Flower power with Lei's

Our last lesson was on watercolors which is a techniques of painting (dry brush, wet on wet, and crayon resist) and introducing the Hawaiian culture by creating a lei with the use of a flower a and the watercolors... Here is a photo of my final product after using my flower, I used crayon resist and wet on wet for my watercolors flowers. This was a really fun and exciting lesson to make and I can't wait to give my lei to someone special to me.

An extension activity for this lesson could be in dramatic play or literacy were the students could come up with a song and dance that is centered around the Hawaiian culture and then present each to the class while dressing up as well.

Clay pots

This week for art we were introduced to clay and got to create a pot out of the product. Learning different ways to put the pot together was very interesting. I chose the snake way and spun a long rope that just coiled around the base of the put. After etching something that resembled us into the pot we allowed it to dry. Once dry the pot had to be painted with one primary and one secondary color. This is what my pot looked like from the front..

I chose a coffee mug to put onto my pot because I love coffee and don't really know what I would do in the morning without it.

Here is a couple other photos showing a different view of the pot.

The top one is the bottom of the pot and the bottom is the inside of the pot where I put my initials.

An extension activity for this lesson could be in social studies where you would look into the different tribes of the world and the ways they use clay or pots in their lifestyle. You could have groups of students present on a different tribe with different ways of technology such as power point, poster board, wikis ex.

Trains are a going...

The second project for this week was a train station stamp project where we were able to create our own stamp. With this stamp we created a train and then decorated the background with something that represented  SD culture. I chose the train station and put coal into the trains to show something that goes through SD in real life.

Here is a photo of the train which you can see the stamp that was created by me with spirals in it.

Welcome to Aberdeen's Train Station created by me.

An extension from this activity could be used in literature were the students could read books that talk about SD and the train system. They could find three facts about SD that they could write with this project to show some of the information about their State.

B-Z Ville (3D project)

This week in art we were taught how to create a 3D project with the use of 3 different types of folds a person can use. The folds include twists, bends, tunnels, and stairs. We got to listen to a book called "Oh the Place You Will Go" by Dr. Seuss and then were told to create our own village without the illustration. Here is a photo of my whole project, I use the warm colors to make my project.

 

 This is B-Z Ville were it is always sunny and everyone who lives there is happy. They Buzz around like a bunch of bees...

Here is an example of the twist and tunnel folds used to create a 3D effect.

An extension activity for this lesson could be in social studies where the students be given a place or city that has a significant object or building within the city and then they will create a 3D project of one of these significant structures from the city of state.

Marble Painting- The Mayan Temple

This week in art we found a new interesting way of painting. Marble Paining is a form of using paint without the use of brushes. We watched a movie that showed a culture in which they placed paint on water then placing the paper onto the water. This create a spiral finish on the paper. We create our own form of Marble painting by using shaving cream and placing the paint on that and creating a swirl ourselves with a toothpick. This lesson was fun and exciting because you got to use your hands and active during the activity. In the activity we were also given a place of importance in the world. I was given the Mayan Temple..

Here is my finish project..

 We were told to put where the place is such as shown above "Tikal, Guatemala.

An extension activity for this lesson would definitely be in social studies where there the students would research the place they were given and look at some of the information on how it was built, who made it, how long it has been standing and things like that.

Macrame Display

After creating our macrame bracelets and key chains, we were told to create a display for all the wonderful projects. The background for our display was inspired by the history of macrame when the sailors were out at sea and made knots like the ones used for macrame to pass their time. 

This is a photo of our display description and a side view of how me hung up the bracelets and put the names on each students project.

The Display was a fun way to show the rest of the school how hard the students worked on their project and hopefully stop to look at them.

Made by yours truly Britlyn Sturlaugson and Karli Gilbertson.

Macrame Madness

Our project this week was to teach the students how to create Macrame Bracelets or key chains. We showed the students how to create a spiral not with the hemp rope. Every one did a great job with there own projects.  Here is my bracelet i created but i used a different technique, I used the flat technique to show the students other ways to make Macrame.

 An extension activity for this lesson could be in a social studies class, where the students can look deeper into the history of macrame and figure out some of the different uses people throughout history used macrame for.

Razzle Dazzle Puzzle Pieces

This week we worked on coloring with crayons and learning the different shapes and styles of line. This is a photo of part of my project, I was given organic shapes instead of geometric shapes.  Organic shapes are shapes that do not use straight lines or are same on all sides. I was also told to use cool colors which include blue, green and purple. 

The students were given the choice of which animal to choose to be put into their project. I chose the frog for my animal. I thought it would be really fun to draw and my favorite color is green and since frogs are green that was a pick but you were also able to make a fox, fish, or a duck. Here is a photo of my frog...

I thought that this was a neat project in that the pieces we were given were in shapes to create a puzzle as a whole class. The final product is going to be really interesting to see all the different types of shapes the students chose. In my coloring i chose a variety of cool colors for each color. You were also suppose to use texture in your project somewhere, I have texture on my frog and in the purple background. 

An extension activity that you could use for this activity could be in a science classroom where you are actually feeling the different textures by having them placed in a bag and then the students guess what type of animal that texture would be.

plaid bunny

This week we also got to learn about complimentary color which include green and red, orange and blue, and purple and yellow. With these colors we were taught about plaid and how you create it by putting horizontal and vertical lines together using different colors. With our project we used the complementary colors to create plaid and then were given cut outs to trace out shapes and putting them together make a bunny... I create a red and green bunny which made me think of Christmas which is sort of funny since it is bunny shaped!!! Isn't he sooo Cute...

 An extension from this activity could be in math, you could count the lines created by the students or you could make problems up using the bunnies made as a visual lesson..

