Earth Day

Happy (Belated) Earth Day!

As my 6th graders finished up their Andy Warhol Inspired Portraits I had them use their free time to honor Earth Day.  We've all seen the paper pinwheels on pencils and I saw this as the perfect occassion to make them!  Since it was a "finished early" activity, I simply explained why we were making them and allowed students to decorate them however they wished.  Not everyone had time to make one, so I only have about 40 pinwheels in total.  We used the template shown below, a thumbtack and none other than the infamous No. 2 pencil.  Unfortunately my template was rather large compared to the pencil so they can't actually spin/move with the wind...Oops!  But that didn't stop me from planting them firmly in the ground outside my classroom window.  While they might not be spinning as planned, they are still a beautiful accent and a glorious reminder of how beautiful our planet is!

I think if I were to redo this, I would use longer sticks (rather than pencils) and use papers left behind at the school printer so that we could recycle the unwanted copies into something beautiful!

Smoke Fired Warriors

Terra Cotta Warrior Update-They're Finished!

 This is two photos of the display merged together, so I apologize for anywhere that it doesn't quite merge correctly in the middle!

My terra cotta warriors have been smoke fired (or sawdust fired, as some people like to call it)! 
Last week, myself and a former art teacher at Ballard loaded up the kiln aka trash can that I drilled holes into with bisque warriors, sawdust, sticks, pinecones and anything dried up and burnable that I could find.  We started with a bedding of sawdust, added some warriors, more sawdust and burnables, more warriors, etc.

My school let me lock it up in the batting cages so that no one would disturb it and so that once it was running and hot, no one would accidentally touch it out of curiosity  So after it was all loaded, I left it locked up overnight and returned to it bright and early the next morning... 

 And I set it on fire!  Actually, I just tucked a few newspapers underneath a few of the sticks and lit them on fire.

I let it burn for a few minutes and put the lid back on the garbage can so that the flames would become smolders and the sawdust and such would burn down slowly while giving awesome effects to our clay army

I let it burn all day and let it cool for a day before unloading the warriors.  I rinsed them off and could finally show off the finished product!  We had a few casualties (a few heads and feet fell off due to inadequate slipping and scoring) but we managed to doctor all of the warriors up so that they appeared to be intact!  I love our clay army and couldn't be more proud of the work my 6th graders put in and how their army turned out!

 I had to brag to my fellow art teachers in the district of how well the warriors turned out so I took them to the "kiln" for a show and tell session

Some more photos worth bragging about:

A Ballerina's Serenity

This is one of my new favorite surrealism images (lesson here) one of my 8th graders has made. Something about it just puts me at ease. Enjoy!

Superimposing Faces

Face Swapping

As I mentioned in the Glogster assignment, I teach the digital photography classes how to superimpose their heads onto another body.  I encourage them to choose someone/something they want to be when they grow up or something they'd like to accomplish...and if you know me, you wouldn't be surprised to hear that I also encourage silliness.  So below you will find various bodies I have added my face to while teaching this lesson to students...

 My personal favorite..."Me" as a centaur (from Narnia)

 "Me" running a marathon (with some serious abs as a bonus).  I should have adjusted the brightness of my face to make it more realistic.  Oh well.
Those abs actually belong to Kara Goucher found here

"Me" climbing Mt. Everest

original photo I edited my face onto found here

If you'd like the lesson I use (I use the free online editing program, Pixlr) I am happy to share, just let me know!  I then have the 7th graders use this for their Glogster assignment and the 8th graders use this skill for their Surrealism assignment!

Glogster

The 'About Me' Glogster Assignment

My digital photography class is taught as an exploratory course, meaning that it is only a six week course and is a chance for students to figure out what subjects they find interesting while learning a variety of new skills in different areas.  Six weeks is such a short amount of time for me to get to know these kids so one of the assignments I give my 7th graders combines digital photography, technology and getting to know them.

I teach my students about Glogster and how to create a Glog of their own and then ask them to create one that portrays their personality and intersts through a series of photographs and graphics.  Below is a screenshot of my example for them.

My general requirements are that they include their name (obviously) and a minimum of 5 photos (3 of which they must be the photorapher of) portraying their interests, lifestyle and/or hobbies.  I have also added the requirement that one photo is their head superimposed onto another body to show what they want to be or something they want to accomplish when they grow up (it can be from running a marathon to joining the military, anything goes with this one).  My example does not have that included, however superimposing is a skill I like to teach the kids, so this was a fun way for me to incorporate that skill.  They also need to include at least 3 graphics that are fitting with their personality and Glogster theme and either a link to a website of interest or upload a video that ties into their lives in some way, shape or form.  In my example I added a link to the one and only MissArtyPants blog (Shocking, I know)! 

I encourage them to use minimal text and let their pictures tell the story.  At the end of the project, we share our Glogs with the class and tell a little about ourselves.  It's surprising how many students still learn something about their peers this way, even when they've known each other since kindergarten.

If you'd like more details about the lesson itself, how it's taught or Glogster (an online graphic blog) let me know, I'd love to help!

Terra Cotta Warriors Update

An army fit for a king...and a kiln

Bisque Warriors Inside the Kiln

Clay Army- Terra Cotta Warriors Continued

Be afraid, be very afraid!

More students have finished their warriors and we're lining them up for a bone dry army ready for their first kiln experience!  I'll keep posting photos as students finish and I'll definitely post more once they have been smoke fired (I just can't wait for that finished smokey, rustic effect)!

Enjoy...

This warrior even has battle scars!  Check out his eye

 

I love the epaulettes on this one!