Once again I had fifth grade create alebrijes for Hispanic Heritage Month. The students love to build with clay and we do not get to do that often enough. I do not have a kiln so Crayola air dry for us. I have scaffolded basic clay building techniques since first grade, so by fifth they are very good at construction. We rarely have animals that have parts that fall off after drying! They do a great job of scoring, "slipping" (just water) and then using tools to smooth together any joints. They still need to be reminded their sculpture is fragile when it is dry! They love painting their alebrijes...they are usually so focused that it is silent in the room...imagine that!
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The Zapotec Indians of the southern Mexican State of Oaxaca are known for their folk art wood carvings. The carvings are of imaginary animals (alebrijes). The artists carry branches of a special kind of tree down from the mountains each day to use for their carving. The ideas for the alebrijes come from the imaginations and superstitions of the artists. The alebrijes are usually carved by men, and then painted with bright colors by women.
Fifth grade students made their alebrijes using air dry clay and tempera paint. You should have heard the excitement in the room when students found out they were going to use clay! Well, once again my students exceed my expectations. They have not had much exposure to clay, but they listened, watched and learned with great enthusiasm. Next they painted them with bright colors and patterns. Love them! Finally get to put our new display case to good use! Fourth grade students learned about Molas made by the Kuna of Panama. The Kuna are famous for the bright cloth panels and they are a part of the blouse worn by the women. Mola means shirt or clothing. Mola are made up of geometric designs as well as incorporating figures of sea animals, birds and flowers. Our Mola inspired art was made with brightly colored construction paper. The challange was drawing the central figure large enough for our large paper (12"x15"). Many of the sutdents incorporated symbols or images to create more of a story within their art.
First grade learned about the small city of Paracho, Mexico during Hispanic Heritage Month. Paracho is well known for the guitars produced in the city. Paracho artisans have been building guitars for several generations. We mixed the bright colors of Mexican art with making our own guitars. Students used white oil pastels for lines and then painted either warm or cool colors on their paper. They used texture scrapers to add more lines and interest to their paper. They traced their guitar on their paper, cut it out and then traded for the opposite color scheme with their classmates. They added a sound hole and strings, and then decorated with shapes and glitter. We had a lot of guitar playn' going on during class!
Second grade students observed the art of Diego Rivera and discussed how art tells a story. Students added symbols to their sombrero to tell a story about themselves. We looked at lots of sombreros too. Students were excited to make connections between the art and family/life in Mexico. Students used oil pastels and watercolor for a resist.
Third grade students learned about the folk art yarn paintings made by the Huichol in Mexico. The paintings are made by pressing yarn into warm beeswax. The paintings tell stories about the culture, history and religion of the Huichol. Students absolutely loved looking at the brightly colored yarn paintings and had great discussions about the symbols and what they might mean.
I have wanted to plan a yarn painting project for several years, but was afraid of the mess they would become if using glue! Somewhere along the way this summer, I saw the idea of using adhesive tiIes. I ran to the nearest home improvement store and purchased some linolium adhesive tiles on clearance! I cut them into 4" x 4" squares. I was worried the size would be too small for my 3rd graders, but decided much bigger would take them too long. Let's face it, I was just plain worried this was going to be too much of a challenge for my little ones that are really still like 2nd graders at the beginning of the year. I jumped in and tried it anyway. They created a simple plan the same size as their tile. They used markers and lines to look like the yarn. Once they had a plan, they went to town on recreating their plan on the tiles. They did an amazing job and most loved every minute of the project! A few were challenged by the process, but all were very proud to show off their creation in the end. The size ended up being perfect. I was just blown away by the talent and persistance of these little ones! 5th grade studied the Mexican folk art of carved alebrijes from Oaxaca. These imaginary animals are carved from the trees that grow in the mountains, and then painted with bright colors and patterns. The students had the challenge of drawing their animal (amphibian, or bird) to fill the page, and then create pattern with lines and shapes. Once their animal was filled with patterns, they painted color patterns using tempera cakes. They cut out their animals, chose a background which would compliment the animal and attach foam spacers to give their animal a bit of a 3-dimensional illusion. They did a fantastic job with their art!
![]() Fourth grade students learned about the Aztec Sun Stone and made paintings inspired by the stone. They had a discussion about why the sun may have been so important to the Aztecs and then thought about why the sun is important to us too. They learned about the principle of balance and radial symmetry. Their Aztec Sun was filled with opposites: curvy lines/straight lines, warm colors/cool colors. After drawing their artwork, students used paint for color and outlined with a black oil pastel. Their artwork looked fabulous lining our hall along with third grade sombreros and art club papel picado. Fun Facts! *weighs 24 tons *about 12 feet across *discovered in Mexico City in 1790 *displayed in Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology *carved in the 15th century Second grade learned about the migration of the monarch butterflies from North America to Mexico. They were fascinated that such a delicate butterfly could make that trip. We are also learned about the difference between geometric and organic shapes, symmetry and line of symmetry. Students each drew half their butterfly, made monoprints and learned how to blend oil pastels on the wings. We reviewed the difference between relief prints and monoprints. Lots of learning going on in art! The background was colored using texture plates and construction paper crayons while students patiently waited for their turn to print. They used their very best cutting skills to cut out their butterfly, put a line of glue down the body and decided where to best place it on the background. We celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month! Students looked at the art of Diego Rivera. They had great discussions on how art can tell a story and that we can look for clues in a painting to try to figure out the story. Students filled their sombrero art with symbols and lines to tell a story about themselves! They drew with oil pastels, and were excited to discover what happened when we painted over everything with watercolors! I hung the sombreros down our main hallway interspersed with papel picado made by our art club. It was very festive indeed!
Lesson aligned with the ELA Common Core unit "Stories Worth Telling Again and Again" |
Mrs. Kendell
I was a graphic designer for many years, and then decided to make the leap into art education. I taught elementary art for 8 years. Archives
May 2018
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