Y'all...it's getting down to the wire and I'm all about the last minute at this point in the school year. Between our art show, clay week(s), a ceramic mural undertaking (stay tuned!), our annual 2nd grade ceiling tile project just kinda slipped my mind. Not until a teacher asked did I remember that it was that time of year. After a mishap with a chalk order from China (they sent me HAIR CHALK, y'all!), I reached out to my friends at Faber-Castell and they sent us the most beautiful chalk I have ever seen. Last week, I sorted the chalk, created the following video and today, in just under 2 hours, my 65 second graders created magic!
The video so saved my voice! It's a loud room with lots of echos...I know that I would have struggled to keep my voice going and my patience in check. It was just me, one parent and a handful of super helpful 4th grade girls to assist these four classes of kiddos. The kids did wonderfully! I am so super proud of them...and they were so proud of themselves...here's a short video of them in action:
If only we worked that fast!
In addition to the video, I spent about an hour in the morning with my super helpful specials team laying out large sheets of paper, setting out the chalk trays and the foam brushes. Last night I cut out 65 fish templates (we'll be painting them for our very last art project of the year!) and had them on the kids' tiles. We always work on the opposite side of the ceiling tile as it takes to the chalk so much better.
32 chalk trays were ready for the kids to use. Check out that chalk, isn't it beautiful?
Now, with 65 kids, you know they don't all work at the same pace. So I would share a little of the video and then put them to work. When they finished OR when they heard me ring my chime, they knew they were to stop immediately and meet again on the floor to learn the next steps.
Kids who finished early were asked to walk around and see if there were any friends who might like some help with their tile. I wouldn't normally have the kids work on each other's pieces but this is an exception. These tiles are BIG! And some kids wanted the help of their friends. Also, I emphasized that this was a collaborative project so help from our friends was great...but only if the artist wanted it. If not, move on to another friend!
This is our third year with this project and it's a big hit each time. This particular group was so excited about it! We do a different theme each year. Our first year, it was butterflies and least year was flowers. I'm so pleased with these bright and cheer fish, perfect to create a school of fish in our ceiling!
I get a lot of questions about this project so I thought I'd address them: * How do you seal these? After the kids are done, these are sprayed heavily with Aqua Net. It does dull the color but not much...and def not noticeable from the ceiling. * What does the Fire Marshall think? Our Fire Marshall didn't mention them! And, of course, we didn't ask.
* Do the kids get these back? No. I emphasize that the tiles are there to stay, it's our legacy, our magical mark we leave behind. * How do you get all of the tiles? The first year, my custodian was able to order extra for me. Now, we just use the ones he has taken down. Meaning, when he takes down the clean tiles to hang the fish, we'll use those as our "canvas" next year!
* How did you convince your administration to allow this project? This project came from a request from my principal! She saw artwork on the ceiling of a school and asked if I could do something like that. At that school, the kids had drawn on paper and the work was tacked to the tile. Originally, when our street painter artist came, we were going to do sidewalk drawings...but rain was in the forecast. Thinking that the texture for the tile would be the same as the sidewalk, the night before, I came up with the idea to do the back of the tiles. We do the back because it takes the chalk much better.
* Why chalk and not paint? Personally...I find the surface of the tile to be very porous and just absorbs the paint. This seems to take a lot longer...and I don't always love the look. Chalk, however, works great on the back of the tile and I love the look.
* What happens when you run out of ceiling tiles?! Pretty sure that won't happen any time soon. Our school is large and our librarian just asked today if I'd do something for the ceiling in there! Short answer: I'll retire, ha!
* Who hangs the tiles? One of our amazing custodians. He LOVES doing it and seeing what the kids create. I tried to hang them once...it's a rain of chalk dust! He's the best for doing it for the kiddos. I think that covers all the questions about this question I've gotten in the past. But if you have others, feel free to drop me a line in the comments!
Love to know if you've done a project like this before...or any legacy type project. They certainly add a punch of happy to our school.
I'll be sure to share what they look like once they are installed. Until then, I'll be unloading/loading a kiln, matting artwork, scratching my head over a mural and having a nightmare about the art show. You know, the usual.
My sweet second graders had to push the pause button on this project last week to tend to painting and bedazzling their exotic birds. But now that those are done, we were able to bring back our Sandra Silberzweig-inspired folk art fish and work on them a bit more today. Almost all of the kids finished them off in 30 minutes (which is pretty awesome, considering these are 12" X 18"!) and they were so thrilled with themselves...as was I!
You can check out (and feel free to use!) the complete lesson right here:
My students did this project in three 30 minute classes. On the first day, we chatted about Sandra, her work and the use of line and black glue. We drew our fish and went over our lines in glue. If you go to this post, I share how I make black glue.
The following art class, we began working with the chalk. This project is perfect for my second graders as they are about to embark on their chalked ceiling tile project super soon. You can check out what my second graders have chalked in the past both here and here. I'm not sure what they'll be chalking this year...but I need to figure it out soon! I'll be sure to share with you right here.
The key to working with chalk is getting the kids the right stuff. So much chalk is filler and junk. The end result is usually very light in color. I love Koss Brand Chalk, even it if is hard to find. We purchase ours through Amazon. I love the subtle colors in this artist's work.
Compared to how bold and vibrant this one is!
I seal all of our chalked projects with Aqua Net. I have noticed that the nozzle on the 'Net has changed and it now does not come out in a nice stream but speckled. However, if you hold the can far enough away from the work and spray, it's fine...and the speckles (mostly) disappear. It's much cheaper than fixatives.
