Transformer Robots

This charmer was made from an old iron waffle maker.

My 8th grade class last semester was made up almost entirely of boys. I decided to do alot of sculpture projects with them to keep them motivated and engaged. One of their favorites was this Transformers Robot project.  I went to the local good will and bought a bunch of old appliances. I set them out and let the students go through them and choose the item that caught their attention. The students worked in pairs of two and came up with some very charming robots. We used duct tape and gorilla glue to hold them together, some pieces might have used hot glue but it usually does not stick to plastic or metal. They were also using bottle caps, tin cans and other recycled objects including paint to finish off their pieces. Here are a few examples.

The students loved taking the appliances apart and figuring out how to put them together in new ways.

We even used an old plastic roller wheel suitcase and cd players

Modeling clay

I love using modeling clay. When I was little we used to make our own clay at home with flour and water and oil and would play with it for hours. Many young students have little experience with art, let alone clay. I try not to worry too much about "product" with my young artists and let them simply enjoy the art process. Modeling clay (or any other kind of clay) is perfect for this experience.

I also like to use clay as a substitute teacher activity for my elementary classes (or for very well behaved middle schoolers).  I choose a book to be read aloud and pull a theme that can be used to model - perhaps a book about baking and they can make pretend cakes, or a book about spring and they can make bugs or flowers, etc.

Another great use for modeling clay is to allow young Kinders to work with letters in a tactile manner. I will have them roll out the clay and have them spell out their names. They  LOVE this activity!

When the time is over the clay gets rolled into a ball and placed back into my bucket.

Papier Mache

Our Sixth Graders became sculptors with the infamous Papeir Mache Balloon technique.

Step 1.
I have the students design their sculpture first by drawing an oval shape. Then they design a whimsical animal. They can be creative and go with another subject matter if they desire. However, the design must be well developed and colored in as part of the fun is seeing how close to the image the finished sculpture looks.
Step 2. We blow up 9 " balloons, not too full, and then cover them with torn newspaper covered in papier mache mixture. I like the store bought brand that must be mixed with COLD water. The students giggle because of the slimy consistency. They must apply numerous layers - at least 4 to 5, if they get confused you can alternate layers of newspaper and white paper to help keep track. (I also use a white paint palette with a piece of tape to write their name on to store the balloon on.)
Step 3. Teach the students how to add on features such as ears, legs etc with cut out boxes, egg cartons, and tape. Make sure all appendages are really secure.
Step 4. After all the features are secured add an additional of papier mache over the sculpture. this last layer should be white paper.
Step 5. Paint with tempera paint. Make sure the entire piece is covered. Another important aspect is that the artwork stands. This is part of my rubric.

Getting paint for the final step

This piece was supposed to stand on wire legs, but we had  difficulty making it balance with the oversized head.

This is an 8th grade paper mache project

Weekly sketchbook assignment.

Our middle school spent the beginning of the semester making sketchbooks for our warm-ups. I struggled with resistance from students with written daily warm-ups last semester. So this semester I decided to experiment with weekly sketchbook assignments.  I researched assignments on the internet and found an elaborate site with almost 70 assignments including examples and a powerpoint.

The following are my weekly assignments. They are examples from my 8th graders. The requirements include the student writes the title, date fills the page, adds color or shading when appropriate. They are graded weekly 10 points each. They have been very successful and some of the work has been really beautiful. others have been valuable lessons in shading, lines as so on.

Our first assignment was called "Expressive Lines"

Adrian's looks like a stained glass window

Lots of bright colors and flower designs

Everyone has their own style

More Expressive lines

Week 2 we did "Directional Lines", I love Lein's design.

The last of the Directional lines

Week 3, 2 and 3-d Arrows

Week 4: Echoing Lines

Mary did pages but liked them without color.

Week 5: Typography Tester

Week 6: Pencil Shading. We draw large shapes and shaded them in to show light and darks.

Week 7: Blind Contour with Color. We had practiced blind contours in class so we knew the concept.

 

Week 8: Bottle Landscapes

Week 9: Full  of Contours Page. We went into the cafeteria for our models.