Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Signs

This project was actually done last March. As I was looking through my project photos I realized it was never posted. I think the results for last years Hex Signs are particularly successful. The student artists were directed to create a traditional or modern design for a Hex Sign.

 In fourth grade our students study Pennsylvania. As an introduction to this lesson we talked about the Pennsylvania Dutch and how they made many types of folk art to decorate their surroundings. One form of folk art they made was hex signs. Hex signs are usually designed in a round or radial shape. 

The fourth grade student artists were given handouts on PA Dutch Hex sign designs. We talked about how some of them are symmetrical, some have borders, and others have images of things they were familiar with. We also talked about how the PA Dutch painted their hex signs with bright colors. Certain colors were also considered symbolic.

SYMMETRICAL PROJECTS - 4TH

We tried  a variety of symmetrical design projects in fourth grade this year.  Some of the classes continued the symmetrical name project we did in previous years. It is still a good lesson on symmetry, transferring, adding their own creative details, and just FUN!

 The project above was created by James.

 This is Grace's symmetrical name design.

 Will created this project.

Kyle did an awesome job on his piece.

Robbie's craftsmanship is outstanding in his.

Another type of symmetrical design some of the classes

 did was with line without writing their names.

Ethan liked this project so much he made a second

 one at home and brought it to school to display.

Sarah's technique of outlining the shapes with 

marker and filling in with crayon looks very polished.

A third form of symmetry some of our fourth grade artists

worked on was radial symmetry.

Emma decided to fill in many of the areas with color
which is very eye catching.

Holly created a colorful design using detailed patterning. 

The last form of symmetry some of our fourth
 grade artists designed resembled a kaleidoscope.

Nicely done Robbie!

Annabell was able to include the mirror image of her name.

JD has some really cool line work in the center of his.

Self-Portrait Mixed Media Sculptures - 5th

This one class project was a lot of fun to create as well as view by others! Our 5th grade artists did not hesitate to get started making their pipe cleaner stick figures come to life with expressive faces, detailed clothing and imaginative backgrounds.
We were able to display many of these at our beginning of the year open house. They looked awesome!