This is usually how I lay them out to spray. Take 'em off the drying rack, spread 'em out and spray away!
Big News: Registration for Art Scouts 2017 is now open! And we are filling up fast. Want to learn more about this summer's Scouts? Here you go...
Are you excited yet? I can tell you that Ginger, Laura, Jennifer and I are super stoked. We can't hardly wait to head to Montgomery Bell State Park, roll up our sleeves and introduce you to brand new projects that are all about making big messes with little people. We are offering two options for Art Scouts this summer:
Here is a look at what our schedule of events looks like:
We're going to introduce you to so many projects, you'll be able to kick off your school year with plenty of clay (for no kiln and kiln friends), fibers, collage and painting projects. Not to mention, you'll meet so many new art teacherin' types that will become fast friends. It really is a summer camp experience...but for art teachers!
Last summer we hosted our first ever Art Scouts in Ohio, home to Laura and Ginger. You can check out that experience right here. Just a matter of weeks after that, Jen and I had folks join us in Nashville, Tennessee. It truly was the highlight of our summer (maybe even our year!) to spend time with so many fun, dedicated and creative art teacherin' types. We are looking forward to an even bigger and better experience this summer!
So looking forward to meeting friends, new and old, and spending time sharing our passion: Art Teacherin'. Get yourself over here and register to join Art Scouts 2017!
Hey, y'all! I'm poppin' in to share with you an update on a clay project I posted here not too long ago. I did this lesson with my second grade students in 3 thirty minute art classes and it was a huge hit. I decided to not have my kids create the wings because I was fearful that they would break. I was inspired (as usual) by my good buddy Laura Lohmann to create the popsicle stick hangers. Here is the video'ed lesson:
List of supplies:
* One sheet of thin aluminum foil per student.
* One large bag of Celluclay per 60-80 students. I mixed up about an orange-sized piece of clay per kiddo.
* 10 large popsicle sticks per frame. I laid them out and hot glued two horizontal sticks across the back to act as braces.
* Paint in a variety of colors.
* Twisteez wire.
* Beads....LOTS of beads!
Day 1: We began by talking about sculpture and getting a sheet of aluminum foil. Together, we slowly sculpted our foil into a heart shape. I really used my peer tutoring to friends help others who needed it. We went to our seats and added the clay to our hearts. We worked fast and furious to get it all done in 30!
Day 2: I put the hearts in front of a fan overnight. The next day, the kids painted their hearts and their "fences" using two different colors.
Day 3: I took my drill to school and quickly drilled two holes in the top of the "fence" frame. The kids looked at Jim Dine's hearts and painted theirs with small brushes and Q-tips. I gave very little instruction, I wanted to see what they'd create.
So pretty, right?! That took no time at all. Then the kids added the wire to their frames. They did this by putting the wire in one hole, twisting it like a twist tie and then loading up with beads. I have a TON of beads and I was glad to have the kids use them up. They thought that was pretty much the best thing ever. Then they twisted the other end of the wire and BOOM! Masterpiece complete.
Not gonna lie: this project was labor-intensive on my part. I had to glue those frames, drill the holes and then hot glue the hearts to the frames when complete. I had a helper student slap ModPodge on the hearts so the paint wouldn't chip. I really love how they turned out and the kids had so much fun. The work was worth it. I am hanging them in the hallway tomorrow!
The kids are so excited to share these with their moms and dads! I heard many conversations on color choices based on mom's favorite color. So sweet.
In fact, this young artist redid his entire bead pattern once he found the "perfect purple for my mom"!
IN OTHER NEWS! You can find my interview with the lovely Heidi Easley of Texas Art and Soul here! It's free, fun and fabulous. So many awesome artsy folks interviewed. Y'all go and check it out and please tell me I don't sound like a crazy person ;)
Hey, y'all! Today I saw a couple of fourth grade classes for their second day working on their Faux Stained Glass Winter Scene project. I was so impressed with their beautiful work that I thought I would share and let you take a peak at how these 12" X 18" beauties are turning out. In case you missed the demo video, here it is:
On our first day, we sketched out our ideas, enlarged our favorite onto our 12" X 18" piece of paper and drew the lines in either black glue or puffy paint. I decided to change the size of the artwork to better accommodate frames. I have had parents tell me that when we do odd shaped artwork, it is difficult for them to frame. I really love the idea of them framing their child's work so of course I'm going to make some changes to have that happen!
Today we watched the second half of the video and dove right into chalkin' it up. I stressed the following: no more than three colors per shape; colors had to be analogous; keep your fingers clean by washing and drying regularly.
About 1/3 of the kids finished today, some used glue today (because they were absent last time) and others are still in the middle of creating. Yay! That should be real fun to coordinate all those finishers/almost finishers/no where near finisheders. Such is art teacherin' life. I plan to provide some open ended projects for those wrapping things up as that will be our last class before break.
One of the half dozen freshly-glued designs from today. We dry these on our messy mats on the floor. I found that placing them on the tilted drying racks causes the glue to run.
The partially finished pieces really stole my heart. These kids were serious about taking their time and doing their best. I love this Hershey Kiss tree!
This one is really so stained-glass-esque.
This artist got a big warm hug from me. So stunning!
And this artist, ah! I was so concerned when I saw his glued design as I thought, that is gonna take him forever! I was worried that he wouldn't have the patience to fill it in the best he could but he really is rockin' it!
And this one says Paul Klee to me! Please feel free to give this project a go in your art room! I'd love to see the results if you do.
