Weaving
While Kindergarten students work on paper weaving, First and Second graders dive into yarn and looms! Second graders even warped their own looms before they got to weaving.
Symmetry
K-2 Students worked for three weeks on various projects focusing on symmetry. Kindergarteners made symmetrical paint splats, while First and Second graders drew, cut out, and colored symmetrical creatures. For their final work, all students made beaded necklaces with matching beads on both sides, and a center medallion showcasing their "Spark in the Dark" or thing that makes them happy based on the story Spark in the Dark by Pam Fong.
See the accompanying slideshows here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XXz2Mscp4zCWp_j-tuZ9qULUrehqv4HS_sbVKgrZfbc/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XqM7g5uDTHZaxdIqciFz7O5rc9HGQvNr4ZovNg_U5Ko/edit?usp=sharing
Students also paid a visit to Bead Queen to collect their materials:
Lunar New Year Prints
Second grade students used Gelli Plates to create impressive monoprints for Lunar New Year. As 2025 is the year of the Snake, students drew and cut out their snake shapes before placing them onto painted Gelli Plates. Printing was an exciting new way for students to become familiar with the holiday, traditions, and imagery. They then mounted their prints on textured paper of their own making.
Wabanaki Stories with clay
Students' explored clay extensively over the course of many weeks. They covered clay techniques in a "Play with Clay" day, read Wabanaki stories about animals and nature, sculpted their slab works, glazed their work, and had in in class Art Show to show off their work, all while patiently waiting for the kiln throughout the process. Kindergarteners read a story about conservation and fish, first grade read a Wabanaki story of the creation of land, and second grade read Mooin, The Bear's Child.
Color Mixing
Each grade at KES had different tasks to work on mixing colors using only the 3 primaries! Kindergarten mixed 6 shades of each color, while 1st grade and 2nd grade focused on mixing colors for color wheels.
Primary Color Line Sculptures
Kindergarteners at KES learned about sculpture, and turned 2D materials into 3D works. They used primary color paper strips to transform "line" into sculpture.
About the Artist Zines
As students' new art teacher at KES, I wanted to give them a chance to share a bit about themselves and begin to make connections. They learned what a "zine" is, and filled in their own 8 page work with some of their favorite things. All students K-2 completed this work, helping one another fold these unique single page works into books.
See the link to the short presentation here:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1SgDrGtlRmpaR3KU83v39VkM9Gkf1Nst-uwjkch0SbBE/edit?usp=sharing
Fantasy Foam Architecture
As part of a series of lessons at South Portland Summer Rec Camp, I collaborated with a peer on this Foam Structure lesson, which introduced building through simple and accessible materials. They looked at images of architecture and thought about a place they would want to live or go to as they built with styrofoam, straws, pipe cleaners, cardbaord, and markers.
See the lesson summary below: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WKf9gZM5u7xJrvBUAs68XQEIbGhq4buayCq8qwdoPvI/edit?usp=sharing
Watercolor Resist Summer Treats
This is also a part of the South Portland Summer Rec Camp series I collaborated on and one of the first lessons I designed collaboratively. Campers made a summer twist on the classic watercolor resist with white crayons, drawing summer treats they enjoy in places they like to go. We discussed the way materials interact, and the magic of the "invisibble ink" that is the white crayon. Spacial awareness and careful looking is engaged in this task of drawing, and the joyful element of art is clear when watercolor is added.
See the lesson summary: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UDp4ls-QvYu045u6gALo40b64vF91IQtTJq3E5ZOg2g/edit?usp=sharing
Clay Emotions
In this lesson, students created emotions with clay and a face shape template. Because clay is maleable, we talked about the way emotions change and facial expressions reflect that. This lesson was a valuable social-emotional one, allowing myself and my collaborators to connect more deeply with this group of students at the Boys and Girls Club in Portland.
See the lesson summary: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19q1LrVsmOzP5i8csBYXzwybEigWE7NnL5bOkc-dxCME/edit?usp=sharing
Comic Strips
The goal of this lesson was to introduce the idea of drawing characters from basic shapes, and for students tell a story that emerges from their character design. We played a silly drawing warm up game, and then talked about features of a comic, such as what a panel is and speech and thought bubbles. This was also part of a series about using text in art.
See the lesson summary: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T8dBGsjsZqb8O0ZtTCvrzlvfZ449dIkr1yrBZY_ZU4U/edit?usp=sharing