Traveling/Art Cart Teachers: November Stepping Stones

Back in April, I posted a list of 10 Things a Traveling Art Teacher Will Always Do.  The article is now available in this month's Arts & Activities Magazine!

Art teachers face challenges daily in their situation, whether they're in a classroom, pushing a cart, teaching in a temporary space, or traveling from school to school.  I do happen to hear from many art-on-a-cart teachers and travelers that they have common challenges, and being a traveler myself, I knew how they felt.

Here's my simple top ten list, but if you want to read the full version, please take a look in the Arts & Activities Stepping Stones article for November.

1. A traveling art teacher will never get all the names of students correct. 

2. A traveling art teacher always forgets something when driving, walking, or flying from one school to the next. 

3. A traveling art cart teacher will always leave a little something behind it your room.  

4. A traveling art teacher may not be able to attend an extra event.   

5. A traveling art teacher will most likely miss the memo.  

6. A traveling art teacher will always make room for storage. 

7. A traveling art teacher might turn down your extra crayons.  

8. A traveling art teacher will tell you no.  

9. A traveling art teacher will always drop something outside of their car or down the hallway. 

10.  A traveling art teacher will be jumping for joy at the end of the school year when all they have to do is push the cart back into the storage closet and lock the door!

Prehistoric Cave Art Paintings with 6th Grade

My 6th grade curriculum follows art history, and I tie into our students' social studies curriculum as well.  We begin the year with...the beginning: when pictures were first made in Prehistoric times.  I start the first day of art with the first 15 minutes of this series called "How Art Made the World," which goes over how important images are to our society and the earliest cave paintings discovered.  Here's is a video of what I show to the classes:

Here's the materials for the project:

-Light Brown Paper (will be torn)
-Cardboard (cut down for back support)
-Black Paint
-White, Peach, Brown, and Black Chalk Pastels
-Pencil
-Paintbrush
-Water and Water Bowl
-Reference sheets (examples of symbols, Prehistoric drawings, etc.)

Objectives
The students will create their own Prehistoric painting that tells a visual story.  Students can use tribal and Cave Art references to assist in telling their story.  Materials will replicate the look of a cave wall.

Here is a reference picture I had found on Petroglyphs (rock engravings):

Project Time
On day 1 (40 minute class period), students watch the video (15 minutes), complete their worksheets, and discuss what they watched.  In the last 10-15 minutes, students will use references to draw their visual story onto brown paper.

The worksheets consisted of 5 questions related to the video (you can copy/paste these questions to create your own worksheet if you wish):

1.   Why are images important to us? 

2.   Where was the first cave painting discovered?

3.   Who discovered the first cave painting?

4.   What was painted on the walls and ceilings of the caves?

5.   Why did the scholars not believe in De Sautuola’s discovery?

On day 2, students will complete their drawings, then tear the edges off their paper.  They get a little scared when I tell them to crumble their paper into a ball, but when they unfold the wad of paper, they see the wrinkled texture needed for the look of the project.  I then ask the students to use chalk pastels lightly over their paper to add different colors, which would be similar to the cave walls.  Students then glue a cardboard backing to their paper to support the project.

On day 3, students will paint over their pencil drawings.  I have the paper crumbled beforehand so students can have the experience on painting onto rougher textures, similar to a rock wall.

Here are some completed projects!

4th Grade Line Drawings: Friedensreich Hundertwasser

In 1959, Friedensreich was a guest lecturer in Hamburg, Germany.  For his presentation, the artist drew what he thought was the world's longest line.  Using paint and markers, he started at the bottom of the wall, and continued the line around all four interior walls of the lecture room.  Friedensreich had the help of two assistants in completing the line around the lecture room with the guests observing.

The three continued the line overnight, using candles as light since the power was shut off.  The next day, the public caught wind of his work and went to see the line in progress.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser is an Austrian artist who is known for his use of lines in his paintings, drawings, and prints.  The lines in his work display movement and unique personality.

I like to show Friedensreich's work when revisiting the element of line with my 4th grade students.  In his screen print, "Irinaland over the Balkans," I point out how lines were used to create the texture of the land and movement of the image.

And now onto the project!  It's a simple one requiring few materials and is easy to work with when pushing a cart or teaching from a an unconventional area (like the gym or library)

 Materials you will need:
-10.5" x 16" white paper
-12" x 18" colored paper (for frame)
-Pencil
-Markers (I use Crayola)

I start the project with identification of lines.  I show the students the different types of lines, as well as how the thickness of the lines can change the depth of a picture.  Here are a few handouts I use with the project (many were borrowed from Pinterest, so I claim no ownership over these printouts):

Have your students choose an image of their own to for their project.  Make sure the students draw their picture to fill the space!

 Final note:  Make sure students only use dots of glue when attaching the project to frame paper.  If students use too much glue, all that hard work will bleed through the paper.