Saturday, March 15, 2014

1st Grade Art: Don't Move: Still Life Paintings

Lesson 1: Still Life Paintings, Part 1
Define the term still life.
An artwork that depicts an arrangement of objects.
Finding Patterns in Art
Identify a still life painting.
Visit My YouTube Playlist and view "Famous Still Life Paintings"

Identify two patterns in artworks, such as patterns of zigzags and stripes.
Pattern Identification in Art- Leonardo Da Vinci Paintings (Google Presentation)

Begin creating a still life by painting a patterned setting.
Have the student draw a line across the paper for a table, then create a pattern on the table for a tablecloth, then create a lighter in color pattern for the wall.
Pattern Board by Amy Atlas for pattern inspiration
Visit NGA kids to make an interactive Still Life
Lesson 2: Still Life Paintings, Part 2

Define the term still life.

Identify a still life painting.

Identify two patterns in artworks, such as patterns of zigzags and stripes.

Finish a still life by adding a vase of flowers.
1. Fold a white piece of painting paper in half.
2. Draw half of the vase shape.
3. Starting from the folded edge, cut out vase.
4. Unfold symmetrical shaped vase.
5. Paint, then glue to background created in lesson 1.
6. Paint flowers in the vase, or fruit or other found objects around.
Lesson 3: Walking Around a Still Life

Define the term still life.

Identify a still life painting.

Draw a still life showing more than one view of an object.
FYI: This interactive tool is really great, but it really bogs down the computer.
Lesson 4: Read about Art and Artists: Rivera, de Kooning, Grooms

Compare and contrast PiƱata by Diego Rivera, Baseball Players by Elaine de Kooning, and Fast Break by Red Grooms.

We use the Come Look with Me Series by Gladys S. Blizzard, which is a great series for art history and appreciation.  Right now, $13.25 on Amazon.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

1st Grade Art 1: Scenic Overlook: Landscapes

Lesson 1: Landscapes

Define landscape.
Landscape art depicts scenery that is outside.

Name two features of a landscape, such as trees, lakes, and mountains.

Identify a landscape painting.
Van Gogh Art Identification Slide Quiz (Google Drive)


Identify the horizon line in landscape paintings.
     -This interactive tool talks about the horizon line, perspective, art in museums, foreground, and background

Thick and Thin Trees: Click for How
Lesson 2: How Artists See Trees

Define landscape.

Identify a landscape painting.
Visit my YouTube Playlist and view art by "Maxim Grunin" for landscape art with a lot of trees

Create a painting of a hardwood tree and a painting of an evergreen tree.
This How Cast demonstrates both types of trees

Lesson 3: Meet Vincent van Gogh, Part 1
Describe two events in the life of Vincent van Gogh or characteristics of his art, such as he painted pictures by dabbing his brush on the canvas and that he was born in Holland.
Visit my YouTube playlist to watch a brief history on Vincent Van Gogh
Begin creating a landscape painting inspired by The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh.
Visit my YouTube playlist to watch 5 year old Sophie paint the beginnings of The Starry Night- the sky

Come Look with me: Exploring Landscape Art with Children by Gladys S. Blizzard is a wonder compilation of landscape art with information on the artists, paintings, and questions that provide discussion and personal art appreciation.  This book comes on loan with the K12 curriculum, but can be found with booksellers nation wide.
Lesson 4: Meet Vincent van Gogh, Part 2
Describe two features of The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, such as the dabs of paint or the use of many colors in theVisi sky.
Visit my YouTube Playlist to watch "Art with Mati and Dada" a fun cartoon that features Vincent Van Gogh and his art style.

Complete a landscape painting inspired by The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh.
Using a pencil sketch in the horizon line, buildings and cypress trees.  Fill in with color.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

1st Grade Science: Habitats

These resources are for use to support the K12 Curriculum, but could easily be adapted/used
with other learning resources.
What are you using?  Let me know in the comments!

**All of the Wild Kratts episodes listed here can currently be found on Netflix if you have an account.

Scholastic Study Jams Biomes video and quiz
Lesson 1: Introduction to Habitats

Recognize that there are many different kinds of habitats, each with different types of plants and animals.
PBS Kids ZOOM: Teri and Jairus Biome Buddies Compare and Contrast CA's Death Valley to WA's temperate rain forest
Describe a habitat as a place where plants and animals live.
This is to the World Wildlife Fund which has great information on habitats.
www.discovertheforest.org
Lesson 2: Forest Habitat
Discover the Forest- Made by the U.S. Forest Service, this website is chock full of activities, learning aids, and pictures for kids.  It also has a link to the site in Spanish.

