Hearts of Hope (Rashi School Online Lesson)

Hello Rashi students! We are going to participate in this great Hearts of Hope project. The Dedham Square Circle group wants to help people feel more happy and hopeful. So, they are collecting heart drawings, and they will hang them up in stores in Dedham Square. You'll create a heart, and then ask your parents to mail your drawing to them.

Materials:

• Paper (regular size, any color)
• Drawing or collage materials
• An envelope and a stamp (ask parents for help with this)

Don't know how to draw a heart! It's ok! I'll show you on Thursday. Not a Rashi School student? Here's a cool video I found about how to do it with simple circles and a triangle. 

1. Draw your heart so it takes up plenty of space on the page. If it ends up smaller, add some more hearts- no one said you should only draw one!
2. If you're doing a collage, draw your heart first and then cut it out.
3. Decorate your heart and the page around it- make sure to really fill up the page so people have lots to look at!
4. Write a message of hope and/or happiness if you'd like
5. Ask your parents to send it to the address below.

I was so excited to hear about this project, because there are some famous hearts in Art! 

They are by an artist named Jim Dine. He loved hearts and he made lots of paintings and big sculptures with them. 

Four Hearts, 1969

The Heart, South of Naples, 1986

The Orchard, 2006

Parents: Here is the information you need to send out the hearts. Thank you for your participation!

Texture Comics: Part 2: Creating a Comic Strip (Rashi School Online Lesson)

Hello everyone! This is a lesson for my students at The Rashi School. By now, you've probably seen my lesson Texture Comics, Part 1 and created four texture comic characters, using texture lines and shapes.

Here are mine, remember?

Materials:

-Paper

-Ruler or straight edge

-Pencil

-Black pen or sharpie for outlining

-Markers or colored pencils for coloring

Now, it's time for those characters to have an adventure or two!  First, write down the answers to these questions, to plan your stories:

• What is the title of your texture comic strip?
• What are the names of your characters?
• Are there good guys and bad guys? If so, who is who?
• What is going to happen?
• First...
• Then...
• Then...
• Then...
• Finally...

Got some good ideas? Now, take a piece of paper and use your ruler and pencil to divide it into either 6 or 8 boxes. You can do more, too- depending on how long your story is. 

Your first box should include your name and the title of your comic. The rest are up to you, but you must fill them all! My comic ends on a cliffhanger...

Spoiler alert: Don't worry! Coco the Fuzzy Chick doesn't get eaten by Sam the Scaly Snake- she was just stuck in Fifi the Fluffy Sheep's wool! 

3-D Hands! (Rashi School Online Lesson)

Hello everyone! This is a drawing lesson for my students at The Rashi School. I hope you'll join along!

This is a popular drawing project on Pinterest. It's simple, and very cool. In this project, you will learn how the shape and directionality of your lines can lead to the illusion of 3-dimensionality on a 2-dimensional (flat) surface, in this case a piece of paper.

Materials: pencil, paper, black marker or pen, colored markers or colored pencils
Time Needed: Two 30-minute sessions

Here are the steps:

1. Trace your hand and wrist on paper with pencil
2. Using a pencil (in the photo, it's a marker, but I suggest pencil), draw a straight line until you reach your hand tracing, then create a curved line where your hand/wrist shape is. Then, continue the line to the other side in a straight line. It is as if there's a "bump out" where your hand/wrist is, and this is what gives it the 3-D effect.
3. When you're going over your fingers, the lines are curved on the fingers, and straight in between the fingers
4. Go over all of your lines with black marker. Do NOT outline your hand!
5. Use two or more colors between the black lines. 
6. Finish, stand back, look and say "WHHHHHOOOOOAAAAAA!!!"

Third Grade Texture Scavenger Hunt (Rashi School Online Lesson)

Hello third graders! This is a lesson for my students at The Rashi School. I hope you'll join in!

It's time for a texture scavenger hunt. This activity will have you moving, collecting, sketching, and writing.

There are three activities in this unit.
1. A scavenger hunt and list
2. A poem
3. Sketching from observation

Materials: pencil, papers, clipboard or book to lean on, colored pencils or markers (if you have them)
Time needed: Two or three sessions, about 30 minutes each

Visual Texture

Visual texture is texture that you can see, but cannot feel. It's created on a flat surface, with drawing materials. It's sort of like an illusion. Artists use visual texture to add realistic detail to their work. German artist Albrecht Durer was very, very good at it!

Rhinocerus, 1515

Rabbit, 1503

Surface Texture

Surface texture is a texture you can feel as well as see. It is three-dimensional, which means it is not flat. Thornton Dial was an artist who used found objects such as metal, wire, and wood to create surface texture in his paintings.

Out of Darkness, the Lord Gave us Light, 2003

Louise Nevelson created sculptures with wood and cardboard to create surface texture.

Untitled

So, here's what you need to do:

Part 1:

1. Go around your house (you can go outdoors too!) and find at least ten things that have surface texture. 
2. Make a list of the things, using one texture adjective and one texture noun. If you can't think of the texture words on your own, you can use the texture word list below.
3. You can't use the same object twice, and you can't use the same texture adjective more than twice.
4. Write a texture poem with all of your texture words and nouns: For each pairing, add some words that tell us more about the thing and how you feel about it. 
5. The last line of your poem is up to you and your imagination, but it should sum up some of your thoughts and feelings about the things you found in your house, or how you feel about your house.

Here is my example of a texture poem:

My Comfy Home

Fuzzy yarn I love to knit with

Furry dog who likes being scritched behind the ears

Soft slippers that feel great on my feet

Woven basket of tasty fruit to snack on
Bumpy lamp that spreads light around the room
Shaggy carpet that I'll vacuum... later
Curly flower petals in a vase
Smooth kitchen table that is my favorite shade of green
Wet stairs on this rainy day
Lacy curtains that look pretty in the window
Bumpy Duplos that I keep stepping on
I love being in my comfy home with my family.

Here's the list of texture adjectives. 

(You can use others that you think of too)

• Woven 
• Scratchy 
• Tangled 
• Hairy
• Blistered
• Scaly
• Ribbed
• Curly
• Frizzy
• Lumpy
• Grainy

• Sharp
• Fluffy
• Bubbly
• Prickly
• Fuzzy
• Slimy
• Pocked
• Gritty
• Bristly
• Doughy
• Knotty

• Jagged
• Scratchy
• Rocky
• Stubbly
• Lacy
• Feathery
• Whiskered
• Bumpy
• Spiky
• Smooth
• Rough

Part 2: Texture Drawings

1. Pick at least four of the things you found in your house and create four drawings of them with pencil. Make sure to use lines and/or shapes to show the texture of the object! If you're confused, please see some examples from the chart below. You can use a realistic or a cartoon style. Make sure you're observing them while you draw them, so you can see lots of detail.

Here are some ideas about how to include texture in your sketches, using lines and shapes: