Practicing Value and Observational Drawings With Lego Blocks

Observational drawings showcasing Lego Blocks with values.

In this post I will be showcasing a great technique to get students to think about value and practice observational drawing techniques. Previous to assigning the project I spent some time gathering the materials which in this case turned out to be Lego blocks. I found that the project becomes more relatable by using an object that all students are familiar with. Before assigning the project I spent some time arranging the Lego Blocks into arrangements of different compositions. Below you will find a step-by-step guide to realizing this great project.

Observational drawings showcasing Lego Blocks with values.

1.I had each student pick a Lego Block composition and take a sheet of paper.
2. The students then divided their sheet of paper into 4 quadrants. On each quadrant they wrote one of the following, side 1-side 4.
3. For about 2/3 class periods(60 min) the students focused on observational drawings of the Lego
Blocks. The drawings each correlated with a specific side of the Lego Block chosen by the students.
4. The last class period was focused on using color pencils to showcase the values of the Lego Blocks. Below you will find some completed works.

Textured landscape drawings

Pumpkin patch, textured landscape drawing by one of my middle school students.

      During the first grading period of school I focus on basic concepts that the students will need throughout the year. A huge chunk of this time is used to explore certain elements of art that the students might need extended comprehension on.  One of the projects that I enjoy doing is textured landscape drawings. I find that this project helps students understand the element of art that is texture. In addition, the students also have the possibility to explore the other elements such as color, value, shape, line and space. Below you will find a simple step-by-step for this fun activity. I found that it took about 2 class times to complete (each class time is about 105 min).

Spring time, textured landscape drawing by one of my middle school students.

Step 1

I start off by handing the students a blank paper and ask them to place their names on the top right. I have them turn it over to the blank side and in a landscape orientation. We then commence the step-by-step drawing instructions that I do on the board.

Step 2

I explain the directions and have them follow along almost in a 'Simon says' type of way. I call it 'Simon draws', this way the students know to do something similar to what I have drawn on the board.

Step 3 

The drawing usually involves the following 'Simon draws' directions.

1. I usually have them draw a wavy line right below the middle of the paper.

2. Proceed to draw another, less wavy line below the previous one.

3. Add 2 funny looking capital W's on each side. 

4. Contribute a square/rectangle next to each capital W.

5. For the final instructions I have the students convert the capital W's into trees by adding leaves to the top. The squares/rectangles get triangles added to the top and are then converted into houses.

 Step 4

After the simple 5 directions are completed, I have the students add windows, doors and textures to the roofs of the houses. In addition I have them create different textures throughout the whole landscape by having them think of lines, shapes and visuals that might enhance and help them create a unique textured landscape.

Step 5

Once all the drawing work is completed, the students are then welcomed to color in with color pencils, markers and crayons.

Out on the country field, textured landscape drawing by one of my middle school students.

Great Outdoors, textured landscape drawing by one of my middle school students.

Elements of art, 3 word sentence project

3 Word sentence project depicting the elements of art. Shape, Form,Texture, line, color, value and space.

   With the beginning of the year kicking off into a busy start I have finally found a moment to post on this years projects, fun and advice. I'm dedicating this entry to one of my favorite beginning projects. The elements of art, 3 word sentence project. This fun filled assignment focuses on teaching and putting into action their new found knowledge of the elements of art. I usually do this project with both my Art 1 middle and high school students. I start this unit the 2nd/3d week of school and it usually goes on until about the 4th week.

3 Word sentence project depicting four elements of art. Texture, form, line, shape

 I begin the unit with a power point that showcases the 7 Elements of art,(Shape,Color, Texture, Form, Value, Line and Space). After showing the power point, I have them think of a 3 word sentence to write on a small strip of paper. Once that's accomplished the students place all their strips of paper in a bag. I then go to each student an have them pick out a strip from the hat. Whatever destiny decides is the sentence they base their project off of.  I have the students take their 3 word sentence and using bubble letters they'll place it in the middle of their paper. After doing that, I have them fold it twice so that they end up with 4 rectangle/ 4 different quadrants. The students then choose 4 -6 elements of art that they're familiar with and they depict them has the backgrounds of the 3 word sentence. I find that the four quadrants help the students focus on 1-3 elements at a time, as well as making for an interesting composition. Enjoy the interesting outcomes :)

3 Word sentence project depicting 5 elements of art , Texture, line, shape, color and space

Book Clock project

Final product! A beautiful tribute to books and all things literature.

Over the summer break I got a chance to make magic happen in one of the happiest places in a school. The library! I was able to help make this really cool clock installation out of books. It was a fun process that required some step-by-step instructions. Below I show the process along with some pictures. Enjoy!

Step One 

Set of 12 books

Find a set of 12 books pertaining to the numbers 1-12. After you have your set of 12 books you simply use a liquid adhesive (modge podge, elmers glue), I personally used a diluted version of Elmer's glue by adding a tiny bit of water to it until it reached a smooth modge podge consistency. I used this concoction to seal the pages in the books by using a 1 inch paint brush on the sides of the closed book. I learned the hard way to seal all the pages but to leave the cover open and unglued.

Step Two

Let the books rest under some sort of weight. I used my teacher resources a.k.a the big paint gallons the kids use. You can see that I placed plastic wrap as a divider between the books, I did this to make sure the front covers were kept intact and had no glue spillage. I kept the books drying like this for about a week.