Describe the forest habitat as having different layers where different types of forest animals and plants live.
Visit my YouTube Channel: 1st Grade Science: Habitats Playlist See title "Layers of the Forest"

Recognize animals and plants that live in the forest.
Visit my YouTube Channel: 1st Grade Science: Habitats Playlist See title "Animal Forest" and "Wild Kratts Epsiode 
www.desertmuseum.org
Lesson 3: Desert Habitat
Recognize plants and animals that live in a sandy desert.
Visit Arizona Sonora Desert Museum page.  Here are links to beautiful illustrations of:
If you hover over the plants and animals it will tell you what they are!

Explain how some desert plants and animals have found ways to live in a hot, dry desert.
Visit my YouTube Channel: 1st Grade Science: Habitats Playlist See title "Wild Kratts Episode Kicking it with the Roos: Episode 19"


Recognize the characteristics of a desert habitat.
Visit my YouTube Channel: 1st Grade Science: Habitats Playlist See title "Desert Habitat"  which is a wonderful narrative on the desert habitat done by a youth.
Lesson 4: Polar Habitat
Recognize characteristics of the polar habitats.
www.stevespanglerscience.com
National Geographic's: Arctic Ocean The video is beautiful, but FYI the sound quality is not very good you may have to turn up your volume.
National Geographic's: Antarctic Ocean

Explain that blubber helps animals that live in cold habitats stay warm.
Visit my YouTube Channel: 1st Grade Science: Habitats Playlist See title "Blubber Glove Science Experiment"

Identify plants and animals that live in the Arctic.
Visit my YouTube Channel: 1st Grade Science: Habitats Playlist See title "Arctic Animals Song"

State that polar habitats are near the Earth's North and South Poles.
BBC's Polar Regions: A whole slew of great videos here

Build a diorama with the differences of the Arctic and Antarctic Animals instructions available at First Pallette
Grasslands Habitat at WWF.org
Lesson 5: Grasslands Habitat
Identify some plants and animals that live in the grasslands habitat.
Visit my YouTube Channel: 1st Grade Science: Habitats Playlist See title "Wild Kratts Episode 18" and "Mimic"

Measure plant growth and record data.

Differentiate between grazers and predators.
Identify characteristics of the grasslands habitat.
National Geographic: Grassland's Map (supplied by WWF)
How Stuff Works Grassland's Biome There are other biome videos here as well.
Visit the Rain Forest Alliance Kid's Corner which has fantastic resources for this lesson

Give an example of a product made from rain forest plants.


Recognize characteristics of a rain forest.
Visit my YouTube Channel: 1st Grade Science: Habitats Playlist See title "Wild Kratts Epsiode 16"

Recognize that the rain forest has different layers
Wonderville: Wetland Activity
Lesson 7: Wetlands Habitat

Make a model to show how the wetlands help clean the Earth's water.

Identify some animals and plants that live in the wetlands habitat.
Visit my YouTube Channel: 1st Grade Science: Habitats Playlist See title "Wild Krats Episode 1" and "Animals of the Wetland"

Recognize characteristics of the wetlands habitat.
Visit my YouTube Channel: 1st Grade Science: Habitats Playlist See title "Fabulous Wetlands with Bill Nye"
Termite Maze at NWF.org

Explain that living underground provides protection from hot and cold weather.

Explain that in different habitats, some animals live underground.


Identify some animals that live underground.
NWF's National Parks Game
Lesson 9: Biography: John Muir
Name different habitats that are protected by the National Park Service in the United States.
This Wikipedia has a great list for this

Tell that John Muir was a conservationist and writer who worked to preserve wilderness.
Lesson 10: Endangered Spaces
Show how constructing a town can reduce the amount of space available for plants and animals.
Demonstrate mastery of the important knowledge and skills of this unit.
From Kids' Planet
PBS Kids Wild Kratts Habitats Game

Recognize characteristics of a rain forest.

Describe a habitat as a place where plants and animals live.

Recognize animals and plants that live in the forest.

Recognize the characteristics of a desert habitat.

Recognize characteristics of the polar habitats.

Explain that in different habitats, some animals live underground.

Identify characteristics of the grasslands habitat.

Tell that John Muir was a conservationist and writer who worked to preserve wilderness.
Habitat Games!!
Create a Wildlife Habitat and then get certified with the National Wildlife Federation

I subscribed to ABC Mouse for a while.  My boys really enjoyed it, but I was also pleasantly surprised at the amount of habitat lessons they have on there.  So, if you're looking for additional games or interactive material, and if you're willing to pay for the subscription you could also look there. ABC Mouse also offers a free month trial which you could use to get through what you want.