Art class warm-up with 3rd-5th grade: Art is...

I was recently inspired by Tumblr Artful Artsy Amy and her post "What is Art." I decided to try it out as a nice warm-up for my 3rd-5th graders on their first day of class.

We watched and discussed Amy's slideshow, "What is Art" and then wrote our own answers or definitions on our paper hands.  I loved the answers and I loved that my students were actually thinking of solid answers.

My end product wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as Artful Artsy Amy (I had hands written on every which way!) but the overall message gets through!  Plus, I have a great bulletin board for curriculum night.

 

First day art lesson for second grade - Hot Potato Self-Portraits, a success!

Second grade had been in school for four days already before they came to me- I am sure they didn't want to hear me discuss rules, routines, and basics of every corner of the room.  However, I was leery about jumping in with a project.  Instead, I decided to try an ice-breaker, and go from there.

We gathered in a circle and played a game of Hot Potato.  Only instead of a potato, we passed a garbage bag full of hats, necklaces, glasses, and scarves.  When the music stopped, the person holding the bag wasn't out, they just had to reach into the bag and pull out an accessory to wear.

I admit, it got a little loud.  Second grade was super excited, but they did a wonderful job following the game's rules and cheering on classmates.  I had planned for a 15 minute game which was also perfect to empty our bag.  Each student had at least one item to wear, with some sporting 2 or 3!

We returned to our new assigned seats.  Each child received a mirror and continued modeling their new attire.  I reviewed a bit of information about self-portraits, and asked the students to draw what they saw in the mirror.

The class remained engaged for 15-20 more minutes.  Some students had the chance to color, others did not.  Some kids were completely stumped at drawing hats, while others just went for it.  It was a lot of fun!