Since Llamas and Alpacas are all the rage this year, I knew I wanted to feature them in an animal art unit. Our library did not have very many books about Llamas, so if you want to make a buck, you might consider illustrating something for ages 10-13. 

To introduce the difference between Llamas and Alpacas, we watched youtube video by an alpaca farmer. The video has a curse word at the end, she says that llamas sometimes spit for the 'hell of it'.  It was one of the few resources I could find with great images so I just muted it when she said that and asked a few questions of my students like: have you ever petted an alpaca or a llama? etc. If you did not want to use the video, you could show this site which has tons of facts and photos of Llamas. 

For the actual art making, we did a few practice sketches in our sketchbook after decided if we wanted to draw an alpaca or a llama. Most kids agreed that alpacas are cuter than llamas. We lightly sketched our design on 18X6 watercolor paper and traced in sharpie. I always have my students color small details with crayons before we use watercolor paints. We used liquid watercolor for this project AND regular watercolor if they wanted it for the black and brown. I also showed them how to make tan and grey, using the lid of the watercolor set as a mixing tray. 

Several of my students drew their llamas with buck-teeth. After doing a little research, we learned that they don't have front teeth on the top, it is the bottom teeth that jut forward. Just FYI. 

Supplies:
18X6 Watercolor paper
8 pan prang watercolor sets
Paint brushes- a variety of sizes
Liquid Watercolors
Sargent 6 Ct. Paint storage tray
Water
Pencils
Sharpies
120 crayon sets

A few months ago, Paper Scissor Cake posted on their instagram a few pictures of a hand lettered sign workshop they were working on. Immediately I realized how important it is to incorporate hand lettering into my curriculum to help support cursive writing. 

For this project, we used tag board, which I was not entirely impressed with....I wish we would've used real watercolor paper. We also used watercolor---both the regular sets and liquid neon watercolor. I had to explain that students had to be very careful not to let the neon colors mix in the container. Since half of my students started this lesson when I took my personal day in March, I typed up a very extensive sub plan to help them get started with the lesson. I also had tons of visuals posted around the room for ideas, lettering guides and font alphabets. They could choose any uplifting quote (we had recently lost a staff member), and should keep in mind that these would be posted around the building in time for MAP testing 

Here is what I left for my sub:
​Step 1: Choosing A Quote to Illustrate
 

1. Today students will be selecting a quote to illustrate.  
2. Students may use a quote posted on the board, or they may use one of their own quotes as long as it is school appropriate.
3. Later we will be incorporating the quote and the writing into a watercolor illustration, today is all about practicing the lettering and selecting something that they might want to use for the project.
4. This project is about selecting something that is personal, uplifting, encouraging and meaningful to them. Spelling is important!!
5. As they think about which quote to use, they should consider what colors and imagery might correspond to help illustrate their idea. How they write it is just as important as what they write.

 
 
Step 2: Hand lettering Practice (and drawing symbols)

1. As most students have never learned cursive writing, this might be challenging for them, but when I get back next week, I will teach them a few techniques and we will use some special pens, which will help with the writing.
2. Today, we are using mechanical pencils for the first time. This might help them draw lightly.
3. Today, students should use the grid paper to help them practice the letters and phrases. I have posted a plethora or really cool lettering they can use. They can practice as much as they want, practice makes perfect!
4.  They can pick any kind of writing that they want to go with their quote.
5. I don’t mind if they use more than one paper, but they should not throw away the paper until most of it is covered with ideas (sometimes kids make one mark and then toss it, which is wasteful). I put out TWO types of grid paper, one has smaller boxes, they can use either one.
6. Students should roughly sketch out their phrase or quote in pencil on the grid paper a 3-4 of times. (see my example)
7. They should look at how it is placed and think about what words should be emphasized.
8. They should then use markers (the chisel tip markers work great) to draw over the top of their quote, the pencil should be done lightly so that the marker will cover it. The grid paper should help them to place the words and space out the letters.
9. Students should also think about images and symbols that could be used to illustrate their quote. They may want to add a frame or a design around the quote. This should be practiced today.
10. Names should be on the practice papers.

