Craft - Paper Plate Fish

My group taught this lesson to our 1st grade class. We introduced the concept of crafts which are hand-made out of various materials, such as cloth, jewelry, yarn, or metal. We also introduced the artist Don Sallenbach as he makes fish out of steel. The 1st graders made fish out of paper plates which became the fish they caught while fishing. They had their picture taken with their "catch of the day."

The procedure included:

• students make their pattern using 3 geometric shapes on scratch paper
• choose 1 marker color for each shape and color them
• transfer the geometric pattern from the scratch paper to the checkerboard on the paper plate
• if square is one of the shapes in the pattern, then color the whole square - for the other shapes, make sure to draw them using as much of the square as possible
• color a solid border around the outside of the checkerboard - you can use more than one color on the border
• write your name in black marker over the color on the border
• cut a triangle for the mouth
• glue that triangle on in the middle of the checkerboard for the side fin - glue the point side down and bend the other side slightly so that the fin sticks out
• draw 3 curved lines between the mouth and the side fin for the gills
• glue on the eye right above the gills
• color the tail fin any color and glue it across from the mouth on the underside of the plate
• fishing line is stapled onto the mouth
• take a picture with the lake backdrop

 

my "Catch"

I enjoyed working on this craft project because I enjoy coloring. I like the bright colors that the markers made and the geometric patterns were both an element of art and practice for math class. Using a paper plate gave the fish some texture. When we timed ourselves coloring the fish, we took about 10 minutes. When the 1st graders colored their fish during our lesson, they almost doubled the time needed to finish. It was hard to prepare for that part not knowing exactly how much time to allot, but we were able to roll with it and get the fish finished.

An extension activity in science would be to identify the structures of fish and how color affects fish in its habitat. In social studies, the students would study how fish are used as food and where most of the fishing in order feed people takes place in cities around the world.

 Our bulletin board is in the design of a dock with the fish stringers from the fishing trip hanging off of the side into the water. The theme is "Catch of the Day" and includes the students' pictures with their awesome "Catch!"

 

A close up of the bulletin board

2-D Paper Memory Quilt

In this project, we created our own paper memory quilts.

The procedure included:

• choose 8 pieces of paper that represent a memory
• using the square template, cut 4 squares out of 4 different papers
• using the circle template, cut 4 circles out of the other 4 papers
• glue the paper circles onto the middle of the paper squares 
• using the small square template, cut the 4 quilt blocks into 4 small squares each - for a total of 16 small squares
• mix and match these 16 squares to form 4 quilt blocks either all touching each other or in 4 quilt blocks with a small space between them
• once the pattern is designed, then glue the pieces down on white paper leaving a 2 inch border
• design a border for the quilt using markers, crayons, or colored pencils



The papers I chose for the following memories:

• the purple was because it was my favorite color in elementary school
• the pink stripe was because pink has been my favorite color since purple went out
• the green swirly paper reminded me of being out on the water at the lake
• the family heart reminded me of how much I love my family

In the pattern planning of my quilt, I wanted to keep the family heart square together. I put them at the center of the quilt because they are such a huge part of my life. The other squares are in a pattern of four to make up the border. For example, the brown small square is in the right bottom corner. When you count that square as 1 and count up to 4, that 4th square is another brown square.

An extension activity in social studies would be to study how quilts represent the culture of a people group. The class would decide what paper squares should be made to represent who they are as a class. The paper quilt would be hung in the hallway as a representation of what our class is all about.

Pottery

In this project, we made pinch pots out of clay.

The procedure included:

• lay down newspaper
• knead the tennis ball size clay to rid it of any air bubbles
• roll it into a ball
• press thumbs into the middle to start forming the inside of the pot
• turn the pot in a circle to form the edges and the bottom
• once pot is formed, dip fingers in water to smooth out any cracks or finger prints
• carve your initials into the bottom of the pot
• carve your symbols into the pot - choose symbols that represent you
• paint your pot using acrylic paints
• you can opt to paint your whole pot first and when it is dry, paint your symbols on instead of carving them

 

The heart represents the love of Jesus for me.  

 

 

The xo represents the kisses and hugs that I give my family.

 

 The apple represents that I am a future educator.

 

 

The sun represents the time I like to spent at the lake swimming and tubing.  

 

This picture shows the inside of my pinch pot. I chose pink because it is my favorite color and it contrasted well with the black outside.

 

I had a difficult time shaping my pinch pot. I had to start over three times. The sides kept getting too thin as I circled the clay around to form them. On this pot the sides did get a little thin, but I tried to curve them like a flower. I used black on the outside of my pot to contrast with the other colors I used on the symbols. By carving the symbols into the clay instead of painting them on, it gives the piece texture.

