Split Class Success! Wayne Thiebaud Inspired Projects

Wayne Thiebaud is an American painter who is known for his colorful desserts: pies, ice cream cones, pastries, cupcakes, and gum ball machines!  It's no wonder why elementary students LOVE to make art inspired by Mr. Thiebaud's creations!

If you've seen my previous post about teaching split level classes, it can sometimes be challenging teaching projects to 2 different grade levels at the same time.  One of the methods I use is teaching the same artist and using two different projects.  It's also a bonus to use the same materials to save on prep!  The key is to focus on what concepts you want your students to learn.

The split level class I had this past school year was a 2nd and 3rd grade class.  In second grade, I normally work with Thiebaud's gumball machines, but for this project, I decided to have 3rd grade work with the cupcakes at the same time!

Here are the painting examples I had shown to 2nd Grade:

…and 3rd Grade!

2nd Grade Gumball Machines

Materials
-10.5" x 16" black paper
-12" x 18" colored paper (for frame)
-elmer's glue
-pencils
-chalk pastel

Objectives
The students are introduced to the art of Wayne Thiebaud for inspiration.  For the project, the 2nd grade students will create a resist project using elmer's glue to trace out their image, then chalk pastels to fill in with color.  The students will also demonstrate value by adding a shine to their created gum balls.

Directions
Day 1:  The students are first introduced the artworks of Wayne Thiebaud.  Next, they are asked to draw out a gum ball machine design and fill the bowl with circles for gum balls.  The trick is to try and draw each circles to be the same size, as well as a decent size to color in once the glue dries.  Also, demonstrate to the students how to squeeze the glue out of the bottle to trace a thin glue line.  This will save on major drips while the project dries on the drying rack.

Day 2-3: Since the projects will now be dry, demonstrate to the students how to fill in the spaces with the chalk pastels.  I allow the students to have a kleenex to blend their colors.  Try to show students how to stay within their glue spaces.  I noticed when students smear or attempt to blend the entire project at once, all the chalk mixes together and makes the project look messy and ghost-like.  Have the students glue a colored paper to the back to finish with a frame.Here are the finished examples!

3rd Grade Cupcakes

Materials
-10.5" x 16" black paper
-12" x 18" colored paper (for frame)
-elmer's glue
-pencils
-chalk pastel

Objectives
The students are introduced to the art of Wayne Thiebaud for inspiration.  For the project, the 3rd grade students will create a fun cupcake that demonstrates value (highlight and shadow).

Directions
Day 1:  The students are first introduced the artworks of Wayne Thiebaud.  Next, they are asked to draw out their cupcake designs using a pencil.  Instead of doing the glue tracing, students will begin filling in their artwork with chalk pastel colors.

Day 2-3: Demonstrate to students how to apply colors for highlights and shadows in the frosting, cupcake wrapper, and main shadow of the cupcake.  Once students have finished their pieces, have them glue a 12 x 18 colored paper to the back for a frame!

Here are the finished examples!

Learning About Art Careers: Puzzle Designs with 3rd Grade

So I was poking through the art supply catalogs and came across the design-your-own puzzles in the craft section.  With the puzzles being such a simple project to make, I thought about how students could  tie the puzzle-making together with real life skills.  Then the lightbulb clicked on: How would students learn about jobs that require creative skills learned in the art room?  From there, I developed my lesson to include make-believe scenarios that reflect how artful creations could be sold by commission.

We pretending we were working for a graphic design company.  In our scenario, we were asked by Toys R Us to design puzzles to sell at their stores.  Toys R Us wanted to see multiple ideas for puzzle designs and asked our designers to explain why their puzzle designs would appeal to customers.

Materials

-5.5" x 8" compoz-a-puzzle

-5.5" x 8" white paper

-transfer paper (trimmed down to the 5.5" x 8")

-pencil

-black marker

-colored markers 

-masking tape

-small ziploc baggies.

