Thursday, November 29, 2012

Collage Cats

Last month 4th graders followed the lead of vintage collage artist Denise Fiedler (see her website here) to collage dogs from recycled newspaper and construction paper scraps. This month 3rd graders tried their hand at it producing cats.

We started with a Smartboard lesson where students identified the basic geometric shapes they could see in cats, outlining the shapes with the whiteboard markers.


Then, following some basic steps on the board, children cut and pasted to make their kitties. They still had photos of cats to use as reference on the Smartboard, and, of course, many had pets or cats they knew that influenced their choices of eye color, collars, etc.


It was really fun for those who got to decorating collars and naming their pretend pets with tags hanging from the collars.

The last class had some extra time due to rainy day schedule so their artwork had lots of details -- unfortunately, I sent the artwork out the door with the kids without getting any photos of that batch -- ah, well, next time!

24 comments:

  1. They are adorable - but of course, I'm biased -I'm a kitty-lover!

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  2. These cats are amazing.
    I love this lesson and the use of newspaper for it.

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  3. I just nominated you for the Art Ed Blog of the Year award.

    Good Luck.

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  4. Christie I don't see the nomination on the comment section.
    I tried posting the nomination three time with no luck.

    I send Jessica an email with the nomination.
    I am still waiting to see the nomination on the comment section.

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  5. I just saw the nominations.
    Jessica entered the post on my behalf.

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  6. I like the use of common resource of newspaper. Another newspaper use that I have learnt from others is painting the paper with food dye to colour it and use it for collage. Cheap coloured paper. Sue

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    1. I like that idea, thanks! I'll have to give it a try!! I had thought about having kids "paint" the paper with tea to get that aged quality, but for this project I really wanted to finish in one class period and the drying process would have necessitated another day.

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  7. These turned out fabulous!!! Thanks for sharing your blog!
    Julie

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  8. i love this lesson and the cats are beautiful, i'll try to do it in my classroom and you can see the results in our school blog:
    www.pekearteleno.blogspot.com
    thank you

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  9. These are gorgeous. And thank you for providing the link to the artist's website. I LOVE her work. Very inspiring for projects!

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    1. I like her work, too. The kids in my class loved the variety. I think it gave some the motivation to try new collages at home.

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    2. Great work-I love the look of the newspaper. I will have to try it as well!

      Just one question....how do you find the Smartboard in your art room? Do you use it a lot? I have some finding to purchase one but have been holding off because other teachers at my school have had issues with theirs breaking down (never mind the precious wall/whiteboard space that they take up, and the possibility of it getting very dirty/damaged in the art room). My other option is a new projector with attached speakers that uses a laser pen. Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much! :)

      Danielle
      http://artroomwithaview.blogspot.ca/

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    3. I've had my Smartboard for 4 years now and it feels like an extension of me in the classroom. I use it every day for almost every lesson, although for most of what I do a document camera connected to my computer(for Power Points)/internet would probably meet my current needs. I do love, and have gotten used to, the interactive capabilities of the Smartboard -- it would be hard to go back to not having it!! I haven't really had many glitches with mine. All our classrooms have them, and we have a computer tech guy on campus 3 or 4 days a week, so if there is a problem it can be addressed fairly quickly. I haven't had any problem with the Smartboard getting dirty or damaged. I placed it on the wall near my rug area, so it is away from the tables where kids are working with messy stuff.

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  10. Hi, Great post. I found you through the blog hop. Now following you.Please stop by and say hi when you get a chance.
    Be sure and check out my new Blog Hop that we just started, It's Weekly Goals Link Up. It's a great way to stay on track. Have a great day. :) Here's the link in case you want to check it out.
    http://lenettacarnes.blogspot.com/2013/01/weekly-goals-linkup-3.html Thanks again
    Lenetta

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  11. Did this lesson today with my Year 3's - they looked wonderful, thankyou!

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    1. Thanks for letting me know. So glad you had fun with the project. Actually this makes me think maybe I should do it again this year!!

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  12. I did these with my kids today! Was a great project. I shared it on my blog and set a link to you. Thank you for the inspiration! My kids loved it.

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    1. Thanks, I will click over to your site and take a look:))

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  13. I love these. It doesn't seem too challenging a project, I'm thinking of trying this with my kindergarten class. Thoughts?

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    1. I'm thinking of doing the same- was it successful? Thanks!

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  14. Hello there! I just wanted to let you know that I did this project with some first graders during a long-term sub job this spring and had a blast--what a nice project! We added birds to ours and real feathers and I totally copied your bulletin board display because it was just perfect (or purr-fect--ARGH, I had to!!). Anyway, check out what you inspired: http://createartwithme.blogspot.com/2016/04/first-grade-projects-from-my-long-term.html

    Thank you for sharing, Mrs. P

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    1. Thanks for sharing -- I LOVE the addition of birds and feathers!!

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