 

An extension activity with science would be to research how clay is made and find out what parts of the world it comes from. In social studies, students would study the meanings of symbols and how symbols have been used to represent many different concepts.

 

 

Pattern Painting

In this project, we used the letters in our names and colors to make patterns.

The procedure:

• fold a large piece of white paper in half, in half again, and then into thirds
• open it up to reveal 12 small squares
• glue the white paper onto a piece of 12 x 18 colored construction paper to make a border
• precut small squares out of colored construction paper the same size as the ones just made in the white paper
• glue the colored construction paper squares in every other square of the white paper with the edges of the colored paper matching the outside edges of the white paper to create a checkerboard effect
• draw with oil pastels the letters of your name in the squares starting at the top
• repeat the letters in your name to fill in all of the squares
• use watercolors to paint over the top of the letters in the white squares

For this project I was able to create many patterns. They are:

• the letters in my name are written in bubble / block / bubble / block
• the letters are written in purple / yellow / green
• the letters written in yellow I painted over with blue-green
• the letters written in purple I painted over with yellow

An extension activity used in math class would be using geometric shapes to make patterns in the blocks. Students would chose their own geometric patterns to fill in the squares and then paint over the white ones with watercolor. They would share their geometric patterns at their pods.

Printmaking

For this project, we made spring time prints.

The procedure:

• students choose a spring object to draw with the prompt, "When I think of spring, I think of ..."
• draw the object chosen lightly with pencil on a 12 x 18 piece of light colored construction paper
• use the majority of the paper
• lay down newspaper and get a paint palette
• chose objects to dip in the paint in order make a print inside of the drawing - for example, wheels to make tire tracks, golf ball to make little circles, or the bottom of a thimble to make larger circles
• fill up the inside of the drawing with prints
• allow to dry and then cut it out

I wasn't quite sure what to draw that reminded me of spring, so I went with a flower. The prints I used are:

• the wheel of a small car to print the green on the stem
• a marshmallow dipped in brown to print the leaf
• a thimble to print red in the middle of the flower
• the side of a sponge to print red and blue for the flower petals
• a Q-tip to outline each part

I liked how we used 12 x 18 size paper to be able to draw the objects large enough to be able to tell that there were print patterns inside each part. I enjoyed planning out what print to use for each part of my flower. I appreciated that there were many types of objects to choose from to make the prints.

An extension activity would be to study the seasons and draw an object that reminded them of each of the seasons. The students would present their prints and why that object reminded them of that season.

Crayon

In this project, we made bugs by filing and melting crayons.

The procedure:

• students decide what bugs they are going to make
• over wax paper, file the side of a crayon keeping the shavings about an inch away from the edges
• file as many colors as you would like to for your bug
• you do need quite a bit of shavings so that once melted, there aren't any clear spots through the wax paper
• carry the wax paper over to the hot iron
• either press and release the iron to melt the crayons or press and glide so that the colors will smear or blend a bit
• choose your bug template and trace around it on the melted wax paper
• cut out your bug and glue it onto a piece of construction paper
• cut around the bug making a border
• add antae or legs

It was difficult to file the crayons. A few times they broke in half while filing them even though I did hold it the right way. It did take a lot of shavings to have enough color between the wax paper so that it would melt evenly. I decided to go with the warm colors of orange and yellow for spring and added a little pink. My other melting was a mix of brown and purple that I used for the body and the circles on the wings for contrast.

An extension activity for this would be to study how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. I would buy a kit so that the students could watch the caterpillars spin chrysalises and break out into butterflies.

3-D Design

In this project, we made Easter eggs using colored yarn, a balloon, and watered down glue.

The procedure:

• mix glue and water to about 60% glue and 40% water on a paper plate
• blow up the balloon to a small size
• drag a long piece of yarn through the glue mixture
• wrap the yarn around the balloon snugly
• individually drag each piece of yarn through the glue mixture, and then wrap it around the balloon
• overlap the yarn pieces to form the egg
• place the wet glued egg onto a plastic cup to dry
• pop the balloon when the glue is dry

 

 

This is a picture of my second attempt. While making my first egg, the glue mixture was too watery. My yarn had a hard time staying in place even though I was crisscrossing them with diagonal lines. I had an extremely difficult time keeping the yarn pieces in place as they kept sliding on the balloon. I tried to reposition the yarn and pull it snug, but when I checked my egg the next day, it had collapsed on one side. On my second egg, I used a thicker glue mixture and the yarn pieces were much easier to pull snug and stayed in place.

 

An extension activity for this project would be to research and discover if other cultures celebrate Easter, and if so, find out how they celebrate. The students could then make different types of decorations for Easter representing the other cultures.