Building self aesteem and positive self talk with Grade 3 and 4

The idea for this project came from observations that there was a lot of negative talk coming from these grades in relation to their own abilities and the abilities of others in the class. I decided they needed a self esteem boost. They had to focus on what they were good at and what others found positive and unique about them. They were asked to write unique qualities about themselves and then their peers did the same so they had a bank of sentences to use in their work.

 

The students used many different skills and mediums in this work and

it took the whole term to complete.

 

They experimented with paint scraping, ink portrait painting, printing with found objects and hand-lettering. I really love the way they turned out and I was surprised more then once about what they felt was unique and special about themselves. I am good at washing up was a great one!

 

 

Aboriginal Art inpsired scratch back paintings

 

Inspired by the bark painting of Johnny Bulumbulum Level 3 and 4 students created their own painting using the scratch back technique. It was the first time I have tried this technique. Some were more successful then others but overall it was a good effect.

 

 

Anime with Grade 5 and 6

Term Three saw us study Anime for the first time. This came with an extreme love affair that some of our students have with Anime and Manga. It was a really excellent term of work. Once they had learnt to basics of how to draw Anime characters they then had to design a movie poster with a specific target audience.

Once they were done they then made a self portrait in Anime style to sell at the school fete.

Graffiti names Grade 5 and 6

As a follow on from our stencils the students discussed and analysed examples of graffiti. We had a lesson how to create bubble writing and discussed what makes an effective artwork. Techniques on how to make their work stand out and appeal to a wider audience. They were instructed to come up with a tag name and then to create that name in a graffiti style. They LOVED this activity. I can't stress this enough and the conversations I had formally and informally on the difference between tagging and Street Art were really invaluable. Hopefully it will help curb some of the illegal tagging in the area when they grow up.

More photos to come ... stay tuned

Street Art continued with Grade 5 and 5 students

During the holidays before I took the students on the Lane-way Tour I attended a workshop run by the same tour company http://www.melbournestreettours.com/. The workshop was dedicated to how to make a stencil. I used the skills I learnt from the day to teach my students how to create a two-layered stencil using their own photo. After creating a stencil the students were shown how to spray paint effectively to finish their work. This was one of the hardest projects I have attempted with my students. The second layer of the stencil was challenging and most students needed my help. Some students did a fabulous job though and the results speak for themselves. Next time I would just do a one-layer stencil unless I had an assistant and longer class times :)

Street Art Excursion with Grade 5 and 6

I took the Grade 5 and 6 students on a Laneway tour of Melbourne's world famous Street Art to immerse them into the topic. The tours are conducted by the artists themselves and give the students a real grass roots view of the culture. All the tour guides are enthusiastic and have so much information to pass on. It was a wonderful day. The tours are run by http://www.melbournestreettours.com/ follow the link for further info. I highly recommend them. I have been twice.