using QR codes in art!

I've been using our brand new iPads a bunch in my classroom lately, thanks to a substantial grant from the Education Foundation of Sarasota County, Inc! My students love using them as a "center" after they are finished with their artwork, but I love using them to get kids more personally involved in their artwork by using QR codes.

QR (quick response) codes are codes that can be scanned with a smart phone (with a QR scanner app), iPad, or iPod. The scan automatically takes you to a web page (we like FotoBabble) where you can hear kids talk about their artwork, the process, the artist, their choices, etc. They've been amazing assessment tools for me, and the students have a blast recording their voices and taking photos!

To read more about the different apps I use to make the codes, head over to my contributing post on PreK and K Sharing to learn more!

kindergarten kastles

I first saw this lesson on Deep Space Sparkle and pinned it on Pinterest. I love how the sponge-stamped "bricks" show the texture of the castle! We used our sponge paint daubers so our fingers didn't get messy. Worked like a charm!!!

We then used a mixture of painted papers, scrap papers, fringed papers (grass), and torn papers (moat) to add in the details. The kids had so much fun....and their energy and enthusiasm for the project definitely reflected in the results!

I gave them the choice to leave them with me for a bulletin board or to take them home...

...and my bulletin board is still empty.

SIGH.

I'd better tell tomorrow's group that they HAVE to leave them with me or I won't have any decor around here!

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papel picada

My fifth graders created these beautiful papel picada using bright sheets of copy paper! (Staples/Office Depot have reams of 500 sheets of neon paper--which you need to use because you can't really cut through construction paper!)

We used some of the techniques found in the book "Making Magic Windows" by Carmen Lomas Garza, who also explains the history behind papel picada and how she became so good at it!

Part of the fun was watching the kids as they opened up their papel picada and saw the different shapes and patterns they had created.

The other part I loved was watching them feverishly trying to layer their pieces so they were "just right"---even, symmetrical, and all visible (the three "musts" upon completion).

Just like every single one of my kids, these projects are all individuals.

Speaking of which, there is some interesting fodder over on a blog that I contribute to monthly regarding process-oriented art education and product-oriented art education. Where do you fall?If you tend to ride one side of the fence or the other, how do you nurture both theories? I find myself showing and guiding, but let the students take it from there. Many times they choose not to deviate from my examples. I left a lengthy comment about how students lose that zest for wreckless abandon once they get to intermediate elementary grades. What do you think?