HotChalk

I'm so excited for a new website that just opened for the teaching community. They have an art section that you can find here: HotChalkArt

Down near the bottom of the page there is an "Educators ToolKit", and then a "Blog" section. I'm stoked to be featured there as one of their art bloggers!

Go ahead and check it out...you can find other resources, too.

Happy beginning of the school year everyone...I hope that the summer got you refreshed and ready to begin another great year.

~Katie

Chinese Scroll Paintings, 4th-5th Grade

I didn't have the chance to do this project this past year, but I did it the year before. It was a huge success, but it took a lot of time.

I started by teaching the kids about Chinese Scroll Paintings, and the history of them. I created a worksheet where they answered questions and had to sketch ideas for their designs.

The students worked on 12x24 white paper, to get the "scroll-like" feel. They lightly sketched their design using a pencil, and then were taught all about watercolor techniques. They were encouraged to do a lot of washes at first, and then go back when it was dry to add more dry brush details. They had to add chinese symbols using black ink as a finishing touch.

I finished them off by mounting a piece of thin, black paper at the top and bottom of the 'scrolls', and then hanging with yarn. The "oooo's and ahh's" of the hallway were endless.

3-dimensional pop out shapes, 3rd Grade

This is a great project to use a ruler, teach a little about 3-D and form.

Just start with a plain white piece of paper. Draw a center dot. Have them draw 3-5 shapes around the center dot. (I usually recommend circles, square, trianges, rectangles, hearts or diamonds)

Then, show them how to use a ruler and connect the edges of the shape to the center dot. Any edge that you lay your ruler down and it cuts through the shape means DON'T draw the line!

Once you show them on the board, they will fully understand.

You can add stripes and designs to your shapes like mine. We use marker to color them in. Then, have the students cut out the entire design and post onto a background colored paper that compliments the art piece.

This is a great one-day project, and they love the result...and so do I!