Stained Glass Art

On December 9, 2011, another teacher candidate and I presented an art lesson on stained glass art. Our lesson plan stated that the 4^th graders had just finished a unit studying Ancient European History, specifically culture, and to reinforce and expand on what they have learned until now we will create stained glass art with paper in art class. First, we went over a PowerPoint which covered stained glass art from 300 AD. up to the 19^th century. While we presented the PP, the students were required to write three stained glass history facts on a note card that will be displayed alongside their artwork.  Next, we motivated them more by showing them a series of photos of stained glass windows in Gower Street United Church, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Then we covered new art vocabulary that they will need for this art lesson. The vocabulary consisted of the different color schemes and organic and geometric shapes. After completing the PP, we went over the stained glass art rubric so students would be aware of what was expected of them. We warned the student that they will be working with exacto knifes which can be dangerous if not handled properly. We also showed them several examples of stained glass paper art that we had created. Once we covered all this, we went on to model and demonstrate how to create stained glass art with tissue and construction paper. We assisted the students as they did their art.

Art Materials Needed:

·         tissue paper

·         construction paper

·         Scissors

·          glue stick

·          Exacto knife

Here are the steps to create stained glass art with paper:

1.       Find a pattern of the artwork that you want to create. (Since it was December, the patterns we supplied to the class were part of a Christmas theme. Christmas art may not be acceptable in all school districts so teachers need to be careful about this.)

2.       Staple your pattern onto a piece of construction paper of the color of your choice.

3.       Use an exacto knife to cut out your art. Find a cutting board on which to you can do your cutting to avoid ruining the surface of your workstation. (Be careful when working with an exacto knife for they are dangerous tools if not used carefully.)

4.       Cut out all the negative shapes in your pattern. The tissue paper will be glued on the back to cover the negative shapes. It is best to cut out the outline (outside of pattern) after you have glued on all the tissue paper on the back; this way, any extra projecting tissue paper can be cut off.

5.       Using a glue stick, glue several different colors of tissue paper on the back of the pattern to cover up all the negative shapes. In the Nativity Scene example below you do all the previous steps (steps 1-4) exept that you cut out 1"x1" pieces of different colored tissue paper and glue them onto the back of your pattern to create a collage of colors.

6.       Once you have completed gluing on the tissue paper you can finish cutting out the pattern. 

7.       Ta-da, you have now completed your tissue paper art. And it has a nice stained glass look as you hang it in a window.

8.       Your stained glass art in now ready to display. It can be hung in a window which gives it a nice look especially when the sun shines directly on it. Or it can be displayed in a lighted art case which also brings out the beauty of the different colored tissue paper.

Here are several example of stained glass art that I made:

Stained glass art displayed in a window (tree is green)

Extension activity: A stained glass art project would be a great way to expand on a science unit when studying plants and flowers. Students could create flowers using stained glass art. The students would use (a) tissue paper color(s) which best represents the flower they choose to recreate. The flowers could then be displayed in the classroom windows along with a short description next to the window which briefly describes each flower. To match the description with the flower each students would give their flower a different number which would match the number on their flower’s description.

Display: To display our class’ stained glass art projects, we used a lighted art-case in the hallway of the school. We decorated the art case with Christmas trim and bows on the outside and tissue paper on the inside since we had a Christmas theme. Unfortunately, the lights were not very bright in the art case and the stained glass art that the students created did not have the effect that it would have in a window with outside light coming through as can be seen in the first stained glass art pictures I posted above. Anyway, here are pictures of our stained glass art display:

Front View

Here is our Stained Glass Art Lesson Plan:

Teachers: Jonathan Stahl, Robert Stahl

Lesson Title: Ancient Europe and Stained Glass Windows Art.

Grade Level: 4^th Grade

Developmental Characteristics: The class has been studying a unit on Ancient European history, specifically culture. To reinforce what they have learned they will create stained glass window art. Another purpose of this lesson is for 4^th graders to create art by arranging various shapes and colors. 4^th graders will typically select and arrange objects to satisfy their compositional design needs. Students will also demonstrate their ability to make precise cuts on tissue and construction paper to create their artwork. 4^th graders typically have improved eye-hand coordination which will help them in this task.