Contour blind drawing- Flowers

This week we created a flower painting where we used blinders to draw without looking. I thought that this was a different way to create art and was very interesting to do. My picture didn't show up as well as I would have liked it too but there is no say in how your art piece is going to turn out. This is a great project for younger students since they get to try something different by using the blinder and paint as well which is always fun.

An extension activity you could use off of this activity could be in geography where they create a map in a dark color but have a hidden city or place where the students could have clues to what the student's have hidden. The students could go around and try to guess what everyone has hidden on their maps.

Hidden Safari

The whole project...

Here is my "Hidden Safari" project. Take a guess on what animal is hidden within the picture... can you see him. This project was great way to get the students to use creativity with cool and warm colors. The students learn to draw in a way not really thought of when creating something. The artist turns the picture they are looking at upside down and starts with a line, you would be amazed at the drawings that form when doing this method. Then they are hide this animal as well as they can with warmer colors such as red, orange, and yellow but drawing different shapes throughout the piece.

"Close up of the Hidden Safari"

An extension from this activity could be for the students to look into their animal of choice even further by researching where they come from, the different characteristics of that animal, what they eat, how they find their food and other amazing facts to share with their classmates...

The note card for the hints to the hidden animal!

Story book Project

"The Lonely Penguin"

This is my story book project. Its a story about a lost penguin who is trying to find out where he fits in. It starts out with the lost penguin on his own and wondering who he is and where he is suppose to be in life. So he decides he is going to start looking, first he look to the sky and catches sight of two birds flying over the ocean just below the beautiful sun. He thinks himself, is that were i belong and tries to flap his wings and fly but can't so he continues along with his journey and sees a lot of different types of animals but in the end finds his home with the other penguins. the colored parts of the story are from mine and others paintings that were cut out into the characters and backgrounds of the project. This was a really fun and great way to interact literature and art together.

I think the best extension to this lesson would be actually having the students write a story about their picture, you could have them present the story if they want or just turn in a little part of the story so you can hang them up in the classroom for all the students to see what their peers have created and the differences and similarities of the stories.

Here I have a similar painting to Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night. We used a teaching grade level of Kindergarten so the piece is actually finger-painted. I chose to make a picture of the Bismarck Capital for my art piece because I grew up in Bismarck and its truly one of my favorite places to be, the place I call home.  The other piece is used for 3rd graders, we used tissue paper to create background and made a city silhouette and to bring out some color we used Sharpe markers and oil pastels for some extra pzazz.

An extension from this activity could be to have the students make their own version of "Starry Night" with the use of pastels, markers, crayons or even pictures they have taken or ones picked from a magazine or book. I think you should also bring in some books about Van Gogh for the students to look at for inspiration.

Tissue Paper Project

"The Lights of the Capital"

Britlyn Sturlaugson

Texture-Rug

Emphasis-Table

Organic Shape- Trees

Unity- Puzzle

Space- Stairway

T

Footprint

Hello Everyone, My name is Britlyn Sturlaugson and this is footprint tells you about myself and the things that make me who I am today. I'll first talk about the top part of the foot, there is a volleyball and javelin which help show some of the things that I have done in college and throughout my life, I was a North Dakota State Champion in the Javelin my Senior year and when I transferred to Northern I started to throw again, but before that I competed in Volleyball at Bismarck State College and at Northern State the last two years but before that I had always played volleyball, its my favorite sport. I have an ice cream cone showing that I love ice cream, I would eat it even if it were 20 below. It's just so YUMMY!!!There are music notes because even though my voice isn't the the best, I still enjoy listening to music and on occasion while around close friends or family sing to myself. My name is written as Miss Sturlaugson which is what i will go by as a teacher till I get married and the book behind it represents my passion for teaching and working with children as well as my passion for just reading. I love to just cozy up to a fire or bed and just read especially if the book is amazing, the most resent books I have loved are the Hunger Games books which are a collection of three.
The bottom foot starts off with a camera, I have been taking photo's since I was given my first throw away camera in elementary. I think having photo's in your house for people to see who is important in your life and the things that you have done is a perfect way for someone to get to know you. The sun represents my personality, I have always been the happy, easy going person, one that my friends and family can rely on when they need someone to talk to. I put the high heel in there because my sisters, mom and I have always gone on bargain shopping outings and that has been something that I have always liked to do. It gave us a chance to talk about the things going on in our lives and since we all fit into the same size, its a great way to know if the cloths look good or not. The mug is showing that I literally am addicted to coffee and I don't really know what I would do in the morning without it. My last thing on my footprint is the outline of North Dakota where my home is in good old Bismarck. I was born and raised there, with my Mom, Dad, older brother, and two sisters. My brother is married and he and his wife had the cutest little boy you can imagine this past June and he is my first nephew so he is definitely spoiled by his aunts. I love my family more than anything really. They are the ones that made me strong, happy, caring, and independent. I can't forget my dog Daisy who has been in my life since I was in eighth grade. She is the most amazing, best pet anyone could ask for. People would always joke that she was like a human and honestly she is, but i wouldn't have her any other way.
Well I hope you like my footprint and have enjoyed learning a little bit about myself and my life.

An activity I would possibly use in my classroom to get to know my students was actually inspired by this lesson of the footprint making. I thought that the students could make a footprint like we did but instead of drawing about themselves on it, I would have them lay their footprint in a circle around the room with their names on it. With some big dice I would role them out counting the number that comes out  and having the students move that number of footprints. Starting with me I would look at the name whose footprint I am standing on and ask that person something about them self,moving around the circle each child would get to share that question with the person who's footprint they are standing on. I thought this would be a fun activity for the students to do and it gets them up and moving.