Dis de Los metros crayon resist

Dis de Los Muertos is one of my favorite holidays! It is a joyous and happy way to celebrate someone's life that has passed away. This holiday is celebrated around Halloween and includes skulls as a major role, so many people associate them together, but it is it's own holiday.  Dia de Los Muertos is filled with bright colors and skulls as it's theme. For this project, students created crayon resists of skulls. They could choose to draw it about a late family or friend, or just a cool skull image. When we colored we pressed really dark with crayons (some also use oil pastels). Next, we crumpled the paper to create cracks in the wax. Then we painted over it with watered down black paint. The paint should stay in the cracks or anywhere else that was not colored. This gives a really cool effect when finished!!

Dia De Los Muertos!

Last week SMS 6th graders learned about the upcoming holiday, Dia De Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.  We discussed the holiday including misconceptions of the holiday.  Many people think it is related to Halloween because it is during the same time of the year and because of the skull subject matter.  This holiday is not related to Halloween, it is a holiday that is celebrated in Mexico and parts of the United States.  Many people also think that it is a scary holiday, but it is actually a happy holiday.  This holiday is about remembering loved ones that have passed and celebrating their life instead of mourning their passing.  There are many traditions associated with this holiday, including sugar skulls, parades, special bread and papel picado.  Papel Picado means punched paper in Spanish, it is made of thin paper that has intricate cut-outs and hung from the ceiling. 

For this project, students created a collage using construction paper.  I really stressed to students to put the glue on the side that they drew on so the viewer did not see pencil lines. This really helped our craftsmanship on this project.  Some students chose to depict loved ones that had passed, some chose random characters and some chose previous pets. 



We also spent one class making Papel Picado to decorate the room!



Russian Stacking Dolls

2nd and third graders are learning about ART FROM AROUND THE WORLD!!! This is the project from Russia. We discussed Russian Stacking Dolls (AKA Russian nesting dolls). First, we looked at pictures of traditional stacking dolls and discussed characteristics (what they are made out of, shape, colors, why are the women wearing scarves? etc.). Next, we looked at modern stacking dolls and discussed the differences.

For the art project, I made a template of the three different size dolls. I made sure to remind them that all the lines have to go from one side of the stacking doll to the other (one example is the line on the top of the pants). I also reminded them that nothing can be sticking off of the stacking doll because then they wouldn't fit together.

I let the students choose if they want to make a traditional stacking doll or a modern stacking doll (most chose modern). There were so many great ideas for this project, but here a few...

Also, a few weeks later, a student (above) was soooooo excited to show me that her cousin let her borrow her stacking doll to bring in to show the class!! Another example of those "teacher moment" reasons I LOVE MY JOB!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!

This is a very important year for Chinese New Year because is the year of the dragon!! We are so lucky at Herrera School to have such a diverse staff that can teach us about their culture. For this assignment, Ms. Sun (our wonderful dance teacher) came into art to teach us about Chinese New Year, culture and Chinese calligraphy. Students were taught proper technique, like holding the paintbrush vertical. we used red paper which signifies good luck. Students (and Mrs. Castrigano) learned how to write "Happy New Year."
Thanks Ms. Sun!!

Dia De Los Muertos

2nd and 3rd Graders are continuing their unit on art from around the world. This past two weeks we have been focusing on art from Mexico. Mrs. Estrada, also our schools Reading Coach, was so kind to come to our classroom to teach Herrera students about Dia De Los Muertos. She brought in so many pieces about the art of Dia De Los Muertos. She brought in a Calavera (skull), Pan de Muertos (special bread), her Ofrenda (the offering for the family and friends who have passed), Marigolds, papel picado (decorative paper for the holiday) and a fun book about Dia De Los Muertos to read for the kids. The students had a wonderful time learning about festive Mexican Fiestas!!! We also learned about the differences between Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos. Halloween is known as a scary holiday, while Dia De Los Muertos is a happy and celebratory holiday!



After learning about the Art of Mexico we were ready to create artwork inspired by what we have learned! We started with white paper plates and a pencil. We cut out the center circle and left about 10-15 of the "bumps" from the outer edge of the plate. After that we used a sharpie marker to draw a face and designs on the plate. Next, they glued it on a black piece of paper and we used marker to color the designs and facial features. While they were working I came around to add glitter to the black paper. Lastly, I gave each student two pieces of circle tissue paper to make a marigold to add to the paper. These calaveras turned out so beautifully!!