 
Step 3: DRAWING BIG

1. If students finish their practice paper, they can VERY LIGHTLY section off the 12X18 manilla paper into a grid using 3 lines. One line should be at the 4”, 8” and 12” mark on the page (see my example).
2. Students may need help using the ruler to measure and make the marks on the manila paper. The longest rulers work best as they are 18” long.
3. These guidelines will help them draw the lettering much bigger.
4. Once they have the guidelines, they should write their lettering and draw their symbols in pencil very lightly on the paper.
5. They can also trace over the lettering with marker. IF they majorly mess up, they can always flip it to the back and try again.
6. Names should be on the paper, if they do not finish with this step today, it is okay! We will save for next week.
7. Early finishers can look at books, free draw, do a coloring sheet or work on the Notan Mural on the south end of the room.

 
 
At the end of each class, pass out the wooden clothes pin for each table, and have students clip their papers into the clip to keep them organized for next time.  
At the end of the day, please have the last class put the chairs up. 

 Once students had practiced on the manila paper, they were to show their 'sloppy copy' to me, and then I would give them the white tagboard. This was a great chance for me to notice misspelled words or give them advice on placement before the real thing. It is a little harder to erase on the white tagboard. If a student was absent on the first day, this was a good day for them to catch up. 

They were supposed to draw/write it in pencil and then trace in black marker.

The very last day, we painted the tagboard. I showed this (kind of long) video that I made to each class before painting. 

I always show how students should color small details very hard with a crayon (and how they can draw with white) and it will show up even if they paint over it. 

For this project, I was looking for a way to infuse more art history into my curriculum and also a chance to use liquid watercolor.

I already had a parody of the Mona Lisa 'dabbing' above the regular poster of the real painting and my students were pretty much obsessed with it. 

When I found a few reference posts on pinterest, I decided to tackle a Mona Lisa parody project with my students. 

I printed off this head and hands template from Art Projects for Kids. 

Throughout the unit I shared facts from this list.

And since everyone loves a good whodunnit, I started the whole unit off with the mysterious story of the stolen Mona Lisa. Prior to the first class, I took down my Mona Lisa poster and left a small white sign that declared the missing/stolen Mona Lisa.

I did not hang up any pictures or images for inspiration, I started with a story of the missing painting. If you are looking for a good version, I read the one page story for the first  few classes, but after that, I basically had it memorized. Here is another one you could copy and have your students read. 
 
After learning how the painting was stolen and then recovered, I explained that it elevated the painting to THE most famous painting in the world. As a result, other artists started to make funny versions of the painting called parodies. I showed them a bunch of examples of parodies of the Mona Lisa. 

Parody--​an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.

After explaining what a parody is, I realized that there are many instances that arise in cartoons or movies in which references are made to famous songs, works of art, etc.

​Many times, students don't have the background knowledge to 'get' the joke. So I decided to enlighten them with a little game called: Parody or Real Thing. Some students recognized these images immediately because they had seen them in a previous class or I had showed them last year.

Other images, they had never seen before, so I quickly gave them a mini art history lesson about the painting, artist or time period. It was a way to get the info in really quickly. I used a slide show for my initial introduction of the game, and then had them say out loud, what they thought---Parody or Real Thing. 

I showed them the Parody or Real Thing slide show after the initial introduction of the project. That same day, I introduced my Mona Lisa inspiration wall. I painted a big 6ft tall sloth in the Mona Lisa pose, with a Starry Night background---this gave students a lot of ideas on how they could incorporate other famous paintings as a background or they could reference other works of art in their parody to make it more interesting. 

Later, I made a kahoot quiz to make the game more interactive with all new images.

