TK-8: Creativity & Design

For the 2021 - 2022 school year, I returned to the classroom to design and pilot a new elective at my district's TK-8 design thinking focused school (Campbell School of Innovation). When I have time, I plan on documenting and sharing my lessons on this page. In the meantime, feel free to peruse the spreadsheet and images below to get an idea of what we are doing this year!

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TK - 1

Exploring the Elements of Art: Texture Space Scene

My Grade 1 Creators explored how we can show texture in our art by using different techniques and materials. (This project was inspired by the Foil Printed Moon Craft by A Dab of Glue Will Do.

Exploring the Elements of Art: Texture Rainy Day Scene

My Kinder Creators explored how we can show texture in art by doing texture rubbings and using different materials.

Exploring the Elements of Art: Name Line Drawings

My Primary (TK-1) Creators learned about abstract art and then created Name Line Drawings (my sample is below). (This project was inspired by Alphabet Art Project by Art is Basic.)

Exploring Elements of Art: Shape Stamping

My Primary (K-1) Creators explored different shapes and colors by using different shaped cookie cutters to stamp designs onto their paper. I love how even though each student was given the same materials, each creation came out so different! (My TK Creators did the same project, but they used toilet paper tubes instead of shapes.)

Exploring Elements of Art: Shape Painting

My Grade 1 Creators explored how to use colors and paint to create interesting abstract art. (This lesson was inspired by Cassie Stephen's Unit on Shapes.)

Exploring Elements of Art: Color Mixing Ice Cream Cones

My TK Creators explored how primary colors mix to form secondary colors by using droppers to add liquid watercolors in primary colors to cotton rounds and seeing how they mixed. They then used their colorful designs to create ice cream cone art.

Exploring Elements of Art: Line Prints

My Grade 1 Creators were learning about the different kinds of lines found in art right before Valentine's Day. So they designed custom cards by "scratching" their line designs into foam with a ball point pen and using washable markers to color them in. I then created their cards by "printing" their designs onto folded pieces of art paper.

Exploring Elements of Art: Line Hearts

My Kinder Creators learning about the different kinds of lines found in art right before Valentine's Day, so we designed "line hearts". They drew a different type of line on each heart (5 hearts total) and colored them in. Then they cut them out, glued them onto folded pieces of construction paper, and wrote a sweet message inside for their someone special. (My example is below.)

Coffee Filter Snowflakes

My TK Creators were studying snowflakes in class, so we created coffee filter snowflakes. I pre-folded the coffee filters for them. They drew a different shape on each side of the folded snowflake and cut the shapes out. Finally, they colored them in with washable markers. After class, I sprayed each design down with a spray bottle to get the "water color" effect. (This lesson was inspired by How to Make Paper Snowflakes by Artful Parent.)

2 - 3

Warm vs. Cool Colors: Mixed Media Trees

My Grade 2 and 3 Creators learned about warm and cool colors and then created their tree landscapes below using sharpies, oil pastels, and watercolors. (This project was inspired by a similar one I found during one of my Google quests, but I can't recall who. When I figure it out, I will share - apologies!)

Single Line Drawing and Watercolor Exploration

My Grade 2 Creators pushed themselves creatively by creating a single line (or continuous line) drawing of their choice. They then traced the lines with a permanent marker and used watercolors to finish their piece.

4 - 5

Silhouette Art

My Grade 5 Creators learned about silhouette art and then created their own masterpieces by cutting and layering different colored construction paper.

Line Art

My Grade 5 Creators explored the "engrave" function of our Glowforge Laser Cutter by designing an image using only lines. We then used the laser cutter to engrave their drawings onto pieces of cardboard.

Word Art

My Grade 5 Creators explored the "cut" function of our Glowforge Laser Cutter by designing word art and having it cut out of cardboard. They were then tasked with creating two different designs - one with the cut out and one with the letter pieces.

6 - 7

Bringing Empathy into the Creative Process

My goal for my Grade 6 & 7 Creators was to help them to develop their empathy skills and to apply those in the design process of their creations. I plan on writing up more about their projects soon, but you can learn more about what we've done so far in the video to the right.

Graphic Design

My main focus with grades 6 and 7 was graphic design. Below are the lessons I used to teach them the basics of graphic design, as well as our empathy-focused assignments.

Graphic Design Unit - Lesson 1

Graphic Design Unit - Lesson 2

Graphic Design Unit - Lesson 3

Graphic Design Unit - Lesson 4

Superhero Designs

My Grade 6 & 7 Creators designed custom superheroes for the kindergarteners on campus. They met with a kinder friend and interviewed them to get an idea of what they should include in their design. They then planned out their superhero and drew their final designs on paper. We scanned their drawings and imported them into Google Drawing, where the students created a comic book cover for their superhero. I had their final designs printed and they were able to gift their creations to their kinder friends.

More Coming Soon!

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