Dia de Los Muertos- a "powered up lesson"

My school division has adopted the ideas of John Antonetti, and my principal has asked that we teach one "Powered up" lesson each quarter of this school year. "Powered up" essentially means taking lessons we already do, and making them better, more rigorous and more engaging. Finding ways to "hook" middle schoolers is a lot harder than one might think. Many of them are 'too cool for school' at this stage, and trying to find something they will think is 'legit' is a most difficult task. 

One thing they all have in common is a love of food... so for my Dia de Los Muertos lesson, I decided to take a new spin and "power it up" by including more than just the art of the culture, but also some of the traditions that go along with the whole celebration of the holiday. 

Before they entered the room.. the mood was set.. the lights were off, decorations were hung and the  authentic tunes were filling the room.. 

The students entered intp the atmosphere of a fiesta, they were greeted by their art teacher.. who *GASP* was a little different than her usual self...

Thank you Lularoe for helping me to become Miss. Frizzle on a daily basis!

They began the class by viewing a Prezi

https://prezi.com/uphhcy-lwu6h/dia-de-los-muertos/

After the note taking, students were given a practice skull and some chips and salsa/queso to get in the partying mood. They enjoyed their fiesta food while they completed a colored pencil technique sheet and their practice skulls. 

At the end of class we concluded the lesson with a pinata full of candy.. so they got to hit something and eat tons of candy! 

The project itself began the following day. Students worked with me to draw a large skull onto a 12x18 piece of paper. They then added their designs from their practice skull being careful to 'fill the space'. We talked a lot about utilizing their work area and not leaving large areas of blank space. I had my examples on display:

Students drew their designs in pencil and then traced everything with a sharpie. When they were ready, they used the three colored pencil techniques that we practiced, and began coloring their sugar skull. 

I am always impressed with their creativity and ability to make something awesome!

Warm and Cool Piet Mondrian- 8th Grade Project

My 8th graders art talents vary from amazing to down right pitiful. As a middle school art teacher, I do not grade on talent, I grade on the ability to follow directions, neatness, work habits and my expectations of their individual work.  I make sure that they learn the concepts and techniques, but their execution of the skills might not always be as wonderful as I would like them to be. 

I am one of the few full time elective teachers at my school, and that means that not all of the students in my class, actually chose my class.. I get students who 'forgot to turn in their choice form' at the end of the previous year, and so they get 'stuck' in my class because I have more sections, and therefore, extra spaces. I also have special needs students who are self-contained for the entire day, with the exception of their elective class.  So the outcome of my projects can vary greatly from student to student. 

This project we talk about the artist Piet Mondrian. We study his artwork and talk about his use of vertical and horizontal lines, a primary color scheme, and the creation of different sized squares and rectangles through the intersection of his lines. I begin every project with a powerpoint, prezi or adobe spark page that the students take notes from. 

At the start of this project, students learn and practice three colored pencil techniques: exterior emphasis, value, and texture as seen below. 

They complete a very small practice project before beginning the final project which I draw and photocopy for them to color and fully understand how to color the project. 

Then they choose a cartoon character and I print it for them. They practice drawing it in their notebooks and then they draw it on a larger scale by simply drawing from observation. I typically do not get the groans of "I can't draw" from this project because cartoon characters are fairly simple and as long as they get the features close to the likeness of the character, they are happy with the outcome. 

After the character is drawn, they use a ruler to draw vertical and horizontal lines to create a Mondrian-like artwork. They trace everything with sharpie before they begin coloring. The color scheme we use is the warm/cool grouping- they have to color their character with one set and the background with the opposite set of colors. 

They are required to use the colored pencil techniques throughout the process. 
I am always impressed with their final outcomes- enjoy!

This was done by one of my Learning support students, she used a light table to trace her printed characters

This artwork was also created by one of my Learning Support Students- she also traced the printed cartoon on a light table. 

This one was completed by one of my English Language Learners from Afghanistan. He speaks very little English, but thats one of the beautiful things about art- its an international visual language :)

Legacy Tiles

**PHOTO HEAVY POST**

8th graders leave middle school and they never look back. We all have those students we wave to as they leave, and mutter under our breath "... good riddance" and then we have those students we hold back tears for, as we watch them walk through the doors for the last time. One thing I remember about all of my students, good or bad, is they have taught me a lesson somewhere along the way.

All of my 8th graders create a legacy tile, they find a work of art that speaks to them and re-create it on a ceiling tile. The tile stays forever, and when the students are gone, it comforts me to look up and see their names and the lasting impressions they had on me.

Our tiles are 24"x 24"and students use tempera or acrylic paint.

Here are a few (or well, more than a few) of my favorites from the last 7 years. Enjoy :)