I LOVE Kahoot---I had a few issues the two days I tried to implement the quiz. First of all, the internet was almost non-functioning. I wasted several class periods just trying to get everyone logged onto devices.

Second of all, it is SUPER interactive, when the game was functioning, most kids were so amped up from the excitement, it was hard to get  a word in edgewise, which was why I was attempting to play this on our early-out day on Halloween. It perfectly aligned with our unit and the kids really enjoyed it. 

For the actual design, we used 12X18 watercolor paper. Students could choose to use the actual photo copy of her face and hands, or they could attempt to draw her on their own. They could use just the face, or just the hands, but if they decided to do another character, then it either had to be in the famous 'Mona Lisa' pose or it had to have the same background, or else it wouldn't be a parody, it would just be a painting of Batman.

I really liked it when they realized they could customize her hair or they could cut out scraps of paper to make a partial mask or sunglasses. I told them to use the white paper around the photo copy for 'props' or practice sketches.

We used a glue stick to glue the cut-outs down, and we drew everything in pencil and outlined in sharpie first. 

Supplies:
12X18 Watercolor paper
Pencil and eraser
sharpie
liquid watercolor
crayons
regular watercolor

Obviously the election and scary clowns were on everyone's mind in September. Also featured frequently, pokemon go, snapchat filters, and superheroes. 

Some were confused by the fact that the copy I gave them was completely bald--they had to at least add hair. And maybe arms and a shirt. I only gave them the head/neck and hands. Some added the hair perfectly. 

How clever is this boy to do a #nailedit meme as his Mona Lisa parody. I just love it! He wrote 'When I Created The Mona Lisa #nailedit' in the background. 

The liquid watercolor containers that were left in my classroom by a previous teacher worked out wonderfully for this project. They did not have brown or black so I opted for little plastic containers of brown and black, and I also provided regular watercolor sets for a jet black as the liquid watercolor was good for a dark sky, it wasn't good for Batman's suit---it just wasn't a dark dark black, it was sort of blueish. 

I encouraged my students to draw the background, outline everything in sharpie and erase old pencil lines. Also, I TRIED to stress that they should color SMALL details, like the yellow windows on this building with CRAYON before painting---to make it a wax resist. Some did not listen and had the headache of painting all the tiny windows and then trying to paint around them once the yellow dried. 

The first day of painting, I showed them a video I had made, where I demonstrate the wet-on-wet technique AND I explain how wax resist works. It was nice to have the demo recorded so I could show it to all 12 classes. 

Playing tetherball. I just love this one so much!!

Throughout the project, I had a drawing center set up for students to study statues that I have of the leaning tower of Pisa and the Eiffel tower. For this drawing station, I encourage them to blind contour as much as they can and use only felt tip drawing pens so they can't erase.  If they made something they were proud of, they could color it and glue it to a frame--names and class codes on the front---and I selected a bunch of them to hang up. Some made cute parodies of the Leaning Tower after I told them a little about it. 

When a friend asked if my students could have artwork ready for a group show by September 11th, I thought, NO PROBLEM! We started back to school on August 10th, of course we would have time to finish.

For whatever reason, I designed a project that took WAY longer than I thought it would, so I felt like I was rushing my students to finish at the end so I could send artwork to her show, but it is just such a great project that I have to share!

This project has a little bit of everything----self-portrait, photography, radial balance, zentangle, high contrast, color mixing, and even splatter painting.

I only did the large version with my 6th graders, but it could be adaptable for slightly younger, and would be perfect for older students too. I did a smaller version with my 5th graders on coffee filters which turned out great too--look for the post on that one soon!

And without further ado, I will attribute the concept for this lesson to the wonderful and talented Kathy Barbro at Art Projects for Kids. Her Mona Lisa version is great! 

