Going along with our theme of birds this week, the following teachers shared projects on the topic of birds.
1. My mentor teacher, Jane Napolitano, did these chicken paintings with her advanced art students in her Art Major class. For three years, students took a field trip to a local teacher who kept chickens. The students observed the chickens and took photographs that were then developed into these paintings.
2. Middle school art teacher Megan Patton did these pointalist artworks with her middle school students. She shares, “My students were about to pull their hair out and scream by the end, but the results are absolutely beautiful! Took three days with 90-minute classes.”
3. Art teacher Lacye Swilley Russell’s 7th and 8th Grade art class created these paper sculptures Russell wrote, “The entire body is made of cardboard and/or newspaper. Students researched birds and the different body parts. They created the body, then the head, and on to the other details (feet, beak, tail feathers, wings, etc). 98% of each bird is all paper product. Students were allowed to use wire for details.”
4. First-year art teacher Kathleen Eifert knocked it out of the park with her middle school student, who made paper-quilled birds. She describes the process as “rolled paper, fit together like a mosaic to create a design or image.”
5. Middle School art teacher Lisa Rein Banker created Eric Carle collages with her 6th graders.
6. Australian art teacher Zani Inder tapped Australian collage artist Pete Cromer with her Year 5 students. She wrote, “It took them some time to paint all the pieces of paper they needed, but in the end, I’m so happy with the result! It was such a wonderful activity for shapes, composition, colour and the design process in general.. She wrote about the project, “
7. Ceramic Katherine Dibb Ridder created these Whimsical Birds with her 9-12 Ceramic students. These are created using double pinch pots with internal venting. She has students “cut a generous hole into the neck before they add their hollowed heads- let everything dry out better.”
8. Middle School art teacher Shilpa Veerkar created these fall owls with her middle school students. Veerkar says they can be done in any season; just adapt the details to fit the season of your choice. She uses brown paper for the tree, but you can also recycle brown paper grocery store bags if you want to be environmentally and thrifty.