National Visual Art Standards:

Standard 1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes.

d. Students use art materials and tools in a safe and responsible manner.

Standard 4:  Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and culture.

a.       know that the visual arts have both a history and specific relationships to various cultures.

Objectives:

Art Production:  The students will use an exacto knife in a safe and responsible manner while creating their artwork.

Artistic Perception: The students will be able to identify and list two different color schemes in their own artwork.

Art History: Student will be able list three stained glass window history facts from PowerPoint to display with their artwork.

Art Materials: tissue paper, construction paper, note cards, scissors, glue stick, and exacto knife for each student.

Instructional Resources:

·         Stained Glass History PowerPoint

·         Examples of stained glass tissue paper artwork

·         Grading Rubric

·         Color Scheme Handout

Vocabulary (Elements and Principles of Art):

·         Organic shapes: Shapes that are not regular or even, using a combination of edges that are curved or angular (often found in nature).

·         Geometric shapes: Two-dimensional shapes created by exact mathematical laws; oval, circle, square, triangle, and rectangle.

·         Color Schemes: Color is divided into groups based on the way they are placed on the color wheel: warm colors, primary colors, secondary colors, complementary colors, analogous colors, etc.

Procedure:

Anticipatory Set (Motivation): The teachers will show short PowerPoint of the history of stained glass windows.  Students will list three facts about the history of stained glass artwork on a piece of paper to display with their artwork.

Step 1. The teachers will show examples of stained glass artwork that was created with construction and tissue paper.

Step 2 (Instructional Input): The teachers will inform students that they need to use at least two different color schemes in their artwork (Ex. Warm colors, cool colors, primary or secondary colors, etc.). The teachers will provide students with a handout that gives a definition of each of the different color schemes.

Discuss organic and geometric shapes and the different color schemes.

Step 3 (Modeling): The teachers will model how to cut with an exacto knife in a safe and responsible manner.

Step 4 (Guided Practice): The teachers will show students how to create stained glass tissue paper artwork.

1.      Begin by having students staple their pattern onto a piece of construction paper of their choice.

2.      Cut out pattern with exacto knife and/or scissors.

3.      Using a glue stick, glue tissue paper on the back of stained glass construction paper pattern.

Step 5: The students will create their own stained glass artwork with construction and tissue paper.

Step 6 (Display): The stained glass tissue paper artwork will be displayed in a lighted, glass artcase. Each student’s stained glass history fact note card will be displayed alongside their artwork. The lighted artcase will give the artwork a stained glass look. A Christmas theme border will be used to give the case a finished look.

Check for Understanding: The teachers will review the rubric and grading procedures to help students understand what is expected of them.

Closure: Ask students to volunteer to show their stained glass artwork and point out the color schemes, organic or geometric shapes used.

Clean Up: The students are responsible to clean their own work area.

Student Evaluation: Students will evaluate their own artwork by comparing it to the criteria on a rubric.

Integration: This art project could be used in a science project specifically when studying why leaves change color. They could create stained glass artwork of colorful autumn leaves.

Teacher evaluation:

·         Did students use at least two of the nine color schemes in their artwork?

·         Could students identify two color schemes in their artwork and list them on a rubric?

·         Students included three stained glass facts from the PowerPoint (on a piece of paper) which will be displayed with their artwork.

·         Did students use scissors and exacto knife in a responsible manner?

Print Making Art Project

The following art project is on print making. We did out print making art project with foam sheets and ink. One can create a template of any given picture and reuse it as often as possible to create identical prints. Our print making theme was on nature. Here is the print I created:

Materials needed:

·         Foam sheet

·         Print making ink

·         Roller/sponge

·         Paintbrush

·         Construction paper (different colors).

