Carolyn Braden's Line Poems

To go with the line project I previously blogged about, here are the line poems
I created.

Harriet Horizontal is the line by the sun.
She stretches across the land, she is so much fun!

Dottie Diagonal slides down the hill just like her friends Jack and Jill.

Carrie Curvy waves up and down, swimming in the ocean is where she is found.

Victor Vertical stands straight and tall from the top to the bottom of a wall.

Zion Zigzag zips very fast going to the top of a mountain back down to the grass.

Carolyn Braden's Kinders: Pretty Impressive Line Art!

Today I started my Kinders out with line art. I named the lines Carrie Curvy, Dottie Diagonal, Zion Zig Zag, Harriet Horizontal and Victor Vertical. I tell the students poems I made up about each line and they repeat after me. We draw Harriet first, then Dottie, Carrie, Zion and Victor, in that order. I do a guided drawing for this, using Microsoft Paint projected on a screen. It's my "magic paper". When they finish the drawing they always know what they drew: a pool with a fence and slide. One said today it looked like a water park.
Then they practiced their coloring skills.
I love doing guided drawings. Their art always turns out great! I always allow for the students to put their own twists on their drawings to make it their own. It shows students that drawings are just lines and shapes put together in different ways.

Carolyn Braden's Ish Lesson!

For the first day of art class, I wanted to continue my tradition of making sure students understand they should always have confidence in my class. Last year I read The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds and this year I read his book Ish.
For the lesson, they first watched a video I made of me reading the book. (I incorporated music and character voices and the kids seemed to really like the "video book" format.)
The 2nd-5th graders all folded their papers into fourths and made mini "masterpiece" frames around each box. I typed up about 75 "Ish" ideas and randomly gave each student two. They drew my two ideas and then drew their own two ideas.
I did guided "Ish" drawings with my first graders. We did four mini drawings. I taught the Kinders how to draw a fish-ish. Their art was magnificent!
This is a great first day back activity. It sets the tone for the year (never give up!) and refreshes their memory of direction following in art class.

Back To School August 2012

Welcome back! All students will be given my Art Star Newsletter during their first art class. If you'd like to view it on-line, here it is. Here's to a great year making young minds think as creatively as possible!

Carolyn Braden's KMAC Blackacre Camp Project Results

I taught this braided coil basket project to middle school age students at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Crafts. I'd say they did a fantastic job! Some didn't know how to braid, thread a needle or even sew. By the end of the lesson, they all picked up the skills and created creative baskets.