Harmony or Contrast Macaw: Fifth Grade

My fifth grade students are studying the principles of Harmony/Unity and Contrast.  We went through several examples of harmony in colors, in texture,in value and in shapes.  Then we went through the same elements, this time with an example for contrast.  This is a four day project to complete.

For this project, students will learn how to properly draw a macaw, and will paint it using harmonious colors or contrasting colors.  We talked about harmonious colors being neighbors (and that they are analogous colors) and how contrasting colors are opposites (or complementary colors).  On day one, we created a rough draft for both harmony and contrast and selected our favorite one.

The final painting is 8" x 18" (I cut a piece of 24" x 18" paper in threes).  On day 2, I gave the students a template of the macaw's head to get them started.  I have found that if they have a first shape to guide them in the right direction, it helps!  We used visualization skills to picture where the wing belongs before drawing it.  I also went over the strategy of drawing with your eraser, or drawing lightly with your pencil to get you started.


On day three, we painted our macaws.  I gave students tempera cakes in the six basic colors of the rainbow.  I also gave them a Styrofoam plate for mixing colors.  The students who chose harmonious colors needed to mix the intermediate color for their birds.  The paintings looked beautiful drying on the rack, all of the younger students were in awe!


The last day of this project is for oil pastel details and an artist reflection about harmony vs. contrast.  Which principle do you prefer?  Why?  Other than color, list one other way to show harmony? To show contrast?

Metal Tooling Architecture: Fifth Grade

In Fifth grade, students studied famous buildings from around the world.  We looked at Stonehenge, the Parthenon, the Taj Mahal, St. Basil's Cathedral, Medieval Castles, and Notre Dame Cathedral.  We created our own architectural drawings using an inspiration sheet with different elements: doors, windows, arches, domes, etc.  The students needed to pick at least three architectural elements.

After our drawings were completed, we learned about low relief sculptures.  A perfect example for the students was the faces on a penny.  Each student was given a piece of metal tooling that was 6" x 9" large.  Underneath their work, they had a piece of felt so their lines would be nice and deep.

Students traced over there lines with a pencil and turned it over to double check that they had all of their desired lines before removing the drawing.  Then, we colored in our buildings with colored sharpies.  Students were encouraged to cut out their buildings to shape, but watch out, it is sharp!!

Once complete, students needed to create a short written response about their building: what is the building type (a castle, church, mansion) in other words, why would someone go to this building?  What is its purpose?  And what three architectural elements does your building have?

Clay Dragons: Fifth Grade 3D Sculpture with Balance

In fifth grade, students made clay dragons.  This takes four to five class periods.  I begin with the history of the Welsh dragon (my family is Welsh) vs. the Chinese dragon.  The Welsh dragon has four legs, wings, is always red, and flies.  The Chinese dragon is serpent like with four legs, no wings and guards the sea, not the sky.

The first day we create the body.  I tell my students that at the end of class they will have a clay table!  We wedge a ball of clay into a sphere.  I explain that wedging clay removes air bubbles and that clay can explode in the kiln if this important step is skipped.  Then we cut a plus sign into the clay, about half way through.  I saw this technique on YouTube.  Each of the four sections is shaped into a leg.  This way the body is not too thick and will not need to be hollowed out!  The students put their name on the belly, put their dragon onto a plastic plate and into a two gallon Ziploc bag for the next art period.  I make sure that bags are labeled ahead of time so that messy clay fingers aren't trying to write with sharpies!

Day two is devoted to the head(s) and tail(s).  Students have made up to 5 heads, but the more heads they have, the greater the chance that they will fall off.  I show the class how to slip and score to add an oval of clay onto the front and back of the body.  Then we take clay tools (toothpicks, popsicle sticks, marker caps) and create our details on the head and tail.  Then we add a little water and put it back into the bag for the end of class.

Day three is devoted to the wings and spikes.  We begin by rolling out a slab of clay about as thick as your finger.  Then we approximate how large we want our wings to be.  We create one and check to see if it is the correct size.  Once we are happy with one wing, students flip that wing over onto the remainder of the clay slab and trace it so that both wings match.  Then we slip and score the wings on.  We add spikes with the scrapes left over from the wings, cutting small clay triangles to our desired size.

Day four is for finishing up any details that have been overlooked, or if a student was absent or at band/orchestra practice during class. This is a great opportunity for teamwork.  The students that are finished can help out the students that are still working.

I let the dragons dry for at least a week before putting them in the kiln.  Once they have been fired we choose two main colors for our dragon and the first day of painting, they cover the entire dragon with one of these two colors.  Day two of painting, the students are given tiny, detail brushes to finish their dragons in any colors they choose.  As these dragons are drying, all of the younger grade levels have enjoyed admiring the dragons, anxiously awaiting their turn to make them!