January 31, 2012

Rizzi City Beginnings: 4th Grade





I had never even heard of James Rizzi till I saw Phyl's lesson on There's a Dragon in My Art Room! I loved what I was seeing from her students...so I had to learn more about this Rizzi person. Here is a link to his website.  I'm sad to say he passed away recently, but has left beautiful work behind!!

I decided that this type of lesson would be a perfect "break" from one & two point perspective with 4th.  THEY ARE LOVING IT!!!!!!!  I'm going to put them together like a city once all my classes finish them up. I'll post it once its all together. 

Sea Themed Collographs: 3rd Grade





This may sound crazy, but I had never done Collograph Printing before!?!?!  I never had print making in college, and just kind of picked up things as I've been teaching.  Incised Plate Printing & Mono-Printing I have grown to love!!!!  So this is my first go at doing collographs with my students.  I feel like I've learned a lot through the experience...and next time they'll turn out better!  Not that it is the students fault at all....just Mr. E has got to get his feet under him when instructing how to create collographs!  Feel free to share your tips and such in the comment section!  Would love to hear what works for you!!

January 30, 2012

More Dino Eggs Hatching: 1st Grade




I am loving these little guys!!!  The one at the top looks like something that hatched from Aliens...LOVE IT! 

January 28, 2012

Line/Texture Focused Paper Sculpture: Kindergarten



Kindergarten has been working on a line & texture unit the past few weeks.  Our curriculum has them creating a paper sculpture, and I thought this fit in perfectly!!  They really loved creating these.  I precut the strips so they could focus on creating the zig-zag, wavey, and straight lines.  

January 27, 2012

A Heart for Art!


For some crazy reason...I decided I was going to make a crayon heart for every student at our school for Valentine's Day.  I don't do holidays in my classroom at all.....so....it kind of makes this all the crazier?!?!!?  I raided all my crayon boxes...other teachers gave me their broken crayons when they heard I going to do this....and I have some back up crayons that I don't normally use because they are not the brand I feel holds up the best in the art room.  So....I think I have enough crayons to do this.  Using hot water and soap...and allowing them to soak allowed the paper to fall right off(although sometimes Crayola paper is kind of booger to get off!!!!).  I have a toaster oven in my classroom & my heart mold.  So I'm good to go, right??!   Well, with close to 600 students at our school...and a mold that only makes six hearts at a time... my class room smells like a crayon factory 24/7 right now!! ha ha    Am I crazy?!?!?!  Wait...don't answer that!


January 26, 2012

Paper Mache Masks: 2nd Grade




I discussed themes & inspirations with the students before they began painting their paper mache masks(students created the paper mache the previous week).  I allowed them to select 4 colors (and told them they could create colors from the 4 the selected if they wanted to).  There is something fun/whimsical about the masks. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week's work.  

January 25, 2012

Hatching Dino Egg Pinch Pots: 1st Grade



There are so many pinch pots you can make before you're like..."HOW CAN I JAZZ UP THIS LESSON!?!?!?!"  I've made frogs & fish out of them in the past....but this year I've decided to do a dinosaur unit with my 1st grade.  So our pinch pots became dino eggs!!  The kids loved this idea....though the dinos were a bit tricky for some.  I can't wait to see what hatches the rest of the week!

January 24, 2012

Bottle Cap Mural 4 Months Later


One of my blog readers asked me how the bottle cap mural was "holding up"
out in the elements.  GREAT QUESTION!!!  

This was not constructed to be a "forever" piece in the beginning.  4 months into its exposure to the elements...I've had one repair session where I reattached about 30 caps that had come off(possibly picked off by neighborhood kids). A few of the caps came off because of my own stupidity.  There were stickers on some of the milk caps...and that is were the separation occurred.  I should have removed the stickers before letting the students attach them to the board.    There is fading happening to some of the lids. You may be able to see in this picture that the oranges are looking a little peachy.  For the most part though..the colors are staying true.  

One way that this could have been(possibly still can be) a forever piece is if I would have used resin on the board.  I may investigate this in the spring when the weather is warmer & I can use the resin outside! I'll let you know how it goes!! 

January 21, 2012

For All My Bloggin' Pinterest Pals


If you are a blogger & a Pinterest addict (ummm..I mean enjoyer of Pinterest)...here is some info you might find interesting.  Though...you may have already known?!?!?!  I found it by accident! I honestly have no clue how I did it...but I found out how you can see who is pinning your blog pictures!  Honestly...since Pinterest came along...it has increased my blog traffic and followers a ton!!!!!!!!!!  It is neat to see what people are pinning.  Ok...so how do you do it?!?!?!

Type in ....
http://pinterest.com/source/ (AND THEN TYPE IN YOUR BLOG ADDRESS AFTER THE SLASH)

Here is mine as an example....


I hope you find this info helpful/fun/interesting!!!
Keep blogging my awesome peeps!!!

