POETRY PEBBLES
    (GR. 4-8) 
    A super way to get the creative writing juices flowing. 
    
    Materials: 
    
    
    a.. Small rocks or pebbles. 
        b.. Small paint bushes. 
        c.. Water and water containers. 
        d.. Magic markers. 
        e.. Paint (make tempera paint thicker by adding glue or flour). 
        f.. A covered work area. 
        g.. A shoebox, yogurt or empty "Jiffy Pop" popcorn container. 
        h.. Hairspray or a spray varnish. 
        Directions: 
    
    
    a.. Make sure your pebbles are clean. 
        b.. Paint words onto your pebbles. You could also use markers instead
of paint. 
        c.. Choose a number of words -- people, places, things, action words
etc. Some good ones are:
        1.. he 
            2.. she 
            3.. to 
            4.. love 
            5.. dog 
            6.. went 
            7.. walk 
            8.. you 
            9.. happy 
            10.. in 
            11.. to 
            12.. a 
            13.. my 
            14.. your 
            15.. orange 
            16.. red 
            17.. blue 
            18.. purple 
            19.. green 
            20.. swim 
            21.. bike 
            a.. Use your imagination and make sure you draw some punctuation
marks on some pebbles as well (comma, exclamation point, period, question mark
etc.) 
    b.. Once the pebbles are painted, let them dry and seal them with
hairspray or spray varnish. 
    c.. Put all the pebbles into a show box or Jiffy Pop container. You can
decorate your container with paint or markers as well. 
    d.. Play a game of poetry pebbles. Each player chooses a number of pebbles
from the box and tries to come up with a poem or story. 
    e.. Makes for a great way to begin a short story for those times when you
have writers block! 
    COLOR MY WORLD
    (GR 2) 
    AUTHORS: Nancy Martin and Barb Hawkins Midway Schools, Denton, Kansas 
    
    Red, yellow, and blue are called primary colors. Every other color can be
produced by mixing different combinations of these colors. Red and yellow make
orange. Red and blue make purple. Yellow and blue make green. The newly
created colors are orange, purple, and green. These colors are called
secondary colors. 
    
    The students will experiment with colors and discover which colors are
created when the primary colors are mixed together. 
    
    Materials: 
    
    a.. white frosting 
        b.. red, blue, and yellow food coloring 
        c.. mixing bowls 
        d.. 3 spoons 
        e.. 3 measuring teaspoons 
        f.. graham crackers 
        g.. napkins 
        h.. typing paper 
        Directions: 
    a.. The teacher should color and mix frosting beforehand: 
        b.. 1 cup red 
        c.. 1 cup yellow 
        d.. 1 cup blue. 
        e.. This investigation can be done in small groups or with the entire
class. 
        1.. Each student will be given 2 graham crackers. S/he will leave one
whole and break the other into fourths. 
        2.. Each student will measure 1 teaspoon of each color on the whole
cracker. 
        3.. The students will predict what color will be made when red and
blue are combined. 
        4.. The students will mix red and blue frosting on one part of the
other cracker using a popsicle stick. 
        5.. The students will predict what color will be made when red and
yellow are combined. 
        6.. The students will mix red and yellow frosting on one part of the
other cracker using a popsicle stick. 
        7.. The students will predict what color will be made when yellow and
blue are combined. 
        8.. The students will mix blue and yellow frosting on one part of the
other cracker with a popsicle stick. 
        9.. The students will predict what color will be made when red and
blue and yellow are combined. 
        10.. The students will mix red and blue and yellow frosting on the
last part of the other cracker with a stick. 
        11.. Enjoy! 
        a.. Review what they learned by drawing a color wheel on the board. 
        b.. Students draw one on their piece of paper. 
        c.. Students help fill in the wheel on the board with colored chalk
while the others color in the one at their desks. 
        
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ELEMENTS OF ART:
ART AND ART APPRECIATION FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
(K-2+) 
AUTHOR: Mary L. Nisewander, London School, OR 

The primary subject area is art, when possible, integrated with language arts,
math, social studies, and science. In design the elements are visual
properties. The principles are ways of using and combining the elements to get
a desired effect. The organization of the elements and principles in space is
called design. 

Elements: 

1.. Line 
    2.. Shape 
    3.. Form 
    4.. Texture 
    5.. Value 
    6.. Space 
    7.. Color 
    Principles: 
1.. Balance 
    2.. Movement 
    3.. Repetition 
    4.. Emphasis 
    5.. Contrast 
    In this series of activities the primary focus will deal with the element
of line. All or a combination of principles of design will be presented in the
line activities. 
Objectives: 

1.. Identify and demonstrate the element of line in their designs. 
    2.. Identify the principle(s) used in their line design. 
    3.. Demonstrate correct and safe use of art materials. 
    4.. Identify and use the primary colors. 
    5.. Explore and use mixed media to complete a project. 
    6.. Identify and experience completing a project influenced by the style
of an artist. 
    