The steps in print making are as follows (the steps I took to create my art):

1.       Choose a nature scenery for your print making.

2.       Practice drawing the nature scene on a blank sheet of scrap paper to avoid messing up your foam sheet.

3.       Use the end of a paintbrush handle to draw a nature scene on a foam board. It is necessary to apply a fair amount of pressure on the drawing tool (paintbrush or pencil) to create an edge or outline of your scene. Avoid pressing to hard on the foam, though, so you don’t punch it through. Different line thicknesses should be used throughout the print to create texture.

4.       When finished drawing the nature scene, choose an ink color and construction paper color so that you have complementary colors (red-green, blue-orange, yellow-purple).

5.       Use a paint brush to put a glob of ink into a dish. Now roll the roller through the ink (make sure it has ink all over the roller).

6.       Roll the wet roller onto the foam paper; be sure to wet the roller in the ink as often as necessary to that you have a fair amount of ink on the foam. If there is not enough ink on the foam, you will not be able to get a good print on the construction paper.

7.       Once the foam paper has been filled with ink, grab the edges of the foam, and firmly press the ink side down on a piece of construction paper to create a print of a nature scene. Be sure to press down the foam on the center of the construction paper.

8.       Remove the foam from the construction paper to reveal the beautiful print.

9.       If not satisfied with the colors you used—blue paper and orange ink, etc. — or the outline of your picture, you may wipe the foam with a wet paper towel and redo it as often as you wish.

Engraved foam board with yellow paint on it

Extension project: This art project could easily be integrated into math by having students create their own flash cards with print making. The students could create their own addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division flash cards to take home and study. It would not be necessary for each student to make foam prints of all math facts; this could be a group project in which each student would work on different sets of (addition, subtraction, etc.) problems and use each other’s foam prints to create their own flash cards. This project would motivate students to study harder since they created the cards themselves.

Cave Art Comes Alive

Mud Paint Art Project

This art project was to introduce 2^nd grade students to storytelling through art. The lesson was related to the different methods used to pass down history (ideas, information, etc. ) through the ages of human existence. To reinforce the lesson of recording history, each student created a cave painting of one of their favorite childhood memories. For instance, one of my favorite childhood memories was playing on hay or straw bales/stacks during the summer with my friends. I painted a farm scene which included a stack of hay bales and on which me and my friends are seen playing. Here is my cave painting:

Materials needed:

·         Paper bags

·         Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow mud paint

·         Mud

·         Tempera

The steps to create a cave painting are as follows:

1.       Have the students come up with one of their favorite childhood memory that they would like to record.

2.       Find a large, brown paper bag (grocery bag) and cut out a piece that is approximately 20” X 12” from either the front or the back side of the bag (the back if it contains a store label).

3.       Crumple the bag into a ball until you get the desired texture—you want it to look like rock.

4.       Make some mud paint. Mix real mud (yes, real mud) with tempera and paint. Choose common colors like blue, red, green, or blue paints to create you mud paint since, in the prehistoric times, they didn’t have the variety of colors we do today. When I made my cave painting, the mud paint lacked the color it was supposed to have; for instance, my straw bales were not quite as yellow as I wanted them to be because my mud paint did not have enough yellow paint. Be sure to mix enough paint to get the desired color you want but not so much paint that it loses its prehistoric look.

5.       Create a cave painting by painting with your fingers. Be sure to have wet towels available to wipe your fingers when you want to use different paints in your painting.

6.       To include texture, have the students include different types of texture like pine needles, leaves, twigs, or other plant materials in their painting.

7.       When finished painting a picture of your favorite childhood memory, let the painting dry before you display it.

8.       Have the students write a short reflection about their favorite childhood memory to display alongside their painting.

Painting with mud was a new and unique experience for me and any 2nd grader will do this project with delight. I enjoyed painting with mud--the mud paint has a nice texture and is easy to work with. It is surprising how good the painting looks when it dries.

