Fourth Grade ~ Fundraiser Idea

Khamsas / Hand designs worked great for the fourth grade fundraiser. Bright colorful and all look great!

Contour Line Drawing

1.Show an example of a contour line drawing. Explain that you only draw the outline. No details. You must look at the object, this is drawing from life not imagination. 2.Demonstrate the project. 3.Look at the gourds for about 30 seconds. Look at the shape and color. Place them in the middle of the table and do not move them. 4.Draw the gourd at least 5 times. Overlap them. Draw the ones closest to us large and the ones far away small. You can draw more if you have extra time! 5.Add sharpie. Day 2 1.Add colored pencil. Overlap the colors to make new colors. Really look at the gourds to see the color. Are they all yellow? (orange/green) 2.Add watercolor. You can use the watercolor to make shadows under the gourds. What colors will work for shadows?

Fall Trees

This is a project that I used to do every year. I found my sample and decided to do them this year. I was so happy I made that decision, they came out beautiful. I did them with fourth grade. We made the tissue paper collage background one week, and then added the tree with oil pastels the next. We were able to review our shading to make things look three dimensional.

Cubist Hands

This is a neat lesson to do with your upper elementary students that covers shades and tints, color mixing, and Art Appreciation. Students trace their hand 2 times onto a 12'' square piece of gray bogus paper, once from the bottom, and once from a side. Using a ruler, trace 3 lines from the top to the bottom, and 3 times side to side. Don't forget to slant the lines a little. Now-very important- outline everything with a black sharpie. Begin painting. EVERYTIME YOU HIT A LINE, CHANGE  COLORS. You may place the same colors kater/corner. When all the painting is complete, let dry completely, re-outline with sharpies, and  make the lines dark and even. They are very colorful, and you may wish to limit the paintings to certain colors of your choice.

Face Book Books

This is an entertaining lesson, which may be used with the older elementary classes. Students will need an old paperback- (the thicker the better)-paste, and a short wooden dowel. I have a lot of short pieces of dowels  around as I do wall hangings with the fifth grades in the spring, but you can buy them at Lowe's if needed. First, students will tear off the back and front cover.  Decide on what shape the outside edge of the pages will take, and cut a pattern. Trace the pattern on a page, then bunch 5-8 pagrs together and cut. In my sample I used a profile of a face, but you can use any shape; apple, house, animal...any shape that is not too complex. When all pages are cut, load the dowel and the first and last page with paste. Put the dowel in the middle, press the first and last pages together, and let dry. The''book'' will stand up by it's self when dry. You can buy expensive YES! paste, if you wish, as that is what was used in the Bookmaking class.

City Reflections

This is a project I found on another art blog. http://laughpaintcreate.blogspot.com/2011/08/city-prints.html This was a fourth grade project that reviewed warm and cool colors. It was also fun for the children to print. We painted the background the first week and then started work on our printing plate (foam). The next week we finished our drawing of the city and printed.  They really came out nice and the children had a great time doing them.

Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam
I had a bunch of cardboard egg cartons donated. I did this with fourth grade for a patriotic project. It is a little crafty but they turn out very cute and the students and other teachers love them!
Materials:
(4) cups from egg carton
blue and skin color tempera paint
(1) 2"x4" white construction paper
(1) l"x5" blue construction paper
(1) 2"x2" blue construction paper
(1) 3"x3" black construction paper
scraps of white yarn, paper, ribbon
scissors and glue
sharpies
Day 1
1. We talk about symbols and that Uncle Sam symbolizes the United States.
2. Each student is given 4 cardboard cups from an egg carton. Trim the edges.
3. They must glue together the egg cartons and paint the top skin color and the bottom blue. (this can be a challenge for them so it may take a whole day to just do this)
4. Have them write the name on the bottom of one egg cup with sharpie.
5. Collect in a paper box lid.
Day 2
1. Fold the 3"x3" black construction paper in half and cut a heart for the feet. Glue to the body.
2. Use the l"x5" blue construction paper strip for the arms, adding hands (cut
into blue rectangle). Glue the center of the strip to the back of the body. Write the name on the back of the blue rectangle in sharpie
3. Color or paste red strips on the 2"x4" white paper. Paste and roll into a cylinder.
4. Cut evenly spaced slits up one edge, fold back and paste to the brim, brim, fold the 2"x2" blue construction paper in half and trim off corners.
5. Use the scraps of white yarn to make hair and a beard. Glue to the head. Glueon the hat. Add other decorations with the scraps.

Sunset Silhouettes

These are great for fall. I found this on Deep Space Sparkle. I shopw 4th or 5th grade this video on positive and negative space: Positive and Negative Space.

