Reptiles in Chalk Pastel

I've posted this lesson previously HERE where you can find all the steps. 

I found the lesson HERE on the School Specialty website. 

This project has evolved to include not only reptiles, but any animal with patterns essentially. The goal is to somewhat camouflage it onto the background. By adding cardboard squares underneath the animal, the animals pops off the page in a low relief style. 

I don't know about your students but my students have a love/hate relationship with both chalk and oil pastels! I love chalk pastels though they are messy. But I love the velvety blending capabilities it has especially on a rich black construction paper. 

Some Grade 7-9 finished artworks:

 

Parabolic Curve Stitching

Curve stitching is a form of string art where smooth curves are created through the use of straight lines. I did this project in school and it was pretty popular in the 70's and 80's. I taught this lesson with a Math teacher at my school so she could explain the Math concepts (my weakest subject) and I could show the craft part. This was taught to Grade 4 - 6 students.

We used embroidery string that I bought at the Dollar store. I also bought embroidery/tapestry needles (they have a large eye) for doing the sewing. 

We showed a variety of examples starting from simple to more complex. Students planned their pattern on graph paper. I find it useful numbering the lines. Other students were fine with just dots. 

Then glue stick the graph paper design onto coloured cardstock.

Punch holes through all the dots using a push pin. Then it's ready for sewing. 

The graph paper side is the back. 

We watched some slow tutorials on Youtube and the students got the hang of it very quickly!

This is what the back looks like once it's finished.

 

Blackout Poetry

This is a cross-collaboration project between a Juniour High English teacher and myself at my school. We've collaborated many times over the years on various english projects and I'm always impressed with the work the kids create.

This was a blackout poetry project using pages from the Canadian novel "The Wars". 

The Wars is a 1977 novel by Timothy Findley that follows Robert Ross, a nineteen-year-old Canadian who enlists in World War I after the death of his beloved older sister in an attempt to escape both his grief and the social norms of oppressive Edwardian society. (Wikipedia)

A blackout poem is when a poet takes a marker (usually black marker) to already established text--like in a newspaper--and starts redacting words until a poem is formed. The key thing with a blackout poem is that the text AND redacted text form a sort of visual poem.

For this project, students chose a page from their novel and we photocopied it. They could either do the traditional blackout poetry of simply using a black marker to block out the majority of text, or they could cut out the letters, re-draw them, whatever. We were pretty flexible that way. Media was student choice. 

 

Frozen Nature Wreaths

This pretty nature-inspired project was made by my Vice Principal's class. He's a super creative teacher and ran a class called "Snow & Ice"- a perfect class for where I live in Canada as our winter is around 5 months long!

He had the kids collect fir branches, berries, pine cones, etc from a nearby park. For a mold, they used an aluminum pie plate. You need to place a circular object (small yogurt cup, etc) in the center towards the top. Then place all the natural materials around it and fill with water. We simply need to place these outdoors for them to freeze overnight!  Once frozen, briefly dip in hot water to release the ice wreath. Tie on a thick ribbon and hang somewhere. If it has berries, birds will eat them as they thaw!