art for the classroom, probably not mine, maybe yours

this past weekend I finished out my fourth masters class

even though my masters is in art integration

this was our first real "art" class

I enjoyed it

got a few new ideas

but unfortunately, being an 8th grade history teacher this year

I'm not seeing these lessons jumping into my plans real soon

especially with the standardized test crunch time being upon me

however, they are worth sharing

many were lessons I had done in the past, but with a new twist

which I always love

lesson #1 paper weaving

done this in the past

but mostly for holidays

and just with color construction paper

loved getting to paint first and then come back later and do the paper weaving

we painted with everything

vegetables, sponges, cut cardboard, pasta, just about anything

I had done "vegetable" painting before

I'm thinking it must have somehow connected in with our language arts story of the week

but then you get these funky paintings

with little directions, and what do you do with them

well, take one of those papers, fold in half

cut long slits in the paper

then take a second work of art and chop it into half-inch strips

and start weaving away

love the final product

lesson #2 found object painting

this lesson again is great for elementary teachers

really any age level depending on how you want to spin the focus

my art above was created with everything from chopsticks to marshmallows

and the black & white piece - potatoes and my chopstick wrapper

obviously elements of art, design, and color mixing could be the focus

or it could be a lesson on re-cycling objects around the house 

previously thought of us "trash"

and the best part of this art project

if the students don't create a piece they love "as is"

turn it into paper weaving as seen above and all is well again in the world

and even though these lessons won't be finding their way into my room this next week

another art project will

and I will be sharing those just as soon as I can