This year in First Grade

There are some things that my school curriculum requires for all my grades. For example,learning the elements and principles of design, learning about different genres of art, how to use a variety of materials to make art, etc. In addition to the regular stuff I have to hit, with the first graders I also like to move content from self-family-community-world. As I look at these pictures I realize I might need to move some of those projects around to get the right flow...

This year in first grade we looked at Jasper Johns, and we learned how to identify primary colors and mix them to create secondary colors:

 We read "The Dot" and learned how to control the paint brush to make different sizes of marks. Then we reviewed different lines and drew on top of our dots to make more interesting pictures.

 We learned about the seasons and how trees change. We learned how to draw what we see with our eyes, and how to print from a texture. We also learned how to collage and make a landscape.

 We learned how to make different values in paint. We learned about horizon lines and how to make things look near or far by changing their size.

 We learned how to draw faces in proportion and how to show emotion through expressions.

 We learned about the difference between a portrait and a self-portrait and how to use identifying details to make a drawing look like someone specific. We also practiced our coloring skills- no scribble scrabble!!

 Next we took a trip around the world. We learned about Australian animals and Aboriginal dot painting.We learned how to draw animals using familiar shapes and drew from pictures.

 We learned about the Amazon rainforest and the animals that live there. We learned how to make a monoprint, and reviewed our coloring and collage skills.

 We learned about Ancient Egypt, pyramids, hieroglyphics, and scarab beetles. We learned how to sculpt forms and make actual texture. We learned about symbols.

 We came back home to our backyards to discover what creatures are around us.We learned how to color carefully in colored pencil and how to draw from observation.

And finally, although I was not able to get any pictures, we learned that art can tell a story. We made character puppets and landscape background theatres.
It's been a productive year for first grade. I need to work on some more classroom management techniques for these chatty kids, and maybe find some more books to inspire their lessons. I like to use stories in K and 1st more than artworks because they become more enthralled. Reading stories also breaks up the class period for their short little attention spans. Only one of these projects I kept unaltered from the year before- the family portrait. The name project, tree, snowy landscape, and Australian animals were revamped. I will absolutely keep "The Dot" project. It seems that projects involving paint are best done BIG, and those with drawing and coloring are best kept small for this age group. I should probably work on keeping the 1st grade projects shorter like the Kinder projects, as anything that takes longer than 2 weeks tends to lose their interest. I have 10 projects out of 12 we did shown above. Unless I've forgotten something....
Anyway, great job first graders!!!!