Materials: 
18" Color Diffusing Circles 
Thick and Thin Sharpies and fat black permanent markers
Liquid watercolor paint in primaries
Eye droppers
Metallic paint
Lightboxes or overhead projectors
Black-and-white high contrast photos printed for each student (on copy paper)


Day 1
Initially, I choose to introduce the idea of Zentangling. I realized that my students had never done any 'structured doodling' and it was such a calm and relaxing way to start the week. Did you know that there are 3-hour relaxing music videos on youtube? We listened to the calming music while we drew. 

Students made zentangled bookmarks with skinny and fat sharpies. It was great that many of my 6th graders did mini-optical illusions that we practiced last year in their designs. 

When they were done or almost done with their bookmarks (one-day project), I distributed one iPad mini to each table and explained how to, take a selfie---as if they needed any explanation!

I tried to encourage them NOT to show their teeth and make sure they had decent lighting.  I explained the basics of converting the image to black and white and they shared the photo with me on google drive. I had previously signed in to google drive on all of my devices (with an art teacher account, created just for the purpose of organizing student artwork). Students simply had to upload their photo to my google drive account so that I could print the photos. It was a painless process---why didn't I figure this out ages ago! 

Note: I imported all of their images to iPhoto and edited them in one big batch so that the contrast was accelerated----making much darker blacks and very little grey with the white so that students could have 'Warhol'-like images to work from. I printed them 2-per 8X11 copy paper and it was a great size for this project. I realized that students with blonde hair turned out a little better if they had a darker back ground and vice versa---in a white wall room, it was tricky but we managed. 

If you don't have time to take the photos the day of Zentangling, give yourself another day or two to get the photos printed, since someone is always absent. 

FYI: I have started doing TAB Fridays--utilizing art centers each week, giving my students tons of free choice. After introducing zentangling, one boy grabs me and says: 'Mrs. Mitchell, we made a timelapse of a zentangle bookmark.' OMG! So proud!! 

Day 2-3
TRACING?! Yes, its true. For this project, I explained that we would be 'transferring' the portrait 4 times, on the radial 'mandala', so the best way to maintain consistency would be to TRACE the face with a sharpie--no pencils allowed. I pre-folded the circles before passing them out to the students and emphasized the idea that this is a CIRCLE, the image will be repeated, so don't trace your face once in the middle, think of it more like a piece of pizza with your pepperoni-face on each slice-HA!  

Since the images were converted to the stark contrast, I encouraged them to ONLY trace the 'black' shadows and shapes on their faces. Some kids did not heed my warning, and they tried to freehand their eyes and noses---which made them look a LOT like Quazimodo (no one knows who that is anymore!) and some of those were a little messed up looking. 

Also, I encouraged them to SHADE some things in with fat black permanent markers (after moving the photo to the side--don't keep it under while shading, as the fat black markers ruined a few photos). The diffusing circles were so thin that even though we had cover sheets on the table, some tables were destroyed with marker ink---and it is STILL there, weeks later. 

Students had to decide if they wanted the portraits to be mirror images, all 4 'sections' exactly the same, or if they wanted a 'reflection' on the bottom---which they could achieve if they traced the 'traced' version on the top of the design. Confused? Me too. But we got through it. 

Some students were introduced to OLD SCHOOL overhead projectors for the first time. Most of the projectors were on their way to the dumpsters, but I rescued the bulky machines and gave them a 2nd life for this project.  They make perfect light boxes. I set up 4 stations around the room. 

Some students could see their photo through the BIG 18" Color Diffusing circles without using a light box, but I was so glad to have them for this project, as they really helped with the tracing process. Royolco makes a 9" color diffusing circle, but the 18" version is great for this project because the photos fit around the circle 4 (or even 6 if the photo was small) times.  ​

The tracing took longer than I thought it would---some students needed  two or three art days to transfer their face to the diffusing circle multiple times. 

