Modern Day Samplers

Third graders, inspired by Colonial American samplers, stitched and painted their own modern day samplers.  The students viewed samplers sewn by young women in the 17th and 18th century.  They learned that a sampler was like a dictionary of stitches.  A fancy sampler was usually stitched with a picture and displayed with great pride in the home.  After some brainstorming, the students sketched a picture then transferred their image to a piece of burlap.  The image was sewn using a running stitch.  They painted inside the stitched outline and included a border, their initials and the year.

Warm and Cool Hands-- Third Grade Art

Third grade used warm and cool colors and pattern to create these tempera paintings. The students viewed artwork by native people and how their hand print was not only a record of who they were or where they had traveled, but also a way to sign their art. The students each used their hand prints to sign their paintings.

Notice how the warm colors (red, orange, and yellow) advance and the cool colors (blue, green, and violet) recede? This color effect creates an optical illusion. The boys and girls loved this trick of the eye! The boys and girls also learned how to "let their paintbrush do the work" while working with the cake tempera, a new medium for the third graders.