Kindergarten painting unit

All my kindergarten painting units begin with color mixing exploration. We take things super slow. In order to use the palettes again and again over time I must first teach kids to mix their colors only on their papers and not in the palette. 

incidentally learning how to make orange is MUCH more powerful than me telling them.



I purposely ONLY use clean plastic containers for that way students also see that the colors mix in the water as well, as they wash their colors away. Sometimes this is more fascinating than painting, and that is okay too.

The next day they get THE SAME painting...you heard it....THE SAMe PAINTING again. Some kids will try to turn the paper around to paint on the back for they have not yet been taught that once dried, the surface can be painted again. This new revelation is very fun for the students. I make sure all students have thin brushes and a 12x18 paper. This keeps them neat, and the space they use this time effectively. Smocks are often not needed, just make sure they have easy reach to the water jars and that they know how to properly wash their brush so as to not tip over the cup.


All students share one palette and one jug of water. If you increase the number of kids sharing these items you will have chaos or water accidents. All items need to be easily reachable and you need to have enough of them for kids to be able to solely focus on their work. Behavior management begins in the planning of where supplies go and how many supplies each kids have access to.


Naturally, students begin using paint to overlap colors.

Group art -2nd grade printmaking

After our individual printmaking unit, I will often do a group work. Group work allows kids to learn strategies of how to solve interesting problems together. This idea is not mine. Seth Godin, an author, thinker and blogger says that all education needs to do is have kids solve interesting problems together. 

For this students get scratch foam paper, all cut to the same size. I vary depending on availability of class. The shape does not matter. What matters is that the are the same size. 

I always use pens and only pens to draw their designs on to the scratch foam. Pens are great because kids can see their designs easily and the point does not break, as pencils would. 

In this project, I had them choose whatever types of lines and shapes they wanted to decorate their scratch foam. The words are in Spanish, because I teach at an immersion school and teach in Spanish. 


To be considered complete students must draw a thick line, be able to feel the marks and choose some spaces to color in. 


 


To create the group stamp I use modge podge to adhere the stamp to a large cardboard. Regular glue will not work. Tacky glue will work too. 

When dry, students work together to ink the large printing plate, place a large paper on top and pull the print.  

A finished group print. One of 5 we made for that grade. 




Love this image- kids working together. 


When they see their print for the first time. So satisfying. After having done this unit already on their individual prints, students will also know what looks and does not look like a successful print.....in 2nd grade. 






Blur I wrote about this work:
       "   In Ms. Cutelis' Spanish art room the main focus daily is to work together to solve personally meaningful and interesting problems. This month student's in 2nd grade, for examples got to experience various forms of printmaking techniques. We learned that a printing plate could be created by scratching the surface of the plate or by building on it. The end of all units also require students to make a group art project in which each participant adds to the final piece. Group work allows children to learn valuable 21st century skills of collaboration, problem-solving, the generation of innovative ideas, listening and speaking skills within a safe setting.

En la sala de arte en español de la Sra. Cutelis el enfoque principal diario es trabajar juntos para resolver problemas personalmente significativos e interesantes. Este mes estudiantes del 2o grado, por ejemplos, lograrón a experimentar con varias técnicas de hacer una impresión con tinta. Aprendimos que una placa de impresión se puede crear rascando la superficie con una herramienta o construyendo sobre ella con cartón. El final de todas las unidades también requiere que los estudiantes hagan un proyecto de arte grupal en el que cada participante se suma a la pieza final. El trabajo de grupo permite a los niños aprender valiosas habilidades del siglo XXI de colaboración, resolución de problemas, generación de ideas innovadoras, habilidades de escuchar y de habla dentro de un espacio seguro."