I was considering a project I had done my first year with fourth grade, but they struggled with the floating rectangular prisms and rope winding through them. This was their first year of art and I was still figuring out what concepts they could grasp. Our district had dropped elementary art years ago and were bringing it back a grade at a time. I knew I was in trouble, the day I used the word "overlap" in my modeling and it struck me to ask if they knew what that word meant. No one could tell me. I feared the project was doomed and I figured I would chalk it up to a learning experience for me. We got through it, they added spaceships and aliens, and in the end they were quite proud of their accomplishments. I thought this might work much better with my fifth graders who have now had art since third grade, but it lacked the creativity I was looking for. I was searching the internet for some new inspiration for a project and saw this same project with a twist. I decided to go for it...
Students brainstormed a theme of anything they would like and were able to use the fifth grade laptop cart to search for images. They sketched images to use in their art. You could have heard a pin drop and this was in the weeks leading up to spring break! They were 120% engaged. I taught them the linear perspective portion of the project and they went to work adding their images. They have been enthusiastic, engaged and eager to get to work! Here are some samples from my first class that finished. My other classes are still hard at work and there are some amazing pieces of art coming down the pike! I can't wait to share all of them!