Grade 4

What we've been working on!...

May: Biography Portraits

Biography portraits! In collaboration with our biography unit we made portraits of the individuals we have been studying in our classrooms, library & technology. Our portraits were inspired by one or more of the following portrait artists: Cath Riley, Yayoi Kusama, Frida Kahlo, Rene Magritte, Mickalene Thomas, and Chuck Close. These artists represent different art styles, techniques, and cultures from around the world. To make these portraits, we learned how to use the grid method! We hope our portraits help you connect to who inspires you today!

National Standard: (VA:Cr2.1.4a) Explore and invent art-making techniques and approaches.

Portfolios!

February/March: Tessellations

For this project our fourth graders took inspiration from optical illusion artist, M.C. Escher. M.C. Escher, was an artist from the Netherlands who used mathematics to create artworks that tricked the viewer's eye. He used architecture, reflection, symmetry, and more to make mind-blowing creations. Although Escher made many different types of art throughout his career, he is well known for his invention of the tessellation. A tessellation is a shape that repeats over and over without spaces or gaps in between. Tessellations are like puzzles except every piece is the exact same. After learning how to create a tessellation tile, our artists had to use their imagination to turn there "random" shape into something unique! We thought carefully about including details, used marker to outline, and color pencil to shade our tessellation patterns using either a complementary or analogous color pair. We hope our artworks "fit" smoothly into your day today!

National Standard: (VA:Cr3.1.4a) Revise artwork in progress on the basis of insights gained through peer discussion.

November & March: Emoji Pinch Pots

This month we learned how to make a pinch pot! Pinch pots are a type of clay object named after the way an artist makes them... by pinching! First we form our clay into a smooth sphere, next we make a hole in the center of the sphere with our thumb, and finally we slowly and carefully pinch it thinner from the inside out. This is tricky because once it is too wide or too thin, there is no going back. To decorate our pots we added emoji faces hidden inside of them. Emojis are used to share and emotion and expression in a simple way. Some of us used a slab + score and slip technique to add the emoji details while others carved them with a pencil. Up next the pinch pots will dry and get fired in the kiln. Finally, the fourth graders painted them with acrylic paint and put a gloss on them! We hope our pinch pots encourage you to express yourself today!

National Standard: (VA:Cr2.2.4a) When making works of art, utilize and care for materials, tools, and equipment in a manner that prevents danger to oneself and others.

January/February: Embossing for... Music Man!

Working with metal! For this project, we practiced using two techniques: 1)Embossing, and 2)Repousse. Metal tooling is a special art form that takes creativity, focus, and careful planning. However, once the plan is set and the design prepared, the outcome is so satisfying (it created a relief)! For this project, we were given the exciting opportunity to connect to our community through our artwork. Our artworks were inspired by the Music Man, and will be displayed during the Saugatuck Theater Club's productions in the spring. First, we created a sketch of an Instrument. We learned about where metal comes from, and that many instruments are made from brass. Next, we pressed the design into various colored metal sheets using wooden tools, plastic tools, and felt. Finally, we used black tempera paint and paper towels to emphasize the 3-dimesional aspects of our designs. We hope our prints help you "perform" today!

National Standard: (VA:Pr5.1.4a) Analyze the various considerations for presenting and protecting art in various locations, indoor or outdoor settings, in temporary or permanent forms, and in physical or digital formats.

December: National Inclusive Schools Week (Dec.2nd-6th)

This month our school, once again, celebrated National Inclusive Schools Week. The focus of the week this year was Every Voice Matters. The celebrations looked different in each of our specials and in our individual classrooms. In the art room, we were inspired to share our voices by looking at how the company Life WTR helps others use theirs. We tracked a few different artists across the United States as they used their creativity to bring art, community relationships, resources, positivity, inspiration, and joy to communities in need. Life WTR always supports artists by using their works as the images on their water bottle labels, but right now they have a goal to do more. Their "canvas for change" campaign is hoping to bring art to 10 million students across our 50 United States. There are so many students around our country who don't get to make art, so Life WTR is bringing art to them! This work inspired us to create our own water bottle label designs and share our voices, too. We asked ourselves: "If we could share one message with the world what would it be? What would it look like? Our label designs were colored using the material of our choice. Now that they are laminated, we might use our designs as book marks! We hope our artworks inspire you to use your voice today.

October/November: Skulls! Celebrating: The Day of the Dead, Inspired by: Calavera de Azucar (Sugar Skulls)

Our fourth graders have begun creating pieces in honor of Día De Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead). We learned that Día de los Muertos is a holiday that originated in Mexico and northern Central America. It is celebrated on Nov. 1st and 2nd. Symbols of the holiday include: flowers, butterflies and skulls. Those who celebrate the holiday make "sugar skulls" as treats. This is what inspired our project! For this project we worked on extra large pieces of paper. This helped us focus on two principles of design; balance & movement, and one technique; blending. The materials we used were pencils, bingo daubers filled with black ink, oil pastels, and watercolors. We hope our skulls ”sweeten” your day.

National Standard: (VA:Cn10.1.4a) Create works of art that reflect community cultural traditions.

September/October: "No Place for Hate" Silhouettes

In the art room this month we participated in an activity that was school wide! Our friends, siblings, neighbors, and family group members have been working on the same project. We've loved checking in on their progress during class, and learning more about one another. This year, SES is taking part in No Place For Hate, a program that promotes kindness, inclusivity, and belonging among many other things. We will be collaborating on No Place for Hate activities throughout the year here at SES, but our very first activity was this one!

We created silhouettes of our profiles by thinking about the features that makes us who we are (nose, mouth, chin, hats, hair, glasses, bows, etc.!). Inside of our silhouettes you will find some of the things that are meaningful to us. We found began to notice the many similarities and differences we have across our school and celebrated them both. We talked about the foods we eat, sports we play, family members we have, animals we love, countries we come from, holidays we celebrate, languages we speak, games we play, and more. Finally, we experimented with water colors to fill our background space and finish our works for our multi-colored hallway display.

We hope our silhouettes help you connect to what is special to you!

National Standard: (VA:Cr1.2.4a) Collaboratively set goals and create artwork that is meaningful and has purpose to the makers.

September: Radial Symmetry Paper Reliefs

For this project fourth grade worked with paper to create a relief. A relief is a type of sculpture that is flat on one side but 3-dimensional on the other. The students learned how to create 3 different kinds of paper folds: the hat fold, the kite fold, and the samurai fold. Before gluing down the folds with liquid glue, the students had to carefully plan where they would be placed and what colors would be used. In order to create radial symmetry in the artwork, each section had to be the same! We hope our reliefs pop out to you today!

National Standard: (VA:Cr1.1.4a) Brainstorm multiple approaches to a creative art or design problem.

Warm Up: "MY Elements of Art" Wheels

Our third graders created element of art wheels by thinking about the things that matter to them in their own lives. Did you know there are 7 elements of art? They are: Line, Shape, Color, Texture, Space, Form, and Value. The elements of art make up everything we create. First, we created 8 even sections in our circle (one for our title!). Next, we thought about where we see the elements of art in our own lives. Some of us see form in marshmallows, space in soccer nets, lines in an ice cream cone, and values at the beach. We hope our wheels inspire you to find the elements in your world!

Page updated

Report abuse