How to Lesson & Freebie: Two Point Perspective Drawing

Drawing in perspective is a concept that seems to capture the attention of even the most hard to reach student. Perspective drawing is a technique that can make drawings look realistic and very three dimensional, something that many students feel is out of reach and past their ability level. So, when I tell my students that they can learn to draw in perspective if they know how to draw straight lines with a ruler, they look at me like I am the one not thinking straight. However, once I have shown them the basics and taught them the rules they are amazed at their own drawings, which is a great delight to me.

Perspective drawing is not only something for art class, however. It's a technique you can incorporate into other subject areas as well, such as history and math.

Historically perspective drawing became popular during the Renaissance when many artists such as Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci used this technique in their drawings and paintings. Even The Last Supper uses perspective. Learning a bit of perspective drawing in history class would be a natural fit.

Math is also used in perspective drawing. Students have to use parallel lines while drawing, drawing horizontal and vertical lines as well. Check out this website for great advice on using two point perspective drawing in a math lesson.

I also think that measuring angles would be an easy way to incorporate math into perspective drawing. The angles become smaller and smaller as lines come nearer to the vanishing points. Different parallelograms could also be studied as well.

Here are two lessons I have created that will make learning about and teaching perspective drawing easy. First up is a freebie, a basic how to draw boxes in two point perspective. This PowerPoint lesson will teach students basic steps they need to learn perspective drawing - and it's free!

Next is a great lesson for taking basic perspective drawing to the next level by creating a city block in two point perspective. This lesson takes students from start to finish and shows them how to add all details from their first building to windows and a sidewalk.

Enjoy these lessons - for history, art, math, or ???

Fabulous Friday Freebies!

This week's Fabulous Friday Freebies focus on something that just about every teacher has in their back pocket - sub plans! Sub plans can take a long time to put together when you know you will be absent, so it's nice to have some plans ready to go for those days when an emergency arises and you won't be able to go into work. Sub plans are even better when they are already made and free!

This is a great freebie I have used as a sub plan for my high school art classes. It worked great and students seemed to enjoy it. It was very easy to print it out and make copies as well. There are also some word searches and how to draw printable pages available through the link as well.

 

For you language arts teachers out there, check out this language arts packet which includes an excerpt and several related worksheets. It's a great freebie and available in Microsoft Word so you can make changes or add/delete questions as needed.

I am also impressed by these sub plans put together by Rachel Friedrich. She has free whole day elementary sub plans for grade levels K-5! Each packet contains a warm-up, language arts, reading, math, and science activity. There are many links and ways to enhance the plans as well.

I hope these plans save you time and keep the headaches away.

Getting Students Talking in the Foreign Language Classroom

 

There are a couple activities that I use to engage my students in the practice of speaking Spanish.  They are a couple games that take me out of middle of the conversation and get them interacting in the target language with each other.  Not only that, but they have fun while doing it.  If you are looking for a way to get your students talking, check out the activities below:

1) Rey del Mundo is a free instruction sheet for a fast paced game that gets students dialoguing in the target language.

2) Human Bingo is an activity that prepares and requires students to dialogue in Spanish.  It is easily adapted, though, to any second language classroom.  It also helps students in the class get to know each other better!  Check it out at my store.  It's just $1!

Sometimes Laughter Really Is the Best Medicine!

I was sitting recently listening to a little girl sing an original, improvised song with real passion and sincerity:

There was a girl out in the yard
She liked to sing and dance
And then she went in the house...

Suddenly the boy next to her took advantage of the improv-induced half second pause to finish the verse...

AND PEED HER PANTS!

Now, what followed was not so funny, but children - to me - are an endless source of amusement.   Who doesn't like to laugh? Scowls break apart, shoulders relax a bit and here is the best part--minds are engaged! I've used units on humor to engage my students. Here are a few ideas for how you might use it as well:

1) Use humor to teach the concept of genres and audience.  We study about a dozen different comedy genres and how to analyze and categorize comedy into sub genres.  We also look at audience and why different jokes are funny to different audiences.  We poll the class to see what they find funny and graph the results.

2) Use cartoons to teach visual literacy, exageration, symbolism, political science, etc. 

3) Teach them to analyze language.  I also must caution you here.  While I have seen comedy units engage my most disengaged students, I've also seen struggling readers require a lot of scaffolding to analyze and make the necessary inferences to comprehend some jokes.  That being said, having students analyze (and maybe even draw) puns is an excellent way to engage them in the idea of double meanings.

Good luck!

Keeping Students On Task

It can be difficult to keep students on task when there are so many different things happening in the classroom at one time. Some students might finish at different times or some students needed more help than others. To help keep students that have finished early on task, I have created art packets that rely on using each student's creativity.

This Fast Finishers Art Activities packet contains 50 printable creative drawing pages. It has been rated 4 stars by fellow TPT members so check it out!

For spring, a spring themed Fast Finishers packet is also available. It contains 22 spring themed creative drawing pages for your students.

If you want to check out a sample of what my fast finishers packets are like, check out my free Valentine's Day fast finishers packet. Although most of the pages are themed for Valentine's Day, some of them are still easily usable in your classroom year round.

Fabulous Friday Freebies!

TGIF!  Here are some fabulous Friday freebies to check out.  These are all websites I've enjoyed using with my students.  If the description sounds interesting, click on the image to be taken to the website and investigate more!


1) This is a website that generates bingo cards.  You can choose from their list of themed cards or use your own word lists to make your own printable cards.

2) Animoto is a website where you can create short digital movies.  Just upload pictures of your class and let them generate a mini movie of a trip you took, a special project, etc.  Then you can share it with your students and their families in school or via email.

3) Use the website ToonDoo to allow your students to create their own comic strips.  They can create one based on a story they read in class or make up their own.  They really enjoy working with this website.

Happy Birthday!!

I am going to use this post to give a birthday shout out to my blogging partner and good friend.  One of the things I most respect about Lesson Lady is that she one of the most honest people I know.   But, she is also so much more: hardworking, smart, frugal, great at cooking, artistic, resourceful, thoughtful, and kind.  She has always avoided negative chatter and been a trustworthy confidante.  I wish her a great year ahead.

With that, I would like to advise all you teachers out there who are looking for a great art project to check out the art lessons she has for sale at her store.  I especially like her Art of the World series.  Here are a couple examples...

Art of the World-Benin Masks
Have your student make a mask while learning about the Benin people of Africa.

Art of the World-Frida Kahlo
Have your students make a collage in the style of the famous female Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo.

She has a birthday sale on through the end of the day tomorrow.  Check it out!