Classroom teachers read "From Seed to Pumpkin" by Wendy Pfeffer.
They discuss the life cycle of a pumpkin.
Art teacher conducts a discussion about the four key stages of a pumpkin; seed, sprout, flower, pumpkin.
Art Project
Students will trace a large pumpkin onto an 18" x 12" sheet of paper. They will divide the pumpkin into 4 separate sections. In each section, the students will draw one stage of the life cycle. You can do an "I draw, you draw" or just walk them through the shapes of each section, making sure that there is soil in each section. The students will then color their project, making it look real, using crayons, markers, and/or colored pencils. Then they can cut out their project.
If finished early, the students can share their life cycle using their new vocabulary; seed, sprout, flower, pumpkin, maybe describing it as if their partner could not see.
Materials: 18" x 12" white paper, pencils, erasers, pumpkin tracer, crayons, markers, colored pencils
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Tuesday
Classroom teachers read "Butterfly Alphabet" By Kjell Sandved (I could not find that book so they read "Waiting for Wings" By Lois Ehlert).
They discussed the life cycle of a butterfly and looked into the butterflies wings to see if they could find any letters hidden in the wings.
Art teacher conducts a discussion on the life cycle of a butterfly but mainly focuses on the idea of letters hiding in a butterflies wings. Art teacher shows more imagery of butterflies with hidden letters.
Art Project
The teacher will have the students draw a simple butterfly on 18" x 12" white paper; it could be an "I draw, you draw" or simply describing the steps) ensuring that the students are making their wings large. Next the students will fill their butterfly's wings with letters from the alphabet making sure they are touching and the letters aren't too small. I had the students "hide" one of their sight words in their wings as well. When the wings are full of letters, the students will trace their pencil lines with sharpie. Next, the students will paint their butterflies trying to change colors every time they touch a black line.
If finished early, students can share with a partner and have them try to find their hidden word or specific letters in their butterfly. They could also paint the background.
Materials: 18" x 12" white paper, pencils, erasers, sharpie, watercolor/tempera cake paint
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Wednesday
Classroom teachers read "How People Learned to Fly" by Fran Hodgkins.
They discuss planes and how they have looked different throughout history.
Art teacher discusses plans with the students and explains that they will be creating their own plane. They are the engineer so they get to decide how it flies, how many wings it needs, does it need wheels, how many windows and doors should it have, etc...
Art Project
The students are given a small piece of computer paper to first sketch/plan what their plane will look like; just like engineers. Give the students only a few minutes to complete this and inform them that it is okay if their sketch doesn't look exactly like their plane or if their idea changes when they are creating. The students are given a paper towel roll as the body for their plane. The students are given an array of different materials to build their plane. The art teacher will describe each of the materials and a give a brief example of what they students could use them for. The students are dismissed to collect their materials and create.
If finished early, students can make and decorate a paper airplane that they will be able to throw at the end of class.
Materials: Paper towel roll, glue, scissors, colored paper, fabric, buttons, craft sticks, etc... (any materials can be used to create their plane)
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Thursday
This day is a finish and share day.
The art teacher does a quick review of the projects completed this week and allows the students to finish any unfinished projects. If there are any early finishers, the students can have a "free day" using the materials you provide. The students will clean up 15 minutes early; 5 minutes for clean up and 10 minutes for sharing. Have the students choose their favorite art project and share it with the class; either describing what it is or why it is their favorite.
When the class is over, the students will take their projects home.
Week 2
Monday
Classroom teachers read "Color Zoo" by Lois Ehlert.
They discuss shapes in depth and talk about how the shapes were put together to make an animal.
Art teacher has shapes on the board and asks the students to identify them and ask why they know it's that shape (ex: That is a triangle because it has 3 sides and 3 corners). Discuss how we can put shapes together to create new things such as animals.
Art Project
Inform students that they will be making an animal using only shapes. I found that having a minimum number helps; mine was 10. I chose to have the students create real animals but imaginary creatures could be a fun alternative. Have some pre-cut shapes for the students to use but make them rather large so if they want smaller or even larger shapes they have to cut them. The students will lay out their projects on 18" x 12" yellow paper without gluing; when their project is "complete" they are then allowed to glue it to their paper starting with the larger shapes. The details in the face can either be cut paper or drew on using pencil or sharpie.
If finished early, have the students create a background for their animal.