1. We talk about what creates a silhouette.


2. Students wash a 9x12 inch piece of drawing paper.


3. Then they trace a ruler on all 4 side of the black paper to create a frame.


4. After that, they draw a landscape with pumpkins, bare trees, fences, grass, houses, etc.


5. Next they cut out the negative space (or background).


6. Finally they glue the black on top of the sunset colors.

Snowman

Oil Pastel Snowman

My fourth grade students started out by drawing a one inch border around their paper. Their next step was to use a pencil to draw their snowman close-up. After drawing the snowman, they traced their pencil lines with white glue and let their paper dry until the following week. Once the glue is dry, the students used oil pastels to color in their artwork. The dried glue leaves nice black lines around their shapes in the drawing.

Snowflakes

Fancy Snowflakes

I decided to take a little twist on the white snowflake, so we used purple or black paper for our snowflakes to really make them stand out. The students started by using tempera cake paint in blues, whites and purples for the background. While that was drying, they traced lids of different sizes on purple or black paper for their snowflakes. After cutting their snowflakes, they used a silver Sharpie to decorate the flakes. Finally, they glued the snowflakes to their painted background and added some Sharpie work to the background.

Snowflakes

This is a quick, fun and easy project I found on another blog. The kids loved doing them and it was easily finished in one day. I would think it would work for 2nd through 4th grade. I used construction paper crayons for the drawn flakes, but oil pastels would work also.

Abstract Birds

I did this activity with fourth grade. We used sharpie to draw and markers to add color. It took about 2 sessions, with a few students still working into a third week. Our goal was to create an abstract bird while exploring variety, repitition and unity.

Williamsburg Drawings

This is a project that I do with my 4th graders when they are studying Williamsburg Virginia in the classrooms. I print off one or two inch grids on drawing paper. (I have had them draw their own grids before, but have found it to be too time consuming.) I give them print outs of real people from Williamsburg history that had assorted jobs in the community. They sketch their person with the assistance of the grid for proportion. This hits many of our art SOLs for 4th grade drawing while connecting to their social studies SOLs.

We use light and dark drawing pencils, gum erasers and blending sticks. When they are finished they use gel markers to create a colorful patterned background. The black and white drawing looks great with a colorful background. The kids really like this project.

Banyan Tree

This is a project that I recently did with my fourth grade classes. Black tempera painted Banyan Tree with oil pastel sky to show cast shadow and reflected light. We drew and painted the trees in part of one class session and took two days to add the oil pastel, activating the negative space.

Landscape of a Virginia Region

I love this project. Fourth graders paint a landscape of one of the Virginia Regions. We use tempera paint cakes first to paint the sky, ground, land forms, rivers etc. We talk about using tints and shades for different values of colors. We review background, middle ground, and foreground. We add details with oil pastels the next week.

Khamsas

This is a project that I adapted to use for the "square 1" fundraiser last year. It is a . Khamsa - or Moroccan Good Luck Hand -  They turned out great. I stressed patterns and vivid color combinations. We also learned about overlapping in the process.

Aboriginal Animals

I did this project with my 5th graders for the "Original Works" fundraiser. Usually I do this with 4th grade and much larger, but they turned out wonderfully! You would be amazed at how into dotting they get.... I made folders with pictures of different Australian animals for them to look at when they sketched their animal, then they painted black outlines, and the next day they started dotting(with limited colors). Finally they paint the animal and finish the dots(with lots of colors o choose from). 3 classes total.

Rotating Symmetry Project

Lindsay and I found this project in a magazine a few years ago.. we tried it and loved it.  The objectives are: The student will identify positive and negative space in works of art. SOL 4.6; The student will demonstrate and use motor skills.; Student will identify and use variety, repletion and unity in an art work SOL 4.5; Create original works that are symmetrical and complex; Combine colors and values in an aesthetically pleasing manner; experiment with overlapping

I use a 12x 12 inch square piece of paper for the base. We fold it horizonatally, diagonally and vertically to make gluing guidelines. I have done this project with a fall theme and also with a winter theme. The kids love it and they turn out great.

Geo-Designs Positive and Negative space

Geo-Designs
I do this art project with my fourth graders to get them thinking about positive and negative space. They start by tracing geometric shapes on the paper using a marker. After the shapes are traced they color and add pattern to the shapes. The negative space is then filled in with a black and white pattern (stripes, checkerboard, stars...) using a Sharpie.

Space

Jennifer Manfre presented a fun project on Space. It was a project she found in the book Dynamic Art Projects for children. She does this project with fourth grade. We loved it!