cutting with kinders!

The kinders have started their second rotation with me this week and they are cutting and gluing with me for the first time... and it is going wonderfully!

So many of the kids are doing a fantastic job of holding, opening/closing, and following their drawn lines. This is not necessarily the case every year, so a big shout out to kindergarten teachers and families that have got these little ones on their way:)

I'm using the work of Marcos Roman as the inspiration for this project. I've used his work before with a couple different grade levels. He recently did a series of mask portraits for #inktober and has been posting them on instagram as he makes them. We focus on one image in particular and look at how he uses round shapes (ovals) , how he decorates them with patterns, and how one of the shapes looks like a face. We then go through and identify the various face parts in the collage Marco made.

To start the project, I actually pre-draw the oval/egg face shape. We go through and add the face parts and patterns with a pencil (or white color stick if on black paper). I encourage the kids to make choices with each step- what shape will they use for the nose? the ears? the mouth?, and so on.

The classes working on white paper then use a marker to make the lines bold and those working on black go over their lines with white once more.

Students then draw an oval as big as they can on primary color sheets of paper and add line patterns to each.

Then we are ready to cut! I model how to hold the scissors, opening & closing, and using the hand holding the paper to turn it as we cut. Once everything is cut out, we plan where the primary color shapes will go and then where the face will go. I model using a gluestick, how to raise the glue level, how to do the gluing on the paper and not the table surface, and hold to press the parts on.

When everything is done and kids have cleaned up, some classes have had enough time to collaboratively build a few sentences that explain what we did for their teachers. This has been a great way to get many kids involved in using the vocabulary of the day:)

making masks with marcos.

The 3rd graders continued their line unit this week. I shared some mask drawings that designer and illustrator Marcos Roman made. Marcos works for Hallmark designing greeting cards, which is another career/job choice for people looking to make a living with visual art. We talked about how he uses contour line to create simple and complex shapes, as well as using line to create patterns in those shapes. I also explained that Marcos has drawn inspiration from various cultures around the world.

Before starting the hands on project, we talked about what "similar" means. I brought out an example of their eye drawings from the previous week and asked students to identify how the two works were similar to each other. Students volunteered response and I told them they would have to write how the 2 were similar as their exit slip for the day. (ELA common core 3W1-write opinion pieces & support point of view with reasons)

Students drew their head shapes first, added facial parts with geometric shapes, filled the facial parts with pattern, and traced their lines with a sharpie. Once their drawing was traced I gave them each a wide sharpie to create lines that were thicker than others. Students finished their drawings by "coloring outside the lines". They used color sticks to create a color field across their paper. I modeled holding the color sticks on their side to create large areas of color. I also emphasized to press softly, so their designs would not get lost.