K/1s Make Collages for Their Bees

A Bee on a Flower

Hovering Bee

Cutting flower shapes

Gluing down the ground line

Many drops of glue

The K/1s worked on large flower collages to create a background for their large bees.

Middle School Continuous Line Drawings

Keeping the pencil attached to the paper

Working across the composition

Getting in the details

The middle school students worked from a long, horizontal still life set-up to create continuous line drawings. They began at one end of the still life and couldn't lift their pencil off the paper until the whole set-up was captured. The results look a bit like wire sculptures while helping to build increased eye-hand coordination.

K/1s Draw Oil Pastel Bees

Mixing yellows and black

Large, clear stripes

Working first on the drawing

After some experimentation with color mixing with oil pastels, and in conjunction with science and classroom bee studies, the K/1s tried their hand at drawing bees while singing a song about their head, thorax and abdomen.

4/5s Draw Shaded Columns

Wobbly columns

A Finished Work

Coloring the first stack

Shading to get a 3D effect

Figuring out the first column

The 4/5s had fun drawing crazy stacks of curvy lines and then adding color in "families" (two primaries and the secondary color they make). They shaded the stacks so they appear to have dimension. The results are fanciful, organic looking tunnels!

2/3s Paint Bees in Relief

A Finished Work

One More

A Collaboration

Another pair working

Mixing colors

Painting the sky

Working collaboratively on a background

Figuring out where the bees will be flying

Carefully cutting the bee parts

More cutting

Working on the wings

Painting those bee abdomens

After careful observation and drawing, the 2/3s are painting bees in sections. The bees will be cut out and glued together to appear to hover over cut out flowers that are attached to large painted backgrounds.

2/3s Draw Our Bees

Adding color

Working on the abdomen

Getting the stripes just right

With Parker all abuzz about our two bee hives, the 2/3 class looked closely at the three different kinds of honey bees and chose one to draw.

MIddle School Process Drawings

Working on the highlights

Getting to the last panel!

Close Observing

Capturing the right colors

With apple season upon us, the middle school students worked on three panel drawings of apples as they ate them. The first panel was the intact apple, the second the apple minus one large bite, and the third, the core. This was a delicious exercise!