Friday, December 13, 2013

4th Grade CD Snowflake Mosaics







4th grade has again totally rocked out these recycled CD snowflakes. This is one of those "sure thing" projects that 90% of kids totally knock out of the park. It looks spectacular on display and uses up a nice stack of ancient software CDs that I have sitting in my classroom. 

 This project has even been featured by another blogger as a "Top Winter Art Project." A commenter said on that blog that she wouldn't ever have 4th graders do this project because it is FAR TOO DANGEROUS. Well, danger is my middle name. In a little place I call reality, this isn't at all a dangerous project. I have over 100 4th graders and not one of them even were cut by the CDs. It is all about teaching students how to respect the materials and use them correctly. It's just plastic after all. 

 My students really enjoy this project. If you think yours will, too, feel free to use my lesson plan!
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8 comments:

  1. Rina k6art.comDecember 17, 2013 at 2:16 AM

    These are gorgeous! I read your lesson plan - you can really cut CDs on the paper cutter? Awesome!!

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  2. Zach StollerDecember 17, 2013 at 7:11 AM

    Thanks! I really do use my paper cutter to slice the CDs. I have an ancient beast of a paper cutter (the best kind), and I slice them one at a time. It goes pretty quickly.

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  3. Mrs.GordonJanuary 4, 2014 at 1:39 PM

    I love the idea of artists statements. Do you have a form or any other info that you would be willing to share with me? Oh Yeah, I love your work. I plan to do the totem pole and this snowflake project.

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  4. Zach StollerJanuary 8, 2014 at 8:49 AM

    Mrs. Gordon- I have a fairly basic fill-in style format that I use. I just put the artists statement for the snowflake mosaics on Google Drive. Here is the link--> https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SbERM4ZK9EcDE0el9Icjh2RWc/edit?usp=sharing

    I have most of my vocab posted around the room, so the artist statements aren't super challenging. It is just another chance for my students to think a little more about what they are doing.

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  5. Erin StitesFebruary 10, 2014 at 9:19 AM

    How do you get the metallic part of the CDs to stay? When I have tried cutting them, the metallic coating peels off.

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  6. Zach StollerFebruary 10, 2014 at 1:02 PM

    Erin, I have that problem sometimes. I've found that different CDs have different types of coatings. Music CDs work better than software. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else to tell you. Let me know if you come up with a solution so I can let others know. Good luck!

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  7. TartseamNovember 3, 2014 at 4:07 PM

    How many cds did you use and how many 4th graders did you have?

    Trying to figure out how many cds I need to find!

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  8. Zach StollerNovember 4, 2014 at 6:56 AM

    I probably go through 50-60 CDs for about 120 students. Good luck!

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