4th Grade Totem Poles

I think this project is pretty popular. I see it pop up on Pinterest all the time. My students and I certainly like it. This is the second year I have had my students do their final project using cut paper. It really works 100% better than paint. 

The emphasis of this project is the concept of stylization. The artwork of the Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest is very unique. I have found several good resources about specific shapes used in making totem poles that have been very helpful to my students. I tell my students to fill up 95-100% of the paper. I tell them to pretend like their paper is a little glass box that they have to push the animal into. It is a struggle to some students at first, but the concept eventually clicks. 

If you are new to my blog, you're in for a treat. I post all of the lesson plans I write. For free! Feel free to use them in your classroom. Check out the lesson plan for this project here.

4th Grade Chinese Dragons

My school is incredibly diverse. Our student population represents over 30 spoken languages from a wide range of countries. To celebrate our diversity, Thomas Elementary had our first annual Multi-Cultural Day last week. We had a multi-cultural fashion show, many different performances, research posters from each class, and a food tasting. 


In keeping with that theme, many of the projects students created for the art show were representative of different cultures. Fourth graders created a project about Chinese dragons. In China, dragons are considered to be wise creatures that represent power, strength, and luck. Many students are much more familiar with the European idea of a dragon being an evil creature to be afraid of. 


Students each created their own dragon, painted it with watercolors, then cut it out. The dragons were then double mounted on construction paper. The project was finished with descriptive Chinese words. Overall, my students really enjoy this project. It fit nicely with our international theme as well.

2nd Grade Henna Hands

Wow. Absolutely outstanding work from a second grade boy!

This is an absolutely new lesson that I wrote specifically for this school year. My school is incredibly diverse (students from over 30 countries). We are celebrating that diversity this year with a Multi-Cultural Day next week. I decided that my part in that would be writing lessons inspired by various cultures around the world. This one is about India!


It was incredible when I first introduced this project. My Indian students were super excited to create artwork inspired by their culture. Many typically quiet students were sharing during our class discussion of henna art. 


After seeing many examples, my students did a little practice the first day of the project. I made a handout (check out the bottom pictures) and divided it into designs meant for wrists, palms, and fingers. It took a bit of practice, but my students got really good at the plant-based designs popular in henna. 


The final project included two traced hands with henna designs. After tracing the designs with brown sharpie, the hands were cut out and mounted on either green or orange paper. The mounting paper was then cut out to show an outline then glued onto the background paper. I was pretty happy overall with how this project came out. 


Check out the lesson here!