Objectives

The students created a puzzle design that they felt customers would want to purchase.  They started with a concept design, then had their design approved by me before having it transferred to the puzzle template.  Once the puzzle was complete, the students write a pitch to "sell" their designs.

Here's the Plan:

Day 1: I introduced the scenario.  I explained to students how they needed to come up with an idea drawn out for a puzzle design, then have it approved by their boss (a.k.a. me).  Once student designs were approved, I attached their drawings to transfer paper and the puzzle (secured with two little pieces of tape) and asked the students to transfer their images by tracing their designs.

Day 2: Students continue to see me for approval of images.  Once the image was transferred to the puzzle, students re-traced their drawings n the puzzle with black marker, then used color markers to finish the design.

Day 3:  Students use the final day to complete the puzzles.  Once finish, they were asked to write out an explanation of their puzzle and why they thought customers would way to buy their design.  For the remainder of the class, the students teamed together to pitch their ideas to each other.  If students agreed to purchase their design, they were allowed to piece the puzzle together.  As nice as it would be to do trades, the students were quite possessive per their original designs!  Ziploc baggies were provided for the students' puzzles to be brought home securely since they had so many loose pieces.  Their descriptions were then used as artist statements on Artsonia!

There's so much we could do with this idea in the future!  Contact local toy stores to go along with our scenario?  Bring in a guest artist to explain how their company sells designs?  There's room to improve in the future!

Here are some finished examples along with their descriptions:

"My picture is a horse. I think customers would buy it because it is fun for children. So buy it for 4.99 plus tax!"

"I chose a panda because panda's are real and you can watch them play."

"It is a picture of the word ART. I think customers would buy this because people like art"

"My picture is a peacock. I think customers would want to buy my puzzle because they like birds."

"My picture is Feniken and Swiley and Pokeball from Pokemon. Customers would buy this because Pokemon is fun, colorful, and creative."

"My picture is Spongebob. I think customers are going to buy my puzzle because a lot of people like to watch Spongebob."

"My picture is super red (angry birds). Angry birds is so popular, so customers would buy this."

"This puzzle is Batman and his batmobile in Gotham City. I think that customers would like the details."

After School Art Projects: Butterflies for Lurie's Children's Memorial Hospital

In Springtime, Ann & Robert H. Lurie's Children's Memorial Hospital hosts an annual memorial service for families and staff to come together to honor and celebrate the lives of children they have cared for and who have pass away.  Elementary and High Schools in the past have created over 200 ceramic butterflies as gifts for the families.  The butterflies have become a special tradition at the service where families are able to pick out a butterfly that uniquely "speaks" to them.  

According to the hospital, butterflies are commonly used as a symbol in a child' death, paralleling that even though it was for a brief moment, we feel blessed to have known them.

Back in 2012, I was asked by a dear friend of mine if I could take on a charity project for Lurie's Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Il.    At my previous school, I joined together with the Jr. High teacher to have students from grades 4-8 create and paint butterflies for the memorial service.  I shared our previous experiences in last year's post:

A Charity Project: Butterflies for Children's Memorial Hospital

Now that I am teaching in a new school, I needed to figure out how to implement the project without having a kiln.  Joining with another art teacher in our district we decided to create our own ceramic butterflies.  We each set up an after school club for 6 weeks to create, glaze, and package the butterflies.  Since I do not have a kiln in our school, I needed to transport the butterflies to the Jr. High to be fired in between after school classes.

Below are images from the first part of the project: creating the butterflies.  Students used cookie cutters to form the butterfly shapes, while others drew designs within each cut out.They were so determined to make the quota, they surpassed the amount in just one day!

After the firing a few weeks later, we started glazing the butterflies, one by one.  Since this is my school's first time working with glazes, I needed to remind students not to paint the backs of the butterflies!

And now the finished products!  During our last meeting, we carefully packaged the completed butterflies and shipped them to the hospital for their service!

Thank you to our students for their help with the charity project and for the support from our school!