Materials: Various colors of construction paper, pencil, eraser, glue, scissors, sharpie
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| Student Example "A Cheetah with a Crocodile" |
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| Student Example "Bear" |
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| Student Example "Fox" |
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| Student Example "Elephant Drinking Water" |
Tuesday
Classroom teachers will review shapes and introduce the idea of direction; above, below, next to.
Art teacher will review shapes and add on to the idea of direction in art. Teacher will show an example on the board of a building with different shape windows above, below, and next to one another.
Art Project
The students will be creating a city using shapes. The buildings will be cut out of constuciton paper making sure that none of the buildings are super skinny and/or short (if you can't draw a window on it, it's too small). As the students are cutting out their buildings they will be drawing windows on them, the art teacher will prompt a few windows to be drawn on each building. The teacher will say something like "Add a heart window, put a square window next to it". After the students have enough buildings to fill their page, they will glue the buildings with the drawn windows on a 9" x 12" sheet of black paper. The students will then neatly color their windows with oil pastels.
If finished early, the students can add a moon and stars in the sky. They can also trace around their windows with a different color.
Materials: 9" x 12" black paper, various colored construction paper, pencil, eraser, oil pastels, glue, scissors
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Wednesday
Classroom teachers will read the book "Cube, Cones, Cylinders, and Spheres" by Tana Hoban
They will review 3-D shapes with the students.
Art teacher will ask the students what 3-D shapes are and draw them on the board. Using blocks or real life examples have the students tell you what each 3-D shape is and why they think its that shape.
Art Project
The students will be making sculptures using different 3-D shapes and drawing them. A various number of different style blocks works best but one style will work as well. Show the students the blocks and inform them that when drawing they may have to make their sculpture look smaller or larger depending on the size of the blocks. They will be using only sharpie so they can work with their mistakes , flip it to the back, or get a new piece of paper. If you have various styles set up different sections for the students to travel to. At each station, give the students 3 to 5 minutes to create their sculpture and 3 to 5 minutes to draw it using only sharpie. If there is only one style of block have the students create a new sculptures and maybe with a partner.
If finished early, the students can create another sculpture if they are still at a station. If all stations are completed earlier than planned the students can color their sculptures.
Materials: 9" x 12" drawing or 8 1/2" x 11" computer paper, sharpie, some type of sculpture block (pattern blocks, real life examples of 3-D shapes, random wooden blocks)
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Thursday
This day is a finish and share day.
The art teacher does a quick review of the projects completed this week and allows the students to finish any unfinished projects. If there are any early finishers, the students can have a "free day" using the materials you provide. The students will clean up 15 minutes early; 5 minutes for clean up and 10 minutes for sharing. Have the students choose their favorite art project and share it with the class; either describing what it is or why it is their favorite.
When the class is over, the students will take their projects home.
Week 3
Monday
Classroom teachers read and discuss "What Would You Do With A Tail Like This?" by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Art Teacher conducts a discussion about the book and more specifically tails. Have the students close their eyes and think of the craziest looking animal they can imagine now imagine that creatures tail. Then ask questions like"What does it look like? What color is it? Does it have a pattern? etc..."
Art Project
The students will be creating a tail for the made up creature they imagined. The students will fold their 18" x 12" paper hot dog style. They will draw a small dot at the top and on the fold they will connect their dots with a "crazy" line; making sure it doesn't get too close to the fold. They will then cut only on their pencil line (no extra cuts) making sure the paper stays folded. Then they will unfold their "tail" and decorate it using crayons, makers, colored pencils, tissue paper, fabric, craft sticks, etc...
If finished early, students can draw a picture of their creature with the tail they created, practicing drawing from observation.
Materials: 18" x 12" white paper, crayons, markers, colored pencils, fabric, tissue paper, pencils, erasers, craft sticks, other easily glued items
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| Folded paper with a dots |
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| A line connecting the dots |
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| Cut and unfolded paper |
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Tuesday
Classroom teachers read the book "Earthworms" by Claire Llewellyn and Barrie Watts
(This is a great book to learn about earthworms but for the art project I think "In the Tall Tall Grass" by Denise Fleming would be a better choice)
Art teacher will conduct a discussion on what things would look like if you were a bug (or earthworm) focusing on how big everything would look. A quick clip of the movies A Bug's Life or Antz might assist them in this type of thinking.
Art Project
The students will be shown perspective images from a bug's point of view. The art teacher will show how big the grass might be and maybe an example of how large a bug might look. The students will then draw a picture using pencil from a bugs point of view ensuing that everything is large. They will trace their pencil lines with sharpie then use watercolor or tempera cakes to paint making sure to make the image look real (no purple grass...).
