- 4th to 5th Grade Gallery -
Fourth Grade - Photography
As an introduction to photography, we discussed and listed what makes a photo successful and learned the basic parts of a digital camera. [Although we ended-up using Miss K.’s mobile phone in addition to a camera that was generously donated by Mrs. Hernandez!] Everyone took 2 photos of their abstract sculpture:
We are now working on...The Buildings Project!
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Fourth Grade - Abstract Figure Sculptures
We learned about the British artist Henry Moore using the excellent book,
"Henry Moore: From Bones and Stones to Sketches and Sculptures" by Jane Mylum Gardner.
[Book link: here.]
This tied into our earlier nature studies and led to our first 3-D lesson - to create a clay
sculpture of a person in an Abstract [see below] art style.
We practiced in modeling clay first and chose to paint them to resemble stone once dry.
[Our other choice was to make them look like metal: copper or bronze.] Each artist tried to show an
emotion or action in their person, as well as keeping it balanced!
Fourth Grade - O’Keeffe Style
Next, we learned about
Abstract art and
the work of American artist, Georgia O’Keeffe.
She often painted objects from nature but enlarged them so much that they became
abstract art - hard to tell what they are! So, our first step was to draw one more natural
item - but made them so large, they went off the edge of the paper in at least 2 places.
We then practiced values again, this time using color media: watercolors, chalks and colored pencils. I introduced them to 3 different types of colors, and they chose one to use to complete their drawings with color values:
- Warm - [See 2nd grade Trees project.]
- Cool - [See 2nd grade Trees project.]
- Neutral - Colors not found in the spectrum or rainbow: black, white, gray & brown.
Fourth Grade - Value Scales & Nature Studies
Our first assignment of this school year was about learning to control a pencil - to
create Values in an 8-step scale.
We put that knowledge to use in some drawings of items from nature that the class
collected. [Or that I had in the room.]
They chose which Media
to use: ebony pencil, china marking pencil or vine charcoal in their studies.
Fourth Grade - Finishing-Up Game Designs
We voted at the end of last year to continue our final project: designing new games, in groups.
So, we spent some time in August and September in finishing the work, testing our games and
writing the instructions / rules, and then testing and evaluating one another’s!
We ended-up with quite a variety of games:
- 1. Get Home
- 2. Sailboat Race
- 3. Find the Dog’s Bone
- 4. Pirate Treasure
- 5. Will You Make It to the Concert?
- 6. Target Toss
Fifth Grade - Egyptian Cartouche
We midway through a plaster-casting project that involves designing our own
"good luck charms" - necklaces that use Egyptian symbols or hieroglyphs.
Before the plaster could be poured, we had to make modeling clay molds - with cut bits
of straws used to leave a hole in the pieces.
Once set, we broke our pieces free from the molds and have used tools to clean-off any
extra plaster or clay. We will be painting them next!
Fifth Grade - Contour Drawing
We begain this year with some exercises to help us look more carefully at what we
are drawing. These Contour drawings were
done in 2 ways: Blind [only looking at the object, not the paper] and Sighted
[stopping to look at where you’ve been & where you’re heading on the paper].
A final, sighted contour drawing of a hand or shoe was done for the first assignment - students
also had to check Proportions
to make sure all sizes were as close as possible to reality.
Next, as with many of the classes, we reviewed and learned about new color schemes, or color
plans - and chose one to use. In addition to Warm and Cool colors, they could also use a
Complementary color
plan. These are pairs of one warm and one cool color: orange + blue, red + green or yellow + violet.
Once all color was added, artists chose a background color to use as a frame.
[UNFORTUNATELY - A combined class meant I was too scatterbrained to photograph this lesson!
I apologize to everyone for that...]
Cross-Categorical Class: Primary - Mummy Cases
Our first project in this newly formed group was to make mummy cases - similar to what the 1st grade class did, but using white paper and photos of ourselves! [We also used watercolor paint instead of crayon for adding the colors.]