Extension activity: When studying a science unit or lesson that deals with animals that have already extinct, the students could do a cave painting art project about an animal that is extinct (for instance, the dinosaur or mammoth). The teacher could have the students write a short description of their animal such as its diet, its habitat, and in what era it lived upon the earth. The short description could be displayed with the cave painting. The cave painting would not only reinforce the media they used to record history but it would also correlate to the time era in which the animal became extinct.

Fall Leaf Collage

The Little Leaves

The following art project focused creating a collage with fall leaves. The instructors read “The Little Yellow Leaf” storybook to motivate the students. The story focused on the change of seasons and one or two leaves that refused to let go of the tree on which they grew. We created our fall leaf collage with wax paper and warm colored (red, yellow, orange) crayon shavings and cool colored (blue, green, violet) oil pastels. Here is my leaf art:

Materials needed:

·         3 warm colors crayons and 3 cool color pastels
·         White sheet of paper for each student
·         2 pieces of 11 x 11 wax paper
·         Stencils of different types of leaves
·         Shaving tool

We took the following steps to create our fall leafs:

1.       Shave a crayon (warm colors) with a sharp edged metal file to create shavings for you project.
2.       Fold a piece of 11 x 11 piece of wax paper in half.
3.       After you have a pile of shavings, spread them out on piece of wax paper and fold the paper in half, enclosing the shavings.
4.       Melt the crayons with an iron.
5.       Trace some leaves on the wax paper with the leaf stencils provided and cut them out. (When I did this art it was difficult to trace the leaves on the wax paper because the colors were too thich in some parts and I could not see through to trace the leaves. I actually had to draw them free-hand and they lost their unique natural shape. It would have worked bette if I cut them out from the paper first and then traced them onto the wax paper.)
6.        Paste the leaves you cut out on a piece of paper to create a leaf collage (overlap the leaves).
7.       After pasting the leaves on the piece of paper, use cool colored (blue, green, violet) oil pastels to draw additional leaves onto the paper, creating a collage of warm and cool colored leaves.
8.       Display your artwork.

Extension activity:

This activity could be used when studying fruits in health class. This would be a group project in which students would make a bulletin board display with different types of fruits (apples, oranges, peers, bananas, etc) by using wax paper and crayons. The students would make crayon shavings using only the color of their respective fruit (yellow for banana, orange for oranges) to create their wax-paper-crayon fruit. The students would then decorate the bulletin board and include a short description of the health benefits of fruits.

Underwater Scratch Art

This art lesson focused on using scratch art to create an underwater scene with one underwater animal such as a fish, crab, shark, etc. as the emphasis (focal point) of the picture. Here is my underwater scratch art:

Materials needed:

·         Picture of underwater animal
·         White sheet of 8 ½ “ by 11” piece of paper
·         Black Scratch Paper—half sheet of 8 x11
·         Wooden dowel with a point

The steps to create a picture of an underwater animal using scratch art paper:

1: Choose an underwater animal you want to draw and use as the focal point of your underwater scene.

2: Fold an 8 ½” by 11” sheet of paper in half and draw the animal you choose for your underwater scene.

3: Take the folded paper on which your animal was drawn and slip a piece of 5 ½” by 8 ½“piece of scratch paper in between the folded piece of paper.

4: Now trace the animal you drew with a wooden dowel and include as much detail as possible (be sure to apply pressure since you have to see the outline of the animal on the scratch paper).

5. After you finished tracing your animal, take the scratch paper out from between the folded piece of paper and begin to scratch off the black film to create an outline of your animal. Caution: handle the scratch paper with a paper towel—if the paper gets wet from sweaty hands or fingers you will not be able to use it.

6. When you are finished drawing you animal with as much detail as possible, also draw some background that fits the animals surroundings.

7. Display your underwater art on a bulletin board.

Extension activity:

This type of art could be integrated into different subject areas besides art. For instance, when 4^th or 5^th grade students are studying a unit on the Westward Expansion they could do an activity with scratch art to create scenes typical of this era. The scenes could include: sod being broken by a team of oxen, a pioneer family traveling on a horse-drawn carriage, a new house being raised, a girl milking a cow, guys brining in the hay, etc. After completing their scratch paper art, the students would write a few paragraphs (with main point focusing on the picture they choose) describing how life in this era was different than life today.

