My inspiration for this project came from the book, Hand Lettering, by Marci Donley & DeAnn Singh. The authors call this "Writing Between the Lines", but we've renamed it "Lettering Waves" since we live in a surfing community where waves are a pretty big deal! I taught this lettering style to my middle schoolers and the results were fantastic! You'll find so many … [Read more...]
Thumbprint Self-Portrait
Here's a great idea I spotted on Pinterest.... I tried this lesson with my middle school students and they had so much fun with it! I originally used a copy machine to enlarge students' fingerprints. It was cumbersome and time-consuming. But then I figured out a faster, easier, and better way! For detailed instructions with photos, tips, writing prompts, a student gallery, and … [Read more...]
Grade 5 Portfolios – Collecting Words
I LOVE kids' books!!! I just discovered a great new book, titled "Max's Words" by Kate Banks. While this book doesn't have a specific art theme, it inspired me to create a portfolio project for my 5th graders based on WORDS. Kids LOVE to collect things. I learned this from personal experience, with a daughter who collected Beanie Babies like there was no tomorrow, and a son … [Read more...]
“Thank You” Drawings
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, what better time than now to focus your students on being thankful for the blessings in their lives? Have your students choose one thing they're thankful for and teach them how to write it with "outline letters", which they can then decorate to reflect the theme of their illustration.To make outline letters, lightly pencil in the word … [Read more...]
