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"A Faithful Attempt" is designed to showcase a variety of K-12 art lessons, the work of my art students, as well as other art-related topics. Projects shown are my take on other art teacher's lessons, lessons found in books or else designed by myself.
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Sunday, January 12, 2014

Volcanoes



Grade 3 students were learning about volcanoes in their Science unit so we made illustrations of them in Art. We talked about some of the more famous volcanic eruptions such as Vesuvius (Pompeii), Mount St. Helens (USA),  and my favourite, the unpronounceable Eyjafjallajökull (Iceland- the one that threw tons of volcanic ash into airspace over Europe that lasted 6 days). 
Even the iconic Mount Fuji in Japan is a volcano (last eruption in 1708).

There's actually a new movie coming out in February about Pompeii (I'm super excited about it as it's starring JON SNOW from Game of Thrones (for any GOT fans out there)




So students had already researched volcanoes, so they looked through books for images to inspire them. We talked about volcanoes main featured such as the lava, ash cloud, and the crater at the top. 
On black construction paper, students sketched out their volcano first in pencil, then passed over the lines with a thick line using a black wax crayon (you could also use oil pastels).



Then they were coloured in using chalk pastels- this medium was especially useful for creating 
the ash cloud as it's nice and soft and blend-able.

Ta da!















4 comments:

Rina k6art.com said...

Hi Miss
Nice work! I like that your students outlined in crayon/pastel (instead of white glue) on black paper. I've got a lot of students who would love to add a dinosaur to your artworks!

Miss said...

Hi Rina :) Thanks for your comment- yes, dinosaurs and volcanoes can go hand in hand for sure!

Ms. NeuCollins said...

Miss--I have a question about pastels. How do you set it up so that it isn't too messy? I'm a first year teacher at a turn-around school in Brooklyn, and have classes of 30. I've used pastels exactly once, and they were so crumbly that they ended up getting on the floor and ground down into it by feet walking over them. I had to buy the janitors a pizza to get back in their good graces! I've been terrified of using them ever since. Do you have tips?

Miss said...

Hi Ms. NeuCollins: thanks for your questions. Chalk pastels is definitely a tricky medium because it is so messy. But I've always been of the thought that art rooms are places where kids should be able to get messy. Don't feel bad- I've never had a custodian that likes me, simply because at the end o the day, there's always a little bit of 'stuff' that remains on my floor, and they hold it against me, like I'm a terrible person! lol! I get the kids to clean up as best I can but I'm not going to spend the whole day worrying about it. It's an art studio after all.
Ok- now for some tips. The first time I use pastels with a class, I show them step-by-step how to unpack the box and then how to re-pack the box. They need to give me the box at the end of class and show me that the chalk is put away perfectly. 5 minutes before class ends all the kids need to also stop and look under their tables for any rogue pastels. And I've found there's always at least one kid in the class who is happy and willing to sweep the room, so that helps :) You also need time for the kids to wash their hands, which is also a pain, especially if you don't have that many sinks. I've heard some teachers use baby wipes for this. Finally, have a couple students volunteers walk around and wipe off all the tables with a damp cloth.
I find chalk pastels are way less messy than oil pastels. I've spent many an afternoon desperately trying to scrub a smooshed oil pastel off the floor before the custodian comes in! lol

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