Sixth Grade Perspective Rooms

Sixth graders learned how to draw in one-point perspective. In one-point perspective, all diagonal lines lead to the same point, called the vanishing point. Students designed and created their dream rooms, including furniture, skylights, and home decor.

Seventh Grade Value Studies

Seventh graders spend the first trimester learning about how to use value, or variations of light and darkness, to create special effects in their artwork. Value can be used for contrast, emphasis, or to create 3-dimensional effects, such as with shading. Each student created a contour drawing, or a drawing made only with lines. They used dividing lines to slice up the page and "shatter" their drawing into smaller pieces. Finally, they spent several classes on the task of shading each shape with a graduated value scale. If you look closely at the samples, each and every shape has a complete value scale, from darkest to lightest.

Fifth Grade Maccabee Sculptures

Fifth graders just completed these amazing Maccabee sculptures. The level of detail and care they put into this project was just remarkable to see. They worked hard in class and even came in during their recess time to pour more of their time and energy into their sculptures! They started the project by sketching and brainstorming their Maccabee's backstory.





Ari (above) is a female Maccabee who is a warrior and makes weapons. Her mother's name is Leah and her mother is Saul. One time, she saved another person's life!

           

Liron is a soldier. He has a sister, parents, and even a girlfriend. His breastplate is made of iron!



This Maccabee above is quite the fashionista- check out her high heels!

Yaakov is a warrior. He has a brother named Benjamin.

This is Malka. Her name means Queen- look at her golden crown! She has a husband and a daughter. She represents female leadership and she helped her town and her people. 

Lazar is a simple salesman who sells food. He is the oldest of six brothers. Poor Lazar got into a fight with a bear once and it almost clawed out his eye.

 

Benyamin is a hunter. He has a brother named Yaakov. Poor Benyamin once broke his arm and his leg at the same time!

Happy Hanukah from the Art Room!

Here in the art room, we've been busy creating beautiful artwork and Judaica for the Hanukah holiday that begins Sunday night.

Sixth Graders used perspective drawing skills to create Hanukah-themed drawings.

This sixth grader used silver sharpie to enhance her menorah drawing.

"Have a Mad Hanukah," from a very creative artist who loves the Mad Hatter 

(from Alice in Wonderland)

Fourth graders created illuminated texture drawings using yarn glued onto cardboard. They smoothed aluminum foil over their designs and drew on the foil with Sharpies to create these vibrant works.

Third Graders created Maccabee shields by creating textured designs on cardboard with Elmer's glue, then painting over the dried glue with metallic paints.

Third Graders posed with their shields

Zentangling with Eighth Grade

Zentangles are patterned, geometric doodles designed for meditation and self-expression. This is the first unit of the eighth grade art curriculum. I had planned for it to go for about 4-5 classes, but here we are in November, and they are still completely engaged and going strong. Many students report doodling Zentangles during classes, and many students have been coming in at Open Studios (extra art time at recess Fridays) to Zentangle.

I am always amazed at the complexity and intricacy of these projects.  This unit truly brings out the best in my eighth grade students. There were moments where it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop- not exactly a frequent occurrence in a middle school classroom!

I began the unit by presenting them with about twenty official Zentangle patterns printed from the website. They taught themselves the patterns step by step, then invented several of their own Zentangle patterns. Then, they chose from many different 2-D and 3-D media to create their Zentangles.

Here are some of the patterns:

Official Pattern: Curvaceous

Official Pattern: Cirquital

Official Pattern: Ciceron

And here is some of the student work:

This Zentangle was done on a puzzle template with Sharpie.

This Zentangle was done painstakingly in HB pencil.

It is always nice to see an infusion of color in the Zentangle projects!

The students also had the option of working to create their designs on the myoats.com website. This entrancing program allows users to create their designs with radial symmetry. You can adjust the quality of line and adjust colors and shapes, then download your designs. It is a very cool process! 

This was also done in pencil. The student adapted several of the official patterns. He sits next to the student who did the pencil Zentangle above. They were a laser-focused team!

This one is Sharpie on cellophane. It will look incredible on a window- like stained glass!

Another incredible puzzle Zentangle. The one in the middle is an original Zentangle by a student. He named for Rosa Parks because it looks like a rose.

Another puzzle Zentangle- this was a popular option this time around! I love the bold Sharpie outlines and the unexpected color choices. This student frequently insists that he "is just not a good artist." I am on a campaign to convince him otherwise- just look at this!

This student worked on watercolor paper with Sharpie. She blocked off the white areas with masking tape. After the Zentangles were complete, she carefully applied watercolor washes to the surface, then removed the tape to create the striking white lines.

Interested in trying Zentangling out on your own? There are many great books, and many patterns are published on Pinterest as well. Or, you can always stop by the art room!