Transportation Vehicles

What if we could make our own transportation vehicle to travel to school in? Would it have tires and ride on the ground? Would it have wings and fly you to school?

Inspired by a lesson I stumbled upon on the internet (I have looked and can't seem to find the source, but if you've seen this lesson, please comment the source so I can link it), I had my 2nd grade students at my student teaching placement create their invented vehicles out of collaged colored paper. Once we all finished our vehicles, we created a collaborative background mural using tire rollers and sponges to print the ground and sky. Then we added collage buildings and taped our vehicles to their environment.

Supplies

* Various colors of construction paper

* Glue sticks

* Scissors

* Construction paper crayons

* Large paper for the background

* black and white tempera paint

* Sponges, rollers, and anything else to print with

Kindergarten Shape Collages

And so it begins! I am student teaching at a wonderful K-8 school in an urban district. My cooperating teacher is great and I am absolutely loving it so far. This is one of the first projects we did with the Kindergarten students.

We thought collage would be an excellent way to introduce the element of shape to the kindergarten class. First students created shapes with scissors and then pasted them onto paper to turn them into something else. After we explored geometric shapes, the students then used their fingers to rip the paper and make organic shapes to collage with.

Supplies

* Colored construction paper

* Scissors

* Glue

* Crayons

It was fun to hold our shapes in the air and discuss as a class what they looked like. Children saw so many different things in the shapes, such as a crocodile, a dog, a house, and a worm. Once we figured out what our shapes could be, we pasted them down on paper and used crayons to create an environment for them to live in.

Constructing Home

What if we could build our own home? What would it look like? Who would live there? What would exist inside it? What would exist outside?

Inspired by a lesson I stumbled upon on Pinterest here, I had my K-1st grade students at the Summer Arts Institute construct these imagined homes out of popsicle sticks and glue. Once we were well into our "building" stage, I introduced pastels as a way to add detail. I love how these turned out!

Supplies

* Black construction paper

* Glue sticks

* Popsicle sticks (Some cut into smaller pieces)

* Pastels

Book About Me

As part of the summer arts institute at the Institute of Music for Children, I decided to have my younger students make the “Book About Me” accordian artist books. K-1st grade students were asked to create these flag books by developing small drawings on separate small pages, each representing a different question, such as “If I could fly, I would go to…” or “My favorite thing to do with my family is…”  The drawings created by the students were extremely personable and expressive. I love how these books turned out!

Supplies

* Thick white paper pre-folded with accordian spine

* Thick white paper pre-cut into small rectangles

* Colored pencils, markers, crayons

* Glue sticks

* Colored paper (for covers)

Inside/Outside Self Portrait Exchange

Working at a Summer Arts Institute over the summer, I created this project for my older students to  explore relief printing as a means of expression. Each student created two relief prints out of foam plates, one of their representational self-portrait (outside self) and one of their symbolic self-portrait (inside self).

Supplies

* Foam printing plates

* Relief printing ink

* Pencils (for carving design into plate)

* Wood pieces (for creating plates with glued foam cutouts)

* Scissors

* White paper (cut into strips
* Binders thread
* Binders needles

After the printing plates were made, each student editioned their prints so that there was one for everyone in the class. After we exchanged prints, we bound them into an artist book using the Japanese Stab Binding technique.

CityBound

I worked with high school students from the Rutgers Future Scholars Program to create original artist books about their experiences living in an urban environment. Students experimented with artistic materials to engage in a visual dialogue about various questions regarding city life.  Telling their story through visual imagery, students created artist books exploring this theme of urban life.  Through this format, students expressed honest observations about their urban environment, and engaged in a deep level of thinking to express their own personal experience living within the city of Newark.

Supplies

* White watercolor paper (cut into long sections)

* Acrylic paint and paint brushes

* Markers, colored pencils

* Glue

* Scissors

* Assorted colored paper

* Magazines and other source material for collage

* Cover boards

* Binders needles and thread

Students learned different bookbinding techniques by creating a series of journals.  Techniques learned included the accordian method, flag books, pamphlet stitch, tunnel and star books. Students then constructed their Citybound books by utilizing either one or a combination of these methods.


The summer art program culminated with a group exhibition at the local cafe showcasing all 75 artist books!

Participaint - New Brunswick

Participaint round two! This time with art partner Daniel Brophy and in conjunction with Hub City Revival in New Brunswick, NJ. With two large black and white canvases shown above and a ton of art materials, we once again invited the community to paint in the murals.  People of all ages expressed themselves, some painting for the first time!