Art

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Art was never a favourite subject of mine while I was at school, but I have managed to bring Art into my classrooms in a range of ways.

Caricatures
One of the hardest things to do in school is to draw caricatures of people as the only easily available subjects are the children themselves and in most classes you can be certain of at least one who will not appreciate the way they have been drawn. While I was at a motor racing circuit I saw a display of caricatures of racing cars and realised that this could be used in the classroom.

I own a Skoda Fabia and noticed the number of unusual shapes on the car that could be exaggerated quite easily. Now that I have done this lesson twice I can say that the children I have worked with have come up with a wide range of ideas. From clown cars to racing cars and insects the children have come up with a variety of ideas that have so far seen no two the same.

Car caricatures

This picture, taken in May 2002 shows some of the caricatures drawn by a Year 5 class. One turned the car into a ladybird while others decided to use my fondness for maths and motor racing as inspiration for their designs.

At a parents open evening a couple of months later the children made a bee-line towards this board to show their parents what they had done.

This is very much a summer activity as good warm weather is needed to get the children outside to do the initial sketching of the car.

If you are a car dealer or are involved in the distribution of new cars in the North Hertfordshire area of England and think that this art lesson is a good idea I would be keen to hear from you as I would like to offer the next class I do this with a choice of two cars to choose from. You can get in touch with me by clicking here. As I am about to start as a supply teacher I cannot offer you anything in return except gratitude. When I decide to return to a permanent teaching position I may be able to offer a thank you mention in the school newsletter and a mention on the home page of this website.

Containers
As part of the work on the QCA unit of work on containers the class also made Greek vases.
While the class was part way through making their vases they were asked to write about it for their school website:

"Also in art we are making Greek pots out of papier mache. We will need to have 3 layers of newspaper and 3 layers of plain paper. We will be painting our pots from the drawing of pot patterns from our school Art books."

Greek Pots - Work in Progress

The picture show a range of pots in various stages of completion.

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