2nd Grade Reptile Sculptures

Today students put the final touches on their reptiles.  They made geckos, lizards, or chameleons, and had to make theirs an original among similar sculptures.  I try hard to design the lessons in all of my art classes in such a way as to really promote the idea that even though we may be making similar works, they should be original.  Personal voice in art is something important I think even at this young age.

I will be teaching Sculpture II next semester and please keep in mind as you are helping your student plan their schedule that it is for both continuing artists as well as students that were not able to sign up for the class this semester.  The projects don't repeat and if I am teaching a technique that they have learned before, they are simply a little more experienced than the newer students.

2nd grade Sculpture - Looking ahead

Today all the students finished their "Favorite Place" sculpture book!  They were all ready to take it home today too... but not so fast!  Next week we have conferences and these will be on display during that time.  

Wednesday conferences run from 4:00 - 5:00 & 5:30 -7:30.  

Thursday they run all day - 9:00 - 12:00, 12:30 - 5:00, & 5:30 -7:30

We even have a book fair!

Any of the 2nd grade Sculpture students that come to conferences can take home the two finished pieces they have to show.  Please join us and have the kids take you to all their classes and share the great work they are doing here each week. 

The next sculpture lesson will be a collaborative work like the ones shown below.  These go on display every year and every year we get so many compliments.  They make our building look really neat.

2nd Grade Sculpture - Tunnel Book Binding & Covers

Today we took another step closer to finishing the students' sculptural tunnel books.  Depending on the progress of the class period as a whole, some students bound the book and you see their pictures above.  Students who have missed a class or are working a little too slowly worked on putting in their final details while their classmates made covers for their books.  Next week everyone should have a finished tunnel book sculpture bound with a cover and then it's on to abstract sculptures!

2nd Grade Sculpture - Tunnel Book - Favorite Place Sculptures

Edgar's "The Park"

Jamie's "Yellowstone National Park"

The kids have been working on this project for a few weeks and we are approaching the end.  They thought about their favorite place in the world.  The students' picked grandma's house, Chuck E. Cheese, Six Flags, the Lego Store, Jamaica, and everything in between.  Then they made a list of everything they loved about that place.  They drew sketches and began making pieces to fill in the foreground, mid-ground, and background.

Today's learning target was "I can add final details to improve my artwork."   Students finished their mid-ground and background for their tunnel book sculptures and then added small details to make their artwork interesting and engaging.  I asked the kids how details in art are like details in writing, and they gave great responses.

"Details make a story more interesting and art too."
"Details make it so I can understand the story better.  Details in sculpture make it so I can understand the sculpture better."

Next week students will make a cover or finish up these details so we are ready for assembly of the tunnel books.

Other learning targets for this project have been:

• I can plan for making art.
• We are learning to use the foreground, mid-ground, and background.
• I can add depth in my sculptures.

2nd Grade Sculpture - Monochromatic Geometric Relief Sculptures

2nd grade sculpture students created these great works of art as their first project of the semester.
Since these works are monochromatic - one color - the students emphasized shadow to add interest.  Shape is a key design feature focusing on geometric designs of squares, triangles, or circles.  Finally, as they are intended to hang on the wall with no back to them, they are a relief sculpture.

So for 2nd grade and their first project the kids packed a lot of learning into a couple of classes.