Papier Mâché Birds (This Years' Version)

I just wanted to post a couple of pictures of the current Grade 3 class' papier mâché birds. I posted my original lesson last year here. Again, thanks to Julie at Art for Small Hands who inspired this project in the first place.

The Grade 3 classes from last year are still talking about their little birds, and this new crop of Grade 3s started asking me at the beginning of school if they would be able to make them. So here they are again. For some reason, it seemed as though this group needed much more support in making their bird bodies than the previous ones. For the few weeks that it took to make these (3-4 double classes) I felt like I was running here and there all over the room helping with a head, or a beak, or some droopy wings-but again, they were worth it.

They only change I made to the original lesson was to use bendable electrical wire for the bird feet-as the floral wire was so difficult for the students to bend themselves. It was great because more of them were able to do this part independently.  

Papier Mâché Birds-well worth it!

Golden Eagle and Woodpecker

This is it.....the best project with my Grade 3s by far. The kids completely fell in love with these papier mâché birds (that they got to know quite well over the 4 weeks we spent on them!).

First, thank you many times over to Julie at Art for Small Hands who created and posted this lesson. The project was quite involved, but she broke it down into easy, manageable steps.

My Grade 3 theme is Canadian art and artists, so I had each student choose to represent one bird that lives in Canada. I had them search through bird books to find one, and then they had to sketch a picture of it in their sketchbooks, colour it with pencil crayons, and make sure to label the type of bird it was as well.  Students went back to their sketches several times; when forming the bird's body shape, and when choosing paint colours.

Crow and Robin

Belted Kingfisher, Woodpecker, and Crow

Swallow

Several classes later, after building the body, layering with papier mâché, adding wire legs and a beak, acrylic painting, and varnishing (non-toxic), the birds were done! A long project, but well worth the time and effort.

Memory Landscapes - Watercolour Monotypes

My Grade 3 theme is Canadian Art, so I invited in local painter and printmaker Wendy Morosoff Smith to give us a workshop on watercolour monotypes. Wendy spoke to the students about how her landscapes are created from memories of the impressionable places she has been. She asked students to then create their own "memory landscape" from an image of a place in their minds that they remembered vividly.   

We used 8 x 10 plexiglass plates, with a surface that I had already scratched up with sandpaper (for adhesion). Then Wendy and I washed the plates with a mildly abrasive cleaner to take off any dirt or oil, and rubbed gum arabic all over the plates with a rag. Students each took a plate, traced it on white paper, and sketched out a rough drawing of their composition on that paper. Then they laid the plate on top of the paper again and began painting. To paint, we used watercolour paint in tubes mixed with a little bit of water.

  

After the paintings were dry to the touch (some students had to use the hairdryer to speed up the process), they were ready to print. Some high-quality Stonehenge paper in warm white had been pre-cut and soaked in water. One sheet at a time was dried off with towels when it was time to print. Wendy operated the small printing press (which I feel very lucky to have in my classroom!) as students stood by and watched the magic take place. They were so excited and could not believe their eyes as their prints emerged. The prints were then left to dry and flattened under some books. 

The next class, students were asked to title their image, and were shown how to write the edition number and sign their name on the print. Even with a big example on the board. this was difficult for most students to do. Next time, I would work step-by-step with all students together. I also had little strips of paper pre-printed with information on the printmaking process we used and a section for the students to fill out describing the significance of their image. They then glued these to the back of the prints.