At the end of one of those class periods, I showed a little bit of this video about Mandalas and explained how they are created with sand by monks. Students were really intrigued. ​

Day 4 and 5
Explain how to Zentangle around the portrait. In my demo, I show students how I made a 'good' vs. 'evil' version of myself. They really took to this concept. I also had a seat work prompt on the board asking them how an artist could reveal their identity in a self-portrait.  Students shared great ideas about using symbolism, special colors, and even words to share more about their personality in their work of art. It was a great discussion and many great ideas were generated. This was a LARGE project for many students, I really should've given them another day to draw with the sharpies, but like I said, I was on a time crunch and a deadline. ​

I also pulled out rulers, circle templates and french curves to help them finish up the zentangles. 

When students were zentangling, I had handouts on the tables for them to look at to see examples of 'structured' doodles. Those were tremendously helpful---students had to branch out from their typical polka dots, and they had to create smaller sections within the pie pieces to put the doodles in. ​Many girls zentanlged their hair which turned out cool. I had a coloring sheet that was super helpful in this visual. 

Day 6
Painting using liquid watercolors. 

Any tips for distributing liquid watercolors?

I had quite a bit of stress the day that we painted because the pictures were a little too big for my drying wracks and I had to be the one to pass out all of the paint and pick it up from each table at the end of each class. It was so stressful. Some students really needed one more day to draw---so I felt like I was rushing them to PAINT today! While I picked up all of the paint sets, and refilled them as students used up the colors rather quickly, students had to find a spot in the room to put their gait paintings to dry. 

In the future, I would probably call a few students a time to a painting station---but the deadline loomed---I needed enough portraits DONE and DRY by 10:00 a.m. on Friday so that I could send them to the show----that also meant getting to school super early to pull previous day's paintings out of the drying wrack and quickly making labels for the ones that went to the exhibit. 

One thing I learned, with color diffusing paper, make sure students have paper under their project, and they don't lift the paper off until after the artwork is dry because the water and paint spread out and fade, making the color way less vibrant.

Also, I ended up watering down the paint after the first class because they were almost TOO vibrant, and some of the drawing was swallowed up in the intensity of the liquid watercolor. 

For this project, students used eye droppers to distribute the liquid watercolors onto the color diffusing paper. I gave them magenta, turquoise, and yellow, and reviewed the basics of the the color wheel quickly. I demonstrated how to squeeze droppers-full of paint onto the circle. Be careful not to try to soak it too much, once it is saturated, that is pretty much it---more doesn't mean more, it just means a runny mess. 

As a finishing touch, students could 'splatter' paint with metallics: gold, silver, or copper paint---but they had to do that very last. 

Some of the splattering looked amazing. Some looked like big snot blobs right on their faces. Some completely covered all of the drawing they had done, rendering all of their hard work completely pointless.

Final tip--have students write their name on the front, along the edge, anything written on the back shows through to the front. 

For the first time ever, I came back from Spring Break without a carefully crafted schedule of lessons to finish out the year for my kindergarten through 4th grade students. I'll admit I had vaguely written 'Ocean art' on my lesson plans...but that was about as far as I had gotten prior to my week off. When I walked in the building Tuesday morning, I went through everything in my ocean art visual packet, hoping to pull out the perfect lesson plan based on something that I've already taught.

When I wasn't impressed by any of my old lessons, I started to search Pinterest for something to help me figure out a plan for my K-4 classes. I would never condone planning an entire unit for 5 grade levels on such short notice, but between my master's classes, a spring break wedding, and getting caught up from snow days, prepping for art shows and other stuff going on at school, the lesson planning took a backseat. Fortunately, I was able to wave my creative wand and prep an amazing unit--I channeled the pressure to develop something great as my muse. I didn't over think the lessons, I just kept them very basic and it was a very successful unit. I narrowed down the topics and objectives that we have already covered this year, and I was able to hone in on the needs of individual grade levels. Planning for 5 grades requires a lot of prep, especially if every grade is using a different media. This can be a real headache if you are setting up special supplies for each group that comes through the door.

