Theme: Country Boots!

The county fair is next month and there is a group of people that are responsible for putting together this awesome event. And, of course there is always a theme. This year the theme is Country Roots & Country Boots! Art teachers are encouraged to participate by displaying student work. Besides, advocating for our art programs, in my opinion, is VERY important.

Lucky me! I have the perfect book, to share with my students, to introduce this lesson.

   

AND a calendar from 2004 to further inspire the kiddos.

For my kindergarteners and 1st graders, I decided to do crayon resist-it's just so magical for them! They love when the white crayon marks appear when painted over with water color paint.

Students use a template to draw their boot. And then create their theme or pattern and use crayons to color it in.

 

 And then use water color to paint over the crayon.

   

 I believe in helping to build confidence in my students and that is why on occasion they use templates. Two weeks after using a template to make his boot a little kindergartener showed me what he did on his own time-

For my 4th and 5th graders, they were shown a power point with photos of boots to inspire them. The focus for the lesson was composition. When viewing the power point we discussed not only the variety of subject matter, but, how the photographer placed the boots for the photo. I also, demonstrated a variety of ways they could position their boots.

   

My plan for them was to use water color paint on the boots and the background, then use markers, colored pencils or gel sticks to add details the following week.

 

 

                  

                                             

The really hard part of this, is to decide which ones to display!! I am allowed to send a total of 8-12 pieces for the school exhibit. There is also an art exhibit, where I will be able to showcase the work they have been doing all year. 

Oh, in case you are wondering about my 3rd and 4th graders, they did landscapes which I will cover in another post.

How do you decide which art work to display, when you are limited by space? I'd really like to know!

Thanks for reading!