Blue Dog

Third Grade students studied artist George Rodrigue, who lived in New Orleans, Louisiana. Rodrigue is famous for his paintings of “Blue Dog.” Students discovered that Rodrigue’s “Blue Dog” isn’t always blue. Sometimes Rodrigue paints his dog different colors with different backgrounds to symbolize the emotions and events in the United States.

Students drew and painted their own version of Blue Dog, complete with a story explaining the setting of their painting. 

 

 

Romare Bearden Inspired Artwork

Third Grade students looked at artwork by Romare Bearden. They discovered that he created collages from cut up photos, paintings and other papers. He included people and places that were important to him. They found that he loved music and grew up during the Harlem Renaissance, so instruments are often featured in his artwork. Third graders picked an instrument of their choice, and drew just a portion of it, emphasizing a part of the instrument that they found interesting. They colored their instrument with oil pastels and created a piano border with marker. 

 

 

Rotational Printmaking

Third Grade students created rotational prints by carving a design into a piece of styrofoam. This is the printing block. Then they used a brayer (roller) to roll ink onto the printing block. Then they printed their block four times, rotating it around the center of the paper.

 

Coiled Clay Pots

Third Graders demonstrated their ability to roll a slab and attach clay using the score and slip method. Once the pots were fired, students glazed them and they were fired again.

 

Tints and Shades Ice Cream

Students learned to create tints by adding white to any color. Then students learned to create shades by adding black to any color. They used this knowledge to create ice cream cones featuring tints and shades.

O'Keefe Inspired Insect

Third Grade students looked at artwork by Georgia O'Keefe and read various books about her life. In one book, "My Name is Georgia" by Jeanette Winter, students discovered that Georgia O'Keefe created large artworks of small things like flowers, partly because she wanted people to see things the way she saw them. Students then drew and colored another small thing; insects. Students looked carefully at a picture of an insect of their choice and tried to capture as many details as they could. They colored their butterflies with chalk pastel. 

 

 

Circle Weavings

Third Grade students learned to weave on a cardboard loom. They discussed the many purposes for making art and that most weavings are made to be used in some way, whether as clothing or a blanket. Students learned that the loom is what we weave on, the warp strings are what we weave through, and the weft strings are what we weave with. Students used pattern and repetition in their weavings, as most weavings utilize these two elements of design.

Giraffes Can't Dance

Third Grade students looked at the artwork of Edgar Degas, an artist who loved to draw and paint dancers. He was very interested in drawing people in motion and spent a lot of time doing gesture drawings, or drawings of people moving. Students then read "Giraffes Can't Dance" by Giles Andreae. Students drew a giraffe dancing and colored it with markers. Then they painted a background for their giraffe, much like the illustrations in the book. They focused on the different values in a moonlit sky and painted the sky lighter near the moon, and darker away from the moon.

 

Trapeze Acrobats Inspired by Alexander Calder

Third Grade students learned about Alexander Calder, an artist who created kinetic (movable) sculptures. He first created an entire circus from found objects. He also made the first mobiles, and liked how his art could change just by a breath of wind. Students created their own trapeze acrobats after watching a video clip of trapeze performers.

Mirrors with Radial Symmetry

Third Grade students learned the meaning of radial symmetry (the design must be the same all the way around the circle). Students looked at examples of tin mirrors often found at marketplaces in Mexico. Students discussed the radial symmetry found in these mirrors. Students designed their own mirror using radial symmetry both in the design and pattern as well as the colors used.

Los estudiantes de tercer grado aprendieron el significado de simetría radial (el diseño debe ser igual alrededor de un circulo). Los estudiantes observaron ejemplos de espejos de lata que se consiguen con frecuencia en los mercados de México. Los estudiantes discutieron la simetría radial que se ve en estos espejos.

 Los estudiantes diseñaron sus propios espejos usando simetría radial en el diseño y patrón, y también en los colores que usaron.

Only One You/Nadie Como Tu

All students in the school read “Only One You” by Linda Kranz, which celebrates how each person is unique. Then students created a unique fish to be part of our “school” of fish!

"Blue Dog" Prints

Third Grade students studied the artwork of George Rodrigue, an artist from New Orleans. Students learned that Rodrigue often painted a blue dog in his artwork and used that dog to comment on events happening in the United States. They watched a video clip of Rodrigue talking about his artwork and then discussed some of his artworks and what they could mean.

Students created their own version of Blue Dog and made a print in the color of their choice. They cut out their print and glued it into a background. Then students wrote about the color choice for their blue dog.

Tints and Shades Fruit Slice

Third Grade students drew a slice of either a lemon, lime or orange by looking at a fruit slice at their table. Then they began mixing tints and shades of the color of their fruit by adding white for tints and black for shades. They painted these tints and shades in each section of their fruit slice.

 

Romare Bearden Inspired Collages

Third Grade students looked at artwork by Romare Bearden. They discovered that he created collages from cut up photos, paintings and other papers. He included people and places that were important to him. They found that he loved music and grew up during the Harlem Renaissance, so instruments are often featured in his artwork. Third graders created their own collages with tissue paper and drew an instrument of their choice as the focal point.

 

 

Cubist Portraits

Third grade students looked at artwork by Pablo Picasso and read a book about his life. They learned that Picasso could paint realistically, but chose not to. They learned that Picasso was the inventor of cubism, and painted many of his artworks with shapes such as squares and rectangles. Students learned that many people didn’t like his artwork at first, but now it is some of the most famous artwork in the world. Students drew a cubist portrait and painted it with tempera paints.

Los estudiantes de tercer grado miraron obras de arte por Pablo Picasso y leyeron un libro sobre su vida. Ellos aprendieron que Picasso sabía pintar realísticamente, pero escogió no hacerlo. Ellos aprendieron que Picasso fue el inventor del cubismo, y pinto muchas de sus obras con figuras como cuadrados y rectángulos. Los estudiantes aprendieron que a muchas personas no les gustaron sus obras al principio, pero ahora son de las obras de arte más famosas del mundo. Los estudiantes dibujaron un retrato cubista y lo pintaron con tempera.

 

Tar Beach

Third Grade students read “Tar Beach” by famous African-American artist and author Faith Ringgold. Students discussed what their dreams are for the future. Then they drew themselves flying over their dream, as a way to make it happen, just like the main character did in the book.

Los estudiantes de tercer grado leyeron “Playa de asfalto” por la famosa artista y autora afro-americana Faith Ringgold. Los estudiantes discutieron cuales son sus sueños para el futuro. Luego se dibujaron volando sobre su sueño como una manera de hacerlo realidad, como lo hizo el personaje principal en el libro. 

Coil Pots

Third Grade students learned how to roll a slab of clay to create the bottom of the pot. They learned to score(scratch) and slip (add a tiny bit of water to the clay) to attach the coils to their pot.