3rd Grade Alien Unit

I've started a short unit plan with my 3rd grade...and I'm very excited about it!! This week students are creating a "character" in collage.  I told them to come up with an original alien/monster.  As they were working on their collage...I asked them to imagine what the personality of the character would be like, where would they live, and what are things that they would do.  The next time they come ...we will review narrative art work.  They will then take their character idea and draw a picture that tells part of it's story.  The students were totally "into it"!!!  The personalities are already there, and I can already imagine some of their stories.  I can't wait to share with you the next part of the lesson over the next couple weeks!!

Aliens Love Underpants: Kindergarten

I promised my kindergarten a painting day.....and they were SO EXCITED!  

We started the lesson by reading Aliens Love Underpants.  If you don't know this series of books...there is Pirates Love Underpants, and Dinos Love Underpants as well!!! They are a kindergarten favorite.  I mean...who won't chuckle when hearing the word UNDERPANTS said again and again!! ha ha  Plus, when you are creating aliens...students can really let their imagination run wild!

Monster Collage: 1st Grade

I love monsters...aliens...creatures!!!!  Every time the bookmobile came to our village...I'd be the first one on asking for every book they had on the topic!  Sweet memories of staying up late with my dad and watching Star Trek & other crazy shows/movies about such things. As an art teacher...I ADORE ART WORK ABOUT THEM!!!!  Aren't these great!!!  SO UNIQUE!  None of them look like my teacher example...which truly blesses my heart.  Nothing worse than seeing 100 pieces of art that look like little clones of your own.  

Not My Bulletin Boards..BUT COOL IDEAS!!!

These are a couple things happening in my hallway at school that I thought were fun & wanted to share.

Mrs. Manning is very proud of her board!!!  She actually had a parent get his picture by it today....and it wasn't her parent!?!!? ha ha    She doesn't always think of her self as a creative person, but I love this idea!!

She bought plastic Easter eggs (I'm sure on sale after Easter)...glittered them...and then hot glued them onto a CD.  The little alien she purchased through Oriental Traders, but I'm sure you could find something elsewhere(or have the kids make one out of Model Magic!)

She wrote the name on the CD...one for each of her students.  The girl aliens had bows!! ha ha  I think I might have used stickers for the kids names for an extra POW of color, but Sharpie works!!

Ms. C is a Pinterest QUEEN!  I'm not sure if she got this from Pinterest, but I wouldn't doubt it.  They are small paper plates that you can get just about anywhere.  Wal-Mart has them for a good price I know..and a large variety of colors.  She has a "WELCOME" sign above her door...and her Word Wall  with them inside her room!  It really adds a great pop of color!!

Day 2 on TP Monsters: 1st Grade

 I gave my students a second day to work on their monster/creatures, but I was a bit concerned.  A second day with Kindergarten & 1st Grade students can sometimes mean over working the surface...aka MAKIN' A MESS OF THINGS!?!?!  I was pleasantly surprised by my 1st graders.  Maybe the leap to 2nd grade has already happened?!?!  Most of them did a wonderful job of adding to their pieces without over adding!  

Paper Sculpture Creatures: 1st Grade

These are my teacher examples.  

I don't know if I've ever posted pictures of my teacher examples because I mainly want to show off my student work!  

I was just having too much fun with this project though & thought I'd share!! 

You will see the blue guy again down below...one of my students must have really liked my example. ha ha

They start with a TP roll, a pipe cleaner, and full access to the scrap box.  Half way through the class I start having students bring their little monster/creatures up to glue googlie eye balls on.  They pick what they want & where they want them...and I hot glue them on(googlie eyes & Elmer's glue are not friends!!).  We talked about how they could be inspired by emotions, animals, monsters, or aliens.  Next week we'll be finishing them up, and creating a landscape collage for them to live in!

Patterns - 1st Grade

I usually have my first graders do a self portrait with patterns after looking at Matisse's Purple Robe.  With our alien/space theme going on..I thought I'd change it up a bit.  I LOVE THEM!!!  I feel like the kids did a great job with the patterns/color.  They are extremely fun & lively!!!

More Alien Eyes - 4th Grade