Artful Squid

A Flexible Way to Assign Art Jobs

Video Tour: Vinyl Tape in the Art Room When I started teaching art at an elementary school, I tried out two ways of assigning clean-up jobs that totally failed. I lovingly crafted a job chart with velcro labels that would rotate each table through a job they would do at the end of class. I quickly…

Frank Stella Inspired Drawings

Fourth grade students created drawings using geometric or organic shapes after viewing artwork by Frank Stella. Art Lesson Videos: Frank Stella Drawings, Part 1 & Frank Stella Drawings, Part 2 Supplies: 9″ x 12″ white drawing paper Pencils, erasers Drawing tools (rulers, protractors, compasses, etc.) Colored pencils Markers PowerPoint: Stella Drawings I was inspired by a post I…

Connect with Students by having an Artist of the Day

When we switched to a schedule where I would be seeing every student in our school every 6 days, my first concern was figuring out a way to connect with each of our 860 students. It was dizzying prospect; I was unsure of my ability to remember each of my student’s names, much less get to know…

Organize your Art Schedule with Color!

Classroom Video Tour: Organize with Color! Seating Chart Template: Seating Charts I was lucky to find out what my schedule for this year would be about a month before summer started. That gave me time to wrap my head around changing from a quarterly system where I saw third and fourth graders every day for nine…

Create a Coloring Page

Third and fourth grade art students drew their own coloring book pages, then colored a photo copy of a classmate’s artwork. Supplies: Copy paper Pencils Sharpies Crayons Copier (Make one copy of each drawing) Downloadable PowerPoint: Create a Coloring Page This project is a winner for artists of all ages – I have done it…

Bold Wax Resists

Wax resists are a great way to end the quarter! Each student created an abstract or realistic drawing, colored a thick waxy layer with crayon, crumpled it and painted it with india ink. Art Lesson Videos: Wax Resist, Part 1 & Wax Resist, Part 2 Supply Set-up Video: Ink Set-up PowerPoint: Bold Wax Resists Supplies: 9″ x…

Kandinsky Circles

A collaborative art project for 2nd graders – students painted circles inspired by Kandinsky’s artwork. Supplies: Colorful poster board, 12″ x 12″ Tempera paint Paintbrushes For Hanging: Staple gun Staple Remover (This kind of staple remover has saved me so much time and frustration!) PowerPoint: Kandinsky Circle My goal last year was to display one collaborative piece of…

Relaxing with Rothko Watercolors

Fourth grade art students used color schemes to create watercolor washes inspired by Rothko’s artwork. Supplies: Poster board scraps, various sizes Color Wheel worksheet Colored pencils, one set of 12 for each table Wide watercolor brushes (for washes) Watercolors 9″x 12″ watercolor paper PowerPoint: Rothko Watercolors I needed a quick three day project for my fourth…

Combat Boredom with Sketchbook Projects

Use sketchbooks as a way to extend students’ learning after they finish working on their art project for the day. Supplies (for each book): 12″ x 18″ construction paper 4 sheets 12″ x 18″ drawing paper Staples! The best change I made to my classroom last year was introducing sketchbooks! The first quarter I used…

Castle Creativity

Third grade students planned their castle’s mood and landforms, chose their focal point, then colored their drawing with oil pastels. Supplies: Construction paper Pencils, erasers Sharpie Oil pastels Downloadable PowerPoint: Castle Creativity I am always searching for projects that will encourage my students to stretch their creative and problem-solving muscles. I found an idea for a…