3-D Art Project

Birds of a Feather Art Project: A Lesson about the Beauty of Diversity.

In art class we did a 3D art project. The lesson was centered on diversity. The class first watched a video that was related to diversity. The video was about a bunch of identical birds who did not accept another bird which was different than they were. Our assignment was to create a 3D bird to reinforce the diversity theme. Here is the bird I created:

Friendly Bubba

The steps in creating the bird are as follows:

1.       The first step was to come up with a character which described our bird. Since the theme was on diversity, I choose to name my bird “Friendly Bubba.” The description of my character is as follows: "I am native to Brazil. I am a rare species, I am  unselfish and modest. I do not pick on others that are different—I make friends with them instead. I love to help out, even when I am busy. Life is enjoyable when we help others! My friends say I have a warm disposition just like the color of my feathers.” The card on which we wrote the description of our character was displayed alongside the bird.

2.       Cut out the parts of my bird—the wings, body, and tail—which had been traced onto a white cardboard paper.

3.       Glue together the body which consists of two sides.

4.       Color the bird. We were required to have some patterns on our bird.

5.       Glue the body together and attach the wings to the bird with glue. The back section is attached to the bird by cutting a slit into the back feathers and on the back part of the bird body and slipping them together.

6.       Punch a hole on the ends of wings and on the middle of the body right above the wings.

7.       Add colored feathers or create texture with tissue paper. We were required to add texture to our bird—visual and tactile texture.

8.       Put a string through the holes you punched—that would be three strings—and tie them together so the bird wings are positioned as in flight.

9.       The bird is ready to display

 Extension activity

This art project could be used in other subject areas, specifically in science when birds are being studied in middle school. The students would all create their own type of bird—it could be a colorful bird that lives in a jungle or a bird that is native to the western United States, etc. The students would do research on the bird they choose, write a short description on the specific bird they choose, and when the bird is displayed, the description would be displayed alongside their bird.

Clay Art Project

Creating a clay necklace

In art class today, we created clay necklaces as part of our clay project. We learned several new techniques to work with clay, such as coiling, hand building, hollowing out, kneading, rolling (the clay), and scoring. While we did not use all these techniques in this project, it was an interesting presentation, nonetheless. Here is the necklace I created:

The steps in creating a clay necklace are listed below:

1.       Take a clump of clay and knead the clay until it has reached the desired consistency. (When clay is fired to harden it, it is necessary to knead the clay well to remove all bubbles to avoid an explosion.)
2.       Coil a piece of clay by rolling a ball of clay back and forth until it stretches into a snakelike shape in the diameter you choose.
3.       Hand-build the clay or manipulate it into the specific shape you want. We were required to have at least 5 beads on our necklace.
4.       Hollow the clay out with a dowel or other round, thin, object to create a hole thick enough to thread a yarn through the hole. It is necessary to hollow it out before it hardens.
5.       After creating the beads, let them dry for 24 hours.
6.        Paint them with watercolor paint. We were required to use at least three different colors and add some designs on our beads. (When I painted my beads in class, their was no water available at my table to clean the paintbrush when I switched from one paint to the other; this caused my paints to mix and my beads did not have one pure color when I was finished. I actually had to repaint them later, but this time I made sure I had water available to clean my brush when I switched paints.) 
7.       Thread the beads (clay) onto a piece of yarn to create your own personal necklace.
8.       Wear with pride.

Extension activity

Clay can be used to make many different objects in the elementary classroom. In a Social Studies unit, when animals are studied that are native to Africa, students could use clay to create a whole line of African animals to reinforce what they are studying. The students would be required to paint their clay animals before they are displayed. This would definitely be an enjoyable experience that most 1^st to 4^th graders would love.