Original Works Products HERE!

 

OW Products are HERE!

Our Original products arrived late last week, and I used several hours on Friday (Field Day) to sort our the orders. 

 

 

Items I ordered from my girls' work. I'm so excited about my new coffee tumbler!!

Here they are, ready to be opened and sorted.
 

Each order is packaged with artwork, order form and items.

Most items are stacked in the front, from smallest to largest, so it makes it easy to check each order with out opening the package.

They are sorted in the box by class and mugs and tumblers are on top.

Folders that the artwork comes in serve as the class dividers.

It took about 15 minutes to go through this whole grade level, easy peasy!!

Watercolor Creatures

Watercolor Creatures

Liquid Watercolor Blown with Straws

I decided that instead of doing black ink we would try something a little more colorful, I use Sax liquid watercolors.  Each student got to choose the color they wanted, I dropped about a quarter size drop of their chosen color and they of course blew out their creatures with a straw.  This didn't require much time, so we just used the last 15 minutes of a class for this part.  On day two, they added to their creatures and back grounds with colored sharpie.  It was a blast watching them turn their pictures this way and that, watching their eyes light up when the perfect idea came to them.  

Complimentary Color Hearts

Complimentary Color Hearts

These black hearts are painted on brown craft paper, they only need 15 or so minutes to complete the hearts, so a great thing to do as they are finishing another project or set up a station to rotate tables through.  On the second day, they choose the compliments that they would work with.  Then they can find any variation of those colors (oil pastels).  This is a great, quick project.

Mike Esparza Superheroes

Mike Esparza Superheroes

 

We are just finishing up our superheroes.  They are so much fun to look at, but I'm sure my kids little fingers are tired from doing this one.  The kids did a great job.  Day one of the project, we introduced the artist, Mike Esparza.  It is funny, they always want to know if the artist is still alive or if they've kicked the bucket.  Well, they were excited to find out, not only is he still living and breathing, but he is originally from San Antonio, just an hour away from us.   I gave the kids a chance to draw out theirsuperheroes, on scrap paper to work out the kinks first, they were allowed to draw any superhero or villian.  I also gave them lots of images of superheroes, as well as some of Picasso's cubism art, since his art is influenced by him.  Once they finished their practice, they moved to the large gray construction paper (12" by 18").  On day 2, they traced their superhero with black sharpie and began the coloring process.  Lastly, they cleaned up the sharpie with another trace.  I did this project with 3rd-5th grades. 

 

Kid Snippets...Funny!

Yeah, Some Days are Like That...

This is so funny, I cried when I saw it.   A friend and coworker sent this, thanks Erin, it made my day!!  Math was never my thing, I'm sure my math, algebra, and  geometry teachers all felt this way with me.  I'm happy to say I am doing what I'm suppose to be doing and I haven't had to use algebra since leaving college!  It is a good thing my husband keeps the finances straight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdxEAt91D7k

Watercolor Birch Trees

Watercolor Birch Trees

First Snow

We started these pictures out with a simple watercoloring and salting on the first day.  Day two the kids sprayed water tinted with white tempra paint on their cardboard or brown paper strips.  They used black colored pencil to the trees to add texture. Then glued them to their landscapes.  Tree shadows were added with black colored pencil.

Lion Dancers

Cultural Experiences

Lion Dancers

We had the opportunity to have a local lion dancer group come and perform at our school.  Three years ago I found a group linked with the University of Texas that would perform at schools.  It was great, because they didn't charge an outrageous fee.  The other bonus was that the whole school got to enjoy this cultural experience. Especially now a day, they limit the kids field trip to maybe once a year.  They performed for us for the second time this spring. I am curious to know what other cultural exposure you have brought into your school?