Pam Wiley Kapchinske
Doodler. Dreamer. Artist. Author.
~Sensational Second graders~
Students explored primary and secondary colors while painting beautiful watercolor vases. First, they made vases by folding and cutting paper to create shapes with bilateral symmetry. Next, they traced the overlapping vases and painted them with primary colors. Where the glass vases overlapped, secondary colors were created.
Students made colorful hot air balloons using oil pastels and watercolor resist. They learned about creating depth their artwork by drawing close-up objects larger than similar objects that are farther away.
Second graders learned about different types of symmetry found in nature and art. We discussed how objects with bilateral symmetry have two sides that are mirror images of one another. Students arranged colorful strips of paper in matching patterns across a mid-line, then folded, and cut shapes that display bilateral symmetry.
Students also learned about radial symmetry. We looked at organisms that have repeating parts around a central point, like starfish, sunflowers, and sea anemones. We folded damp coffee filters around the midpoint and colored a pattern on one section, and when it was unfolded--Voila!--a vibrant pattern with radial symmetry emerged.
In winter, we made snowmen from a unique perspective. After observing how the shapes of objects look different from various angles, students imagined they were lying down in the snow, looking up at a snowman. Then they used oil pastels to show what their snowmen would look like; some even drew snowmen as viewed from above.
On Valentine's Day, students made beautiful heart sun catchers using tissue paper collage on waxed paper. They experimented with color combinations and overlapping shapes to create one-of-a-kind, brilliant designs.
We observed the surface of many organisms close-up, like the scaly skin of reptiles and the seeded surface of strawberries and found there is often repetition of tiny shapes in nature. We used lots of repeating dots of tempera paint, then cut out and folded a fun 3-dimensional lizard with scaly skin.
Art and STREAM labs collaborated to explore how moving water can shape landforms. Students first created Minecraft landscapes in STREAM lab that included landforms and a body of water. In Art lab, they drew aerial maps of the landforms and referred to the maps to create clay models, with attention to form and texture. Students presented their work and predicted how moving water would alter the landforms over time.
Thank you for viewing our gallery! The featured artwork was created by 2nd grade artists from 2016 to present.