Donut Update

As teachers, we can have the most amazing, well thought out plans for our classes... but when it comes down to it, it never goes the way we had imagined.  So here is the real deal... how it all went down for the first couple weeks of school.

For 5th grade, I wanted to work on the concept of form.  We are painting donuts for the Art to Remember project.  That way they can start working on how to create a shadow to make a flat shape look 3-D. For previous post and video to this lesson, click here. 

Day 1:

I asked my students to create a background with liquid watercolors.  I reminded them that the most successful colors are the ones next to each other on the color wheel. 

Once that was finished I invited them to add 7 donuts to their paper using a pool noodle. This went really slick.  I used sponges to hold the paint and had about 4 noodles at a station.  Students staggered in and this task was completed successfully for all students in the hour.

Day 2:

Students were first shown how to create a shadow on a form.  I decided to use a black sharpie for this part. I also had a practice donut... or as I like to call it 'mini donut' to try their shadow on first.  They completed all the shadow on the mini donut and on their final donut before they were asked to move onto painting.

Most students were able to get frosting and decorations onto their mini donut before the end of class.   I had them put these practice mini donuts on display.  They dried there and 5th-grade students the next day were able to come into class doing a gallery walk to get ideas for their donuts before getting started.

Day 3:

Students finished up their donuts.  Some needed the whole hour and I was happy to give that time to them.  Others started on more exploration of making a shape into a form.