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and Students Since 1994
ABC Creations
Title: Creative Problem Solving
Submitted by: Ned Fox, art teacher at
Northwood Jr, High
Level: 8th-9th
NOTE: This lesson might be more appropriate to middle school.
Materials:
24 x 32 inch (61 x 81 cm) white Tag board
Procedure:
Great project for teaching creative thinking and problem solving. I explain to the students that they need to fill up 80% of the tag board with the alphabet. Any letter design of their choice is O.K. They may lay out the letters any way they want as long as the letters flow A to Z.
Next I explain, they are to fill the letters with a design of something that starts with that letter. Many of my students will make a letter out of something else which shows a lot of creativity. They will show an athlete in the form of an A or a bear in the form of a B and so on. After they are done drawing I have them color in their drawings if they want to with Prismacolor pencils. The letters could end up looking like graffiti letters
This assignment can take up to 2 weeks or more. The end result is really awesome. Let me know how this goes for your class and any new ideas you or your class comes up with.
Image from gradeclothing
Gesture Drawing Ice Breakers
Submitted by: Colleena Graney
Grade Level: Early High School
Background
This is a good ice breaker or fun activity to do as a transition between contour drawing and figure drawing lessons.
This should be done around tables. All students will begin this exercise by drawing a brief outline of their partner across from them. This will be a quick gesture sketch with a drawing pencil. They can then use a kneaded eraser to add some detail. Take three minutes to do this. Then point out how much you use just your eyes for this exercise and the qualities that are present in gesture drawings.
Next, have everyone take off one of their shoes, without looking at them, and place them in their lap. They then must draw their shoe without looking at it. They may use their hands to try and feel the outline and detail. This should take up to 20 minutes. It tests memory and transfer ability. A good ice breaker for a class with different skill levels. After the assignment is completed. Display drawings and look at all the results.
Materials
White Drawing Paper
Shoes
NOTE: This lesson was submitted in the early days of IAD when teachers had no scanners or digital cameras to take pictures of student work.