Alien Collaborations!

I wanted to share a collaboration between my 3rd grade students and my colleague's jr. high students!

Previously, I shared a project called Joan Miro Monsters with 3rd grade.  Students were to create their own alien or monster creature using only 12 different shapes.  The details for the project can be found  in this link.

This year, the jr. high art teacher, Elizabeth Farnesi, and I joined forces.  Liz's eighth grade students were paired up with a few of my third graders to participate in a collaborative art project. 

It began with my 3rd grade students designing their own aliens inspired by the art of surrealist artist Joan Miro.  Students created their alien creatures in their own environments, gave them a name, and imagined what special abilities the aliens would have (this was included in the students' artist statement about their artwork).  Once they were finished, the drawings were sent over to the junior high where the eighth graders were able to pick the drawing of their choice.

Mrs. Farnesi worked with the eighth grade students to design a plan for their alien. They figured out what colors they would need, how it would look from certain angles and how the monster was going to be portrayed.  The junior high students were also to choose whether they wanted to recreate the monster using clay, felt or render the alien as a realistic drawing.  

After creating their alien, the 8^th grade students had to design the packaging for the alien to be transported in back to our school and to the 3rd grade student. All of the junior high students were generous enough to donate their project to their elementary partners. The students were so excited and loved every single one! 

Here are a few examples of drawings my 3rd grade students had created:

And here are a few finished creations!

Once the artworks were complete, the 3rd graders received a nice surprise!  These images were used on our publicity within our school district.

Joan Miro Monsters with 3rd Grade

Joan Miro was a surrealist painter (1893-1983) from Barcelona, Spain.  Miro was known for his painted creature made from random shapes, and even made his 2-dimensional work into sculptures. Miro's work is imaginative, using geometric and organic shapes to create unusual characters.

What better way to exercise the student's creativity?

Materials

2-D Work:
-Worksheet
-8 x10 white paper
-Pencils
-Markers
-12 x 14 colored paper for a frame

3-D Work:
-Crayola Model Magic or similar air dry clay (depending on your project time, you can use primary colored clay or white clay to paint later)
-Pipe cleaners
-Sandwich size ziplock baggies

If using white air dry clay:
-Tempura paint
-Paper plates
-Small brushes
-Newspaper
-Water and bowls

Objectives
The students will create 2 projects. The first project will be a 2-dimensional drawing of a Miro-inspired creature.  The students will read together and use the following worksheet to "exercise their creativity." The point of the activity is to have students use a limited amount of shapes to create elaborate creations.

From the worksheets, students can create their own creatures using the 12 shapes presented!

The drawings should only take one 40 minute class period, fully colored and framed.  I also attach grade sheets on the back for students to see their entire grade of the project.

Day 2 is for 3-dimensional construction of the drawings.  I give students pipe cleaners that match the colors of the antennas, legs, and arms from the drawings.  If students do not finish, I store projects in baggies with students names so clay doesn't dry out.

Day 3 is to complete the construction of the sculpture.  If you are using colored clay, the will be the last day of your project.  If you use white clay, you can use an additional day to paint the creatures any color you wish.

Here are some projects completed with primary colors (students mix secondary themselves) and black model magic!

Here are some completed sculptures with just white model magic and paint!

As a final wrap up, I have students fill out a reflection.  Here is my worksheet, but you can change it up as you wish:

Overall, the project is fun to do on a cart or in an art room, and from my own experience, easy to adapt in any situation.