Studio Project #2

For this weeks studio project, our "1st grade class" created an art piece of a memory that we have of our family. My picture is of my boyfriend, my daughter, and myself floating through the mountains of Arizona on Salt River. My master piece was composed using watercolor paper, a paintbrush, oil pastels, and a watercolor wash (a combination of watercolor paint and water). I created the secondary color watercolor wash by mixing red and blue watercolor paint together.

Parts that are above and below in my art piece:

• the mountains are above everything in the picture
• the river appears to be above the horses and cacti at the bottom of the page and those objects are below the river
• there is a little bridge that goes above the water and the water is below
• my family and I are above the water in the river and the river is below us
• we are also below the mountains and the mountains are above us

Parts that are behind in my art piece:

• the mountains are behind everything on the paper
• the river is behind the horses
• and outside of the painting, the paintbrush and paint holder are behind my painting

Parts that are in-between in my art piece:

• my family and I are in-between the two sides of the river and so is the bridge
• there are flowers and grass in-between the two horses
• there are several cacti in-between the mountains

This project is appropriate for this grade level because it covers many of Ohio's standards that are linked to this topic area, which I will go over in just a moment! It also goes back to the biggest thing that I have learned throughout all of my years in the College of Education, which is how essential kinesthetic and engaging activity is to a young learners brain. Because, that is how they learn! -through doing. It is so so so important that an educator teach a lesson but then APPLY it to show its RELEVANCE. Teaching is so much more than saying "hey, these are your secondary colors. Next.." No! These are your secondary colors, where do you see them in this picture? How about this one? Can you make a picture using secondary colors? Combine two colors and try. That engraves the information into the students brain while allowing them to be kids and have fun. Which is another extremely important thing. Learning is supposed to be fun!

Learning Standards: Visual Arts
1.1.6 Elements: color
1.1.5. Elements: space
1.2.1. skills and techniques: uses a variety of tools to explore ways of making lines and textures

Common Core ELA:

1.W.8. with guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided resources to answer questions
1.SL.4. describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly

If I were to implement this lesson in my own classroom, I really don't see any areas of potential difficulty. I thought this lesson was interesting, engaging, and wonderfully interactive. The only thing that I may could for see not working to well, is if I didn't explain what colors mix to make what secondary colors. Students might get confused and mix the wrong colors. together But other than that, I can't see any issues or concerns.

My first 1st grade lesson is down in the books!