I like my sketchbooks like I like my dinner: Cheap & Easy!

Third - Fifth grade make and keep their own sketchbooks in the art room for the entire year. Their

sketchbooks hold mini lessons, assignment pages, and rubrics.  I always wanted something to hold their papers, but would also give them the opportunity to add projects, sketch, & color.

Several years ago a brilliant colleague of mine suggested using prong fasteners with a 2 hole

punch.  I now 2-hole punch every handout, worksheet, & mini lesson I pass out.  The students learned quickly how to open and close their prong fastener. We decorate our covers (usually heavy tag) and do not have a back cover.  We just open the prongs and add new sheets as we get them.

yes, I chose this sketchbook because of the corner sun.

A Collection of Corner Suns!

I've been collecting photos of corner suns whenever I see them.  Here's the Master Post!
:

Sunshine! First grade gets us ready for warmer days ahead.

Continuing our study of Warm vs. Cool colors, first grade made these wonderful warm color sunshines.  It has made everyone at school loooong for the sunny days ahead (longest winter ever!!!) and keeps us optimistic that it will be here soon.

First graders began by drawing sunshines for 5 minutes.  They had to fill a paper and draw as many different suns as they possibly could.  Then I ask quesions like, 

"Who drew a circle with little lines?" 

"Who made one with sunglasses?" 

 "Who drew one with triangles?"

I used to ask, "Who drew one in the corner?"  but I don't do that anymore.... (It seriously encourages corner suns, I did my thesis on it!)  This conversations gets children thinking about other unique ways they could make a sunshine.

Together we looked at several examples of sculptures and paintings of sunshines.  We discuss all the elements the artist used and how each one looks different.  Finally we construct our own.

We do it together in steps;

make a circle, choose a new color for sunshine rays, choose another color for sunshine rays, use your scraps to make a face, add decorations with more construction paper, add decorations with slick paper, add decorations with metallic or glitter paper.  These took about 2 hours.