Step Three

Once dried and ready you adhere the clock arms unto the wall and move the handles around to see where each book would go. I had someone help me with the installation and we ended up using bulletin board pins as reference for the books.

Step Four

We then proceeded to drill the books unto the same points we previously placed on the wall with bulletin board pins. Some books were a bit heavy so we used screw anchors to secure the books.

Step Five

After drilling all the books we hot glued the covers shut to hide the screw marks. We were then left with the beautiful product.

5 Things I Learned My First Year Teaching

    Summer time tends to pass by rather quickly, especially for teachers. As I spend my summer time relaxing ( a.k.a planning for next school year) I can't help but smile on the fact that I survived my first year teaching. For all the teachers out there reading this, you know what I mean when I say "survive", and for those of you who have never taught let me enlighten you on what I mean.  Teaching can be one of the most emotionally rewarding and all around adventurous careers out there, believe me there is never a dull day in the classroom. However, it takes a surplus of dedication, commitment and never-ending-faith that at least one student was/has been inspired by your passionate ramblings. That dedication, commitment and never-ending-faith will sometimes result in 10 hour work days, working on weekends, forgetting the last time you ate and among many other things having coffee be your BFF.

(First year teachers/anyone interested or contemplating a teaching career, please do not be discouraged by that sad little list above, all those things quickly fade away when you see the smile of discovery and comprehension on a child's face. )

Inspired by my survival and completion of my first year teaching I came up with a list of 5 things that I have learned going through this amazing experience.


1. Relax
  As simple as this lesson sounds it's actually one of the toughest ones to learn.  Being a teacher means you grow to be unbelievably organized, resourceful with scheduling, timing and the ability to improvise will have you wondering where we acquire our magic from (this is especially true during testing season).  So knowing that you have all these amazing attributes can give you an opportunity to take a deep breath and relax, you got this under control. One of the best tips one of my colleagues gave me when I started was to always keep my cool. Her theory is that if you look frantic and freaked out for any reason at any moment, a student will catch on and feel/act out the same way. It's a psychological trigger that we acquired from an early age. For example, when you watch a toddler fall and the parent comes running concerned and frantic the child looks at his/her parent and starts crying. The opposite also holds true, if the parent calmly walks over and picks the child up then the child senses that there is nothing wrong and proceeds to stay calm. 

 2. Every day is different 
    This may seem like another no-brainier lesson but it took sometime to both understand and embrace. I am currently an educator at a middle/high school in which I teach 7 periods, grades 6-12. We work on a block schedule in which we have 1st period everyday (homeroom), and we toggle between odd day and even day. Obviously in knowing this information I knew that every class period was going to be absolutely different from one another. What I wasn't ready for is the fact that I'm teaching preteens and teenagers, What does that mean? It means raging hormones everywhere and everyday is a whole new overstimulating experience. I clearly remember one of my classes being extremely energetic one day and absolutely inanimate the next class. You would think that the teaching career would bring a form of consistency into your life, realistically speaking it does in some aspects but overall everyday is a whole new experience. How I went about overcoming these emotional and energetic shifts in my students is by focusing on myself. Remember, you set the pace and energy for your class. I discovered that if I incessantly showed a passion and adoration for color theory (or whatever lesson you may be teaching), that the students would eventually pick up and attempt to understand why anyone would be so interested in such subject matter. 

3. Communicate with your colleagues
 A while back I saw the movie Freedom Writers and discovered that it was based on true events. Throughout the movie I found myself laughing, crying and on the edge of my seat. As an educator I highly recommend you check it out, it is very inspiring and gives an interesting perspective on the education system in the 90's. With that being said I noticed that the work environment in both the movie and the book was very hostile between educators. In contrast to the educators in the film I am one that believes that communication is key, pretty much in any situation. In terms of teaching I have found that by sharing stories, advice and the occasional coffee, your colleagues become your mentors and support system. It can be difficult to relate work based questions, incidents, stories to your friends and loved ones, your work family is there when that's the case. Also keep in mind that some colleagues might no be open or comfortable with that idea, in which case just be respectful and empathetic. 

4. Don't take it personal
 I briefly mentioned in number 2 that preteens and teens tend to be a bit inconsistent with their energy and attitude. With that being the case the 4th thing I have learned my first year teaching is to not take anything personal. These are preteens and teens for crying out loud, emotions are flowing out left and right. I've had a student tell me to my face that they hate me and my class and then a week later give me a hug and tell me that they love me and my class. So the next time you have a student acting out just take a deep breath, handle the situation and shrug it off. Don't let him/her kill your awesome teaching vibe.

5. Keep snacks in your room
This lesson I learned isn't exactly the most amazing or it might not sound like its life changing but believe me, it is. A teaching day will typically fly right by, with that being said you might even discover that you missed your lunch break or maybe you even forgot your lunch at home. Those two things have happened to me and the consequences were not so delightful. I am the kind of person that gets to be frustrated fairly quickly when feeling hungry. Did I mention that wonderful headache that also occurs? I love art and I love teaching art, but there's no way that I enjoy a million questions about Picasso on an empty stomach and a pounding head. So after going through that experience I learned from my colleagues that along with coffee, snacks are your best friend. So whether you forgot to have lunch, left it at home, or are skimping your day through with a salad, a bag of crackers can really save your day. I also like to keep an assortment of nuts, pita chips, chocolate (my favorite pick me up) and those pudding cups. Full stomach = happy teaching