If finished early, the students can draw a picture of what it would look like under the soil being as creative as they want (maybe there's fast food places for worms under there...).
Materials: 9" x 12" drawing paper, pencil, eraser, sharpie, watercolor/tempera cake paint, paint brushes
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| Student Example Foot about to step on a bug |
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| Student example Apple with webs and spider |
Wednesday
Classroom teachers will read "Tar Beach" by Faith Ringgold
Art teacher will discuss Faith Ringgold as an artist and explain the art of quilting. Talk about if you could fly where would you go.
Art Project
Students will receive a black 12" x 12" square with a square drawn in the middle. The students will draw a picture of themselves flying over somewhere; grandma's house, park, ocean, city, etc... When drawing themselves they will focus on making themselves look full (no stick people). Art teacher will do a quick demo showing how to make a non-stick figure by tracing around a stick figure. They will make sure to put themselves at the top of the paper horizontally so it looks like they are flying. Te students will draw what they are flying over making sure there is plenty of detail. Then they will color using oil pastels or construction paper crayons. They will then glue pre-cut fabric squares around the border of their paper.
If finished early, the students can use fabric to create another scene like Faith Ringgold.
Materials: 12" x 12" Black paper, pencil, eraser, glue, fabric, oil pastels and/or construction paper crayons
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Thursday
This day is a finish and share day.
The art teacher does a quick review of the projects completed this week and allows the students to finish any unfinished projects. If there are any early finishers, the students can have a "free day" using the materials you provide. The students will clean up 15 minutes early; 5 minutes for clean up and 10 minutes for sharing. Have the students choose their favorite art project and share it with the class; either describing what it is or why it is their favorite.
When the class is over, the students will take their projects home.
Week 4
Monday
Classroom teachers will review the class sight words.
Art teacher will also review the sight words and write them on the board. Art teacher will have the students read the words aloud.
Art Project
The students will make art using their sight words. They will use markers to write their sight words making sure some are large, medium, and small. Teacher will demonstrate how to put small words inside of large letters as well as how to turn your paper then write the word so it appears upside down or sideways. Once the students have all their sight words and their paper looks full they can lightly color the background using crayons.
If finished early, students can write a sentence using their sight words and illustrate it.
Materials: 9" x 12" drawing paper, markers, crayons
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Tuesday
Classroom teachers will review pattern and capital letters.
Art teachers will quickly review pattern, shape, line and capital letters.
Art Project
The students will be given a 6" x 18" sheet of paper where they will write their name in large capital letters, each letter touching the top and bottom of the paper. They will then trace their name with sharpie, preferably thick sharpie. They will then add a pattern in each section that their name has created using only one color crayon for each section. After they have created a pattern in each section, the students will paint each section using watercolor, making sure that each section has a different color or the same colors aren't next to one another.
If finished early, students can try the same technique with another name.
Materials: 6" x 18" drawing paper, pencils, erasers, sharpie, crayons, watercolors, paint burshes
If finished early, students can try the same technique with another name.
Materials: 6" x 18" drawing paper, pencils, erasers, sharpie, crayons, watercolors, paint burshes
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Wednesday
Classroom teachers will discuss categories.
Art teacher will conduct a "game" where students receive a card with either and animal, color, or food on it and they must put it in the right category.
Art Project
The students will write down their favorite color, food, and animal on the back of their paper. They will then draw a picture combining those things such as a green pizza zebra, a green zebra eating pizza, or a zebra eating green pizza. The students will draw using pencil making sure they are putting their animal in a place. When finished drawing they will color using crayons, markers, and/or colored pencils.
*You could add another category to this project such as a place (beach, city, house...) or clothing (bathing suit, jeans, tank top...).
If finished early, students can make another drawing picking different things.
Materials: 9" x 12" drawing paper, pencil, eraser, crayons, markers, colored pencils
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| Teacher Example Red, Poodle, Cake |
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| Student Example Purple, Cat, Apple |
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| Student Example Green, Cat, Pizza |
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| Student Example Teal, Deer, Popsicle |
Thursday
This day is a finish and share day or just a fun day since its the last day of summer school.
The art teacher does a quick review of the projects completed this week and allows the students to finish any unfinished projects. If there are any early finishers, the students can have a "free day" using the materials you provide. The students will clean up 15 minutes early; 5 minutes for clean up and 10 minutes for sharing. Have the students choose their favorite art project and share it with the class; either describing what it is or why it is their favorite.
When the class is over, the students will take their projects home.
