the students vote on their favorite. What a fun and creative way to celebrate, compete, and just have fun! The winner will be announced soon! Can't wait to see who it is....

I found this adorable Pumpkin lesson on Ms.NelsonsClass.com. Our Kindergarten and First grade just went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. So, I've been looking for a good pumpkin art  lesson to do with them and I found this little gem.... I know a lot of art teachers stray away from doing the more "crafty" Holiday artworks. But I still have all of my daughters little holiday pics like this and we hang them up when the holiday rolls around. Plus, this lesson was great for teaching collage and helps the kids who need to work on fine motor skills.