Basically, I selected a different subject matter for each grade, but the process was relatively the same for each. I added a little more emphasis on 'cool colors vs. warm colors' for some grades, while others were introduced to adding salt to the water, or focusing on texture or craftsmanship. The process involved a guided drawing lesson, followed by some painting, and then the following week, we colored and outlined with oil pastels and then used a little more watery paint for the water.

I hung everyone's artwork in the hall, because the entire unit was so successful. Working with 18X18 paper made for a very large colorful installation which makes the entire building look cheerful and happy.

You may have gotten a sneak peak at this unit on my instagram: @nelliemaeii

3rd grade--18X18 white paper, draw sea turtle in pencil, draw lots of texture on the shell. Outline in sharpie. Paint the body of the turtle with neon green tempera paint.

Week 2
Use oil pastels to color the shell. I encouraged mostly 'hot' colors, but some used browns and neutrals which looked nice too. I encouraged lots of patterns when coloring, also reminded them to press down hard. Outline the neon green paint with black oil pastel and draw texture on the 'skin' of the turtle. Paint the water with the same watered down turquoise, purple, blue and green, but add salt in the watery areas for a neat texture. I demonstrated this salt technique at each table.

2nd grade-- Use a pencil to draw the hermit crab step-by-step. (we did not have time to outline in sharpie because we watched a video of the book House for Hermit Crab. This worked well for me, having them watch a video of the book, but I could just as easily read it aloud to them. Honestly, the idea for this lesson came from this blog. Hers are much better than mine!! Paint the crab with florescent red paint.

Week 2
Find a yellow or orange oil pastel and add texture to the sand. Use oil pastels to color the details of the hermit crab's shell decorations: star fish, anemone, urchin, etc. Outline in black oil pastel (BE CAREFUL NOT TO SMEAR THE BLACK), make sure to trace the leg segments of the crab and the shell. I set up some watered down 'sand' neon paint for the sand at a painting center, and students could go over at any time and paint the sand. On each table, I put a container of watered down purple, blue, green and turquoise paint for them to paint the water and add a little color to the shell.

1st Grade-- Showed a video about seahorses being super killers. Turned our 18X18 white paper so that it looked more like a diamond or rhombus. Draw seahorse step-by-step: used a modified version of this. Draw a line 'behind' the seahorse for the sand, from corner to corner across the center of the paper, make sure it doesn't go 'through' the seahorse. Add starfish, seaweed, bubbles, etc. Trace over seahorse in sharpie. Paint seahorse with florescent yellow paint.

Week 2 Use oil pastels: add texture to the sand at the bottom with an orange or yellow oil pastel, trace around seahorse with black oil pastel: re-draw the mouth and eye and some texture if it isn't showing up after painting. Be careful NOT TO SMEAR the oil pastel. I set up some watered down 'sand' yellow/orange combo neon paint at a painting center, and students could go over at any time and paint the sand. On each table, I put a container of watered down purple, blue, green and turquoise paint for them to paint the water, I had to remind them to be careful not to let the 'water' drip onto the neon yellow of the seahorse.

Kindergarten-- I decided to go with 12X12 for this grade. The classes are very large and I didn't think it would be as successful to work at the 18X18 size. Also, 12X12 looked very small by comparison after working with the larger size for my other grades. The lesson came from this site.

Watch a YouTube Clip from finding Nemo. (In retrospect, this would've been a great clip to show the the 3rd grade!) I showed them a book cover with a clown fish and we discussed how clown fish live in an anemone. Draw the clown fish step-by-step. Add the anemone, and outline in sharpie. Use neon orange paint to paint the stripes on the fish: DON'T PAINT THE WHOLE FISH!

Week 2
Since we only had a little bit to do to finish the fish, I had them cut out some starfish from a tissue paper covered paper that we had created earlier this semester and add some sequins. Once that was done, we used oil pastels to color the anemone, then we outlined the fish with black oil pastel, thickening the edges of the fins a little, and re-drawing the eye and mouth if it was covered last week with paint. Finally, we painted using the turquoise, blue, green and purple that the other classes used.