Artist Trading Cards

Grade 4 students had a blast with this year’s Artist Trading Card unit. They inquired into the central idea of investigation leads to possibilities under the theme of Sharing the Planet.

The students started off the unit by investigating a variety of materials and mixed media to find out which mark making techniques they enjoyed working with. They kept a record of their experiments in their sketchbooks to use as a reference.

 

As the students continued investigating techniques, they were introduced to Artist Trading Cards or ATC’s. Artist Trading Cards are 2.5 x 3.5 inches and are created for a variety of reasons using multiple layers and different mediums. Most importantly, Artist Trading Cards are meant to be traded.

This year Grade 4 students had an exciting opportunity to trade their cards with a school in Iowa, USA. They were absolutely thrilled to send their cards overseas from China! The students were required to donate one card to send to the United States and donate another card to trade with Grade 4 students at our school. They were able to keep the rest of their collection.

Their next artistic challenge was to create a series of cards based on a specific theme, message, or global issue of their choice. They designed their cards with their message in mind and chose specific materials from their technique investigations.

The students did a fantastic job creating quality Artist Trading Cards with a variety of materials and special messages. They had so much fun trading and receiving cards from a different country and each other. I can’t wait to do this unit again!   

Clay Self Portraits

Grade 4 students created clay self portraits this year while inquiring into the central idea of identity can be expressed in many ways. 

They investigated Guiseppe Arcimboldo's portraits as inspiration for a clay self portrait of their own. They started designing in their sketchbooks first, planning the back and front of their sculpture while combining different elements of who they are as an individual. 

The students used their design as a reference while creating with clay. 

 

The students then had fun adding layers of glaze as a final touch for these amazing self portraits! 

Contemporary Art

Grade 4 students inquired into Contemporary Art this year and we had a blast learning together while exploring new and exciting art forms like Photography, Video Art, and Land Art.

Here was the layout of the unit:
Transdisciplinary Theme: Where We Are In Place And Time
Central Idea: Technology creates new possibilities.
Lines of Inquiry & Key Concepts: Contemporary art includes many different art forms. (Change) Experimenting with new ideas and technologies. (Perspective)

To begin, we watched a short video from SmartTalk comparing the differences between Modern and Contemporary Art. This lead to a great discussion on how technology has influenced art over time and has changed how artists create. 

To begin this unit, students focused on photography while learning about the rule of thirds in order to create a balanced composition. They also experimented with a variety of iPad apps like MegaPhoto to create an interesting image.

Grade 4 students also experimented with video art and how to create a non-narrative art film with a specific mood or theme using iMovie.

Grade 4 students were also inspired by land artists like Andy Goldsworthy and practiced creating patterns with natural materials and capturing their work with photography and stop motion animation.

Native American Totem Poles

At the beginning of the year my class of PYP 5 students began by discussing the elements of art and reviewing art terms like "symmetry" while listing them in their classroom sketchbooks. While talking about the importance of the art elements, I intrdoduced the students to Native American totem poles and Native American culture.

The students had many questions about the different figures and symbols they saw on the totem poles that we were viewing, so we took these inquiries and researched them in the library. During our next class session we reviewed their discoveries and discussed how the different figures carved into the totem poles are part of an important story.

After research and review the students drew four different totem designs in their sketchbooks. They chose their favorite design and developed it further by adding more details and color. The students also labeled how they used the elements of art in their final design.

  I love how this student used simple geometric shapes and how giant the teeth are! The students were encouraged to draw LARGE. 

Once their final designs were complete the students began constructing a three dimensional box out of sturdy packing paper. They measured and cut their boxes themselves and then decorated them according to their sketchbook design. 

 Before we stacked our class totem poles together and put them on display, the students wrote a story about their totem pole figure and why it was an important piece to our art class totem pole. The students shared their stories as a group and everyone had come up with something unique!

Here are our finished totem poles on display!