In conjunction with the second grade immigration unit, students learned about the Statue of Liberty.  I introduced the designer, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and engineer/architect Gustave Eiffel. We talked about symbolism and how the Statue of Liberty symbolized freedom to Ellis Island immigrants.  We played a game where students had to guess a book by it's symbol, try to guess the examples below! Students then filled out a worksheet to help them come up with an object and book that they felt symbolized them. ​ Finally, they drew themselves with their symbols as the Statue of Liberty and created a cityscape background using printmaking techniques.

To see more student examples CLICK HERE

As inspiration for this project third graders learned about constellations, the Chinese Zodiac, astrology, and patronuses from Harry Potter. Students discovered what animal and star sign their birthdays are associated with and took a quiz to find out what animal best represents their personality. With all this knowledge students created or chose an animal to draw for their constellation.

Students began by creating a background using a tint or shade of blue and a splatter technique to create stars. Next, students learned how to create a gradient scale and drew and shaded their constellation imagery. Finally, the students named their constellation, which you can see as the title of their piece on Artsonia as soon as the work is posted!

​To see more student work CLICK HERE!

First grade students learned about the artwork of Andy Warhol, specifically, his Campbell's soup can prints. We also looked at the art of contemporary artist Lindsey Wohlman, who created a series that visualizes the insides of Warhol's soup cans through gelatine-mixed freestanding soup sculptures (visit the link below to see her work). 

Students used the resist watercolor technique to create their alphabet soups and added a short word or phrase made out of "noodles" to their soup spoon. They collaged their work together and added shadows to make their work appear three dimensional.  

To see more student work click here!

3rd-grade students learned about the rules of atmospheric and one point perspective. We looked at examples from TV, movies, video games, and art. Then students chose a theme for their project and conducted research on that theme for their house designs. They then used the rules of atmospheric perspective to add details leading up to their house. Finally, students used the Superimpose app to add a person that fits with their theme walking up to their house. 

CLICK HERE to see more student work

1st-grade students learned about the artist Andy Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy is a British sculptor, photographer, and environmentalist who creates site-specific sculptures and land art placed in natural settings using only objects from nature. Then students drew themselves from behind reaching out for leaves and created their own leaves on the iPads. Finally, the students combined their drawings and a photo they took of a fall tree to create this animation. 

CLICK HERE to see the students animations. 

Kindergarteners learned about the printmaking process and looked at artwork created using printmaking, specifically the work of the artist Geoffrey Ricardo (see video below). For the background of their painting students created a watercolor wash with analogous colors. Each child then applied their knowledge of printmaking to create their trees using small pieces of cardboard and used a splatter paint technique to create snow. 

CLICK HERE for more student work

First graders read the book I’m the Best Artist in the Ocean. We discussed the difference between abstract and realistic art using images from the book. Finally, each student created a squid drawing something they felt they were good at drawing. Using a special salt watercolor technique and cool colors, students painting their backgrounds. 

Take a peek at the book we read here: ​Click Here
To see more student work click here

​5th graders learned about Surrealism, Surrealism vocabulary as well as past and present Surrealist artists. We looked at one specific surreal drawing demonstrating juxtaposition as inspiration for this project. Each student then chose a food to juxtapose with another related object to create a "punny" surreal digital design. 

CLICK HERE to see more student work

Fourth graders learned about the artist Takashi Murakami and his pop culture influenced artwork. Murakami created his own personal mascot Mr. Dob, which appears in many of his pieces. He has also worked with artists like Kanye and Pharell Williams to create their own mascots. Students used visuals associated with their interests and backgrounds to create their own personal mascots. To animate their characters they used the app Doink Animation.