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Activities: 
Line Collage 
Materials: 

a.. 1"-3" wide strips of various lengths of colored construction paper 
    b.. 1 sheet of 9"X18" white drawing paper per student 
    c.. glue 
    d.. scissors 
    Directions: 
1.. Students glue the strips of construction paper to their piece of drawing
paper, using the edge of their strip to demonstrate the element of line. e.g.
twisting, looping, chaining, rolling, curling, folding, pleating 
    
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Line Printing 
Materials: 

a.. 2" wide strips of various lengths of manila tag paper 
    b.. 1 sheet of 9"X18" white drawing paper per student 

    c.. paper clips 
    d.. staplers 
    e.. 3 plates of tempera paint per group (e.g. hot/cold colors). 
    Directions: 
1.. Students fold, curve, pleat, etc. their strips of manila tag paper and
either paper clip or staple the form. 
    2.. Students dip each strip form into different colors of tempera paint,
then print onto their drawing paper to demonstrate the element of line. 
    
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String Painting 
Materials: 

a.. 2-9"X12" white drawing paper per student 
    b.. tempera paint in bowls 
    c.. 12" length of string (at least 3 per student). 
    Directions: 
1.. Provide several lengths of string for each bowl of tempera paint. 
    2.. Hold one end, dip string into paint. 
    3.. Lay string onto paper to create design. 
    4.. Redip and relay, or use a new string and a new color. 
    Variation: try dropping string onto paper. 
NOTE: for a strongly imprinted design, press a second sheet of paper or
several sheets of newspaper on top of your string design. 


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Pulled String 
Materials: 

a.. yarn or string 
    b.. bowl of tempera paint 
    c.. construction paper or drawing paper 
    d.. damp rag or sponge 
    Directions: 
1.. Dip string or yarn into bowl of tempera paint, do not squeeze paint out of
string. 
    2.. Lay string on a sheet of paper in any design, leaving the tail end of
string off the edge of the paper. 
    3.. Place another piece of paper over this. 
    4.. Lay hand gently over paper and string. 
    5.. Pull string from paper, keeping hand pressing gently. 
    6.. Remove top paper and observe designs. 
    Variations: try a folded sheet of paper and place string inside. Try
several colors, one at a time, adding each color after the first is done. Try
a rope dipped in paint and place between very large sheets of paper (many
hands can help).
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TYING IT ALL TOGETHER
Art Postcards 
Materials: 

a.. 2 identical sets of postcard-size reproductions of artwork (e.g. van Gogh,
Renoir, Matisse, Degas). 
    Directions: 
1.. Step one - students match identical paintings of a variety of subjects.
First begin using only three identical pairs, then gradually add more pairs of
that particular artist. Do not introduce the name of the artists or the titles
of the paintings unless the child asks about them. Now each pair has the same
subject matter as every other pair (e.g. mother with a child). This level of
identical matching can also be done with many other subjects. For the advanced
level, select extremely similar pairs to every other pair. All six pairs are
painted by the same artist, feature the same style, and have the same subject
matter. 
    
    2.. Step two - students pair similar paintings by an artist that are not
identical but similar in both subject and style (e.g. two different paintings
of ballet dancers by Degas, two different paintings of birds by Audubon, two
different geometic abstracts by Mondrian). Difficulty is gradually increased
by selecting subjects that more closely resemble each other. For the advanced
level, the subjects of the paintings are all the same (e.g. twelve portraits
of children - two different children by Cranach, ...Holbein, ...Renoir,
...Lawerence, ...Picasso, ...Millais). 
    
    3.. Step three - students begin grouping four paintings by each of three
different artists. At this point, introduce writing the artist's name under
each painting. 
    
    4.. Step four - learn about artists and their times. Continue to increase
the challenges that are age appropriate for each student's level of
experience. Can be integrated with language arts, math, social studies, and
other academic areas. 
    

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"Cray-Pas" - van Gogh 
Materials: 

a.. Cray-Pas 
    b.. van Gogh art postcards 
    c.. 1-9"X18" white drawing paper per student 
    Directions: 
1.. Each student chooses their favorite art postcard by Vincent van Gogh. 
    2.. Students duplicate the artwork onto their drawing paper.