Art Around the World: Elementary Art

Art around the world is a fantastic way to incorporate culture into my lessons. The students were so excited to learn where different art came from. Facts about the country and where the country was in location to where we lived. I collaborated with the librarian, pe, and music teachers so the students were learning the different aspects of the country. The student's loved every week coming into my classroom. Below is a picture of the map I placed on my bulletin board so that the students understood where their art was from every week.

Each grade was a different country. The list below tells you every project I did with the students K-5.

K: Caveman Drawings done with charcoal (super messy but so much fun!), chameleons out of pipecleaners (learning about sculptures), and they created a world they way they felt. (tied into the song they were singing for their kindergarten show: here is the song that went with it. Colors of my Heart)

1st: Chinese new year paper lanterns (we had diversity so I tied it into their culture), Aboriginal dot paintings, and paper totem poles. You can see the snake above that was made. 

2nd: Moai head sculptures out of clay and lego characters. They took longer than expected on the lego character so they did not get to a third project.

3rd: Ancient Egyptian cuff bracelet, Cubism portrait with soft pastels, ( I don't recommend using the soft, the kids didn't understand how to control them even after we practiced.  Oil may be better for that project.) and pop art by Romero Britto. The third grade also did day of the dead in the fall and as a celebration they created sugar skulls!

4th: Paper molas with paper layers and they also created bitmojis! Teaching proportions was difficult for me, that is an ability I would need to refine more.

5th: Challenged Stereotypes based from multiple artists from Chicago and they created masks. The stereotypes lesson I got from the state conference. Two presented on how they explained it to their 5th graders and thought it was a brilliant idea. I also started to teach and artist statement along with the stereotype project. 

These lessons are by no means perfect! If I were to teach elementary again, I would go back and refine my work. You have access to my powerpoints for how I presented the lesson. It weren't specific on how I instructed them to create the lesson but this was the introductory day. Take what ideas you want, enjoy!