Thank You for Voting!


Thanks for everyone who voted for Art With Mr. E!
A.W.M.E. came in at #5...and that's not bad with the amazing art bloggers that are out there!!
Check out the link below to see the other blogs making the top 10!
http://theartofed.com/2012/01/21/announcing-2011-art-ed-blog-of-the-year/

January 18, 2012

More Dino Paintings: 1st Grade




This group of 1st graders did a really good job with the colors(not so much painting...but that will come with time).  Maybe Thursday & Friday will be even better?!!?!  Stay tuned!!!

Dino Paintings: 1st Grade



I was originally going to do this in tempera paint, but when we started the project...I had yet to receive my order.  There was actually a great variety of dinosaurs, but this group struggled when it came to painting.  The three here were the best in regards to painting & the warm/cool color usage.   

January 16, 2012

Cat in the Hat: ROYGBIV


If you have been following my blog for awhile...you know that I'm a proud papa of two beautiful children.  My daughter is almost three now...and we've started allowing her to watch PBS cartoons.  While my wife is rocking our son(almost 7 months)..Margaret and I watch a video online from PBS Kids.  Tonight we watched a video that I think could be fun to share with Kindergarten.  It goes through the colors of the rainbow.  The video is about 11 min. long...so it will not take much of your class time. 



January 15, 2012

Vote for Art With Mr. E!



Art With Mr. E has been nominated for the Art Ed Blog of the Year, by
The Art of Education website.
So many of the blogs I have on my list to the right were also nominated.
What great company we keep, eh!!!
Its another great way to get the great stuff going on at
Tulip Grove out there for the world to see!!
So if you have enjoyed Art With Mr. E...please take a moment to click on the link below.
 Then click VOTE NOW.  It will take you to a poll site...and just click on Art With Mr. E
 and hit done!  Easy as that. 
THANK YOU!

Books Coming to Life! AMAZING


Stop animation I'm guessing....truly amazing!!!!!!

January 12, 2012

SUPPLIES!!!!!!!!!!

You may have seen my previous post about my supply situation.  I'm happy 
to report my order arrived today!  Unfortunately...it came at the very end of the day
& now we have a snow day tomorrow?!?!  So Tuesday morning I'm going to be walking into 
new lessons...and a how bunch of new supplies to put away.  Oh well..I'm just
thankful to have them!!!!!!

January 11, 2012

Tempera Paint Issues

I really should have done this post before I ordered my supplies?!?!

What tempera paint do you use???  I have 7 different brands/types of tempera(well..out of the supplies I have left..almost out of everything).  Several of them are extremely runny(no matter how hard I shake them!).
So....tell me...what have you found to be the best tempera paint out there??

January 10, 2012

ANOTHER GUY ELEMENTARY ART BLOGGER!

(This is a picture from his blog!)

Mr. Lawniczak recently asked me to check out his blog.  There are few men elementary art teachers out there blogging!  Being that it is a female dominated profession...it isn't surprising. So I had to give him some blog time on Art With Mr. E....need to encourage the guys out there to blog & share their awesome lessons.
Mr. Lawniczak...keep up the awesome work, and we look forward to getting to know you & your lessons!
(Mathew..if you haven't realized..the art ed. blogging community is like a little family!)

HERE IS HIS INFO & LINK!!! 
PLEASE CHECK IT OUT & TELL HIM MR. E SENT YA!!!


Waupaca, Wisconsin, United States
I graduated from college with a degree in Art Education in 2010. My hopes are to document my success and challenges along the way teaching in Wisconsin.



The Dinosaur Unit Begins: 1st Grade


(thought these were funny..had to share)

Looking at the 9 weeks pacing guide for our district, I decided that a dinosaur unit might be a fun way to go about doing the lessons.  I have this wonderfully old(from my first year of teaching..15 years ago) video that the kids LOVE! Now it does have some dino eating dino parts in it...which could be a little scary for young children.  However, when that part comes up...I tell the kids it is like the dinosaur is going through the drive thru at McDonald's! That is usually enough to make the kids laugh & get through that part of the video.


The lessons in the 9 weeks pacing guide are Clay Pinch Pots, Drawing, Painting, & Printmaking.

Last week(which was a strange 3 day week) I had my 1st grade classes create dinosaurs in collage.  It is going to be part of a mural that I'm collaborating with the 1st grade teacher I had growing up in Ohio.  Her kids are making dinosaurs too in collage & we're going to put them together in a mural.  It will go on display here...then I'll send it to her to display there!  Very excited to give this collaboration a try!!!

Alright..now for the lessons that will go with our pacing guide.
Clay Pinch Pots -  Dinosaur eggs with baby dino's inside!
Drawing - Dino in habitat.
Painting - Large dino in center with patterns surrounding it.
Printmaking - Incised Plate with baby dino hatching from egg.

I think it is going to be a FUN 9 weeks of dino goodness!!!!