Clay pockets!!

7th graders made wall pockets out of clay. They were asked to make a holder for something that needs a home. We talked about things like needing a place for thier phones, remotes, bobby pins, make-up brushes, pens and pencils and much more. Then, they were asked to think of where it would be hung (in case they wanted to match that room). Next, we started rolling out our slabs to create our wall pocket!!! 

Welcome school year!

I am so excited to start my third year at the wonderful SMS! Every year, I always struggle on what to hang on the bullitin board since students have yet to create anything for me to hang. This year, I decided to paint my favorite quote!! And as soon as my artists start creating, I will be happy to cover it with their fantastic artwork! 

Zentangles!

Towards the end of the year when the summer is quickly approaching, we all (teachers included) can get a bit silly and crazy. So this year I decided that we needed some ZEN. We created zentangle art!! Zentangles are an art form that uses specific patterns and lines that many find calming and relaxing. It was exactly what we needed!! Students were asked to pick nah object to showcase on the middle with color and then at least 6 sections of different Zentangles around the object. My eighth graders really enjoyed this project. A group of boys decided to work together and each chose a different superhero logo!!! Loved their idea and that they worked together!!! They all really loved it and many did more than one and asked to keep the zentangle packets. 

Paper planes!!!

I am so impressed with my kiddos on this project!!! The students did such a wonderful job and they were proud of their own work!!! Here are just a few (I will post more soon) of the amazing paper planes. They look so realistic that a few younger students came into my classroom and saw one of these examples on the table and tried grabbing the plane off the paper and were totally surprised that they we're drawn! These were completed using white card stock, pencil, ruler and red and blue colored pencil. 

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!!