4th Grade

4th graders explored a variety of media, from paint and oil pastel to mixed media sculpture and screen printing.

Observational Leaf Painting

In the fall, 4th graders found and brought in leaves from the neighborhood surrounding the school. They then identified, described, and sketched their leaves in pencil. Finally, they enlarged their sketches, traced them with Sharpie, and painted them with tempera paint.

Recycled Masks

We began this lesson by looking at examples of masks from traditional and contemporary Native American artists, specifically from Yup’ik and Kwakwaka’wakw tribes. Then, students used resources available in their own environment—namely, recycled materials including cereal boxes, egg cartons, and plastic soda bottles­—to build and decorate masks of their own. Students’ masks ranged from superheroes to animals, spirits, robots, and even food items.

Bird Puns

Students drew their inspiration for this project from unusual bird names—for example, the umbrella bird, the elf owl, or the firecrest, pictured above—and then used oil pastels to illustrate how they imagined their bird would look.

Award Prints

To start off this project, students designed awards for themselves using simple shapes and only two colors. Then, students traced their designs on to screens and filled in sections of the screens with Mod Podge to create stencils. Finally, students printed their designs on paper using acrylic paint or screen printing ink.