Animated Color Monsters

Third grade lesson exploring color, visual texture, movement, and feelings

Tutorial for Remote Learning

Making a Color Monster from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

Join me for a chat about my #Naea20 #colormonster #SEL, #artsed, and #animation when you’re done watching the Video https://t.co/HP6NE0ZuM8

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) March 25, 2020

The Color Monster Book connects colors to feelings and emotions. This story helps students thing about their own feelings as they use color and expression to make a color monster

Day One: Book and Doodles

Students doodled and drew about each of the 6 feelings as they rotated through the color stations. Then we gathered to talk about the drawings #sel #socialemotionallearning #drydenrocks
Ext week we start making our own #colorMonster pic.twitter.com/s5ll1L7Gan

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) November 8, 2019

I set up the six tables in the art room with a color paper tent on which I wrote a feeling. The tables were covered with white paper with a basket of sharpie markers.

Students traveled to each of the six tables doodling and drawing about the feeling written on the color tent. We matched some of the colors in the book, but changed a few to match our primary and secondary color schemes.  This will make our monochromatic paintings turn out better. We traded orange for black since it's not on the color wheel and purple for pink since pink is  tint of red. I used the song Colors by Kira Willey (see youtube video below) as a device for organizing our rotations. Students drew for as long as the song (2.5 mins). Then we switched tables. We gathered around each table at the end to look for patterns and point out expressive choices.

Day Two: Cardboard Monsters

Prepped enough cardboard for 3rd grade students to make a monster (two 8.5 x 11 pieces each)

Here is my plan for building a color monster from two sheets of 8.5" x 11" cardboard

I printed these plans for each of my students. The hope is that they can use these to draw and cut out their monster pieces. There is some room for creative choices, but with they would have to work within the limits of two pieces of cardboard. #ProblemSolving

Paper Folded and stapled to make a pouch for all the pieces

Since this project will have many small pieces, students will make a pouch for their work from folded and stapled paper. This will hold everything and serve as a placemat for painting and laying out their work on the drying rack. Each little piece still needs to have a name on the back just in case.

Day Three: Picking Colors and Painting

You can't always control what mood you're in today. But, we can learn to self-regulate and work through those feelings. So when students come to class today, they will pick a color from a basket. There will be 4 of each of the six colors we selected to represent feelings. When they pick a color, they will work at that table to paint their monster.

3rd graders are using tints and shades of their colors to apply visual texture to their #cardboard #ColorMonster #sel #socialemotionalLearning #drydenrocks pic.twitter.com/I77HZRG51p

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) January 13, 2020

Day four: Trace, Assemble & Photograph

Students will trace the edges of their pieces with black marker, use wooden skewers to gently poke through the cardboard, and attach 5 fasteners. Then, we will photograph for Artsonia

Finished Monsters (see gallery)

Click the image to see the gallery

Day Five: Stop-Motion Animation

Students will collaboratively use stop-motion animation to bring movement and expression to their color monsters.

Watch my 3rd graders show feelings using their #colormonster with #stopmotion #animation
Thanks to @ABC25Foundation for my class set of @Copernicused iPad stands #artmatters #sel #drydenrocks #edtech #socialemotionallearning #collaboration
Lesson: https://t.co/2Jyip3bBLR pic.twitter.com/pzI6WwoAiF

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) January 29, 2020

Presentation: (See the gallery of videos)

Loving these #colormonster #stopmotion animations
3rd graders used this #edtech technique on art as they connect to feelings w/color & expression #transdigital #socialemotionallearning #SEL
See them come to life w/ #AugmentedReality #arvrinedu @eyejackapp #drydenrocks #marquee pic.twitter.com/vXgCKzTRd4

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) February 7, 2020

Class Movies

3-1 Color Monsters from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

3-2 Color Monsters from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

3-3 Color Monsters from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

3-4 Color Monsters from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

Bonus: Augmented Reality Book Cover

Just made an animation for #ColorMonster and attached it to #AugmentedReality using @eyejackapp

How are you feeling today? #SEL #SOCIALEMOTIONALLEARNING #artsed #arvrinedu pic.twitter.com/4R6d0OYirS

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) November 10, 2019

TEXAS ArtEd Conference Keynote

When I was asked to give the Keynote address to the Texas Art Education Association, I decided to frame it around the feelings my students and I experience making these color monsters. How are you feeling?

How are you feeling? from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

MEDIA ARTS Article in School Arts Mag

I turned the keynote address into an article and shared it in the media arts issue of School Arts Magazine. Here is the link to the article.

The article has an augmented reality feature where you can see Alessandro's animation come to life.  It also has an embedded video you can view online when you click on the photo of students viewing the color monster animations through the iPad app Eyejack.

So much joy! My #colormonsters article was published in the December issue of @SchoolArts
The theme is Media Arts and they did not disappoint! @DrydenSchool #drydenrocks #d25itspersonal #edtech #arvrinedu #augmentedreality pic.twitter.com/5CHyI7lc5o

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) November 25, 2020

This page has an embedded video you can click on when viewing the @schoolarts article online at https://t.co/kEw5Cmiing
See the #colormonsters from @drydenschool 3rd graders expressing their feelings! #SEL #drydenrocks #d25itspersonal #edtech #k12artchat #stopmotion pic.twitter.com/a3Rqtjh5hw

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) November 25, 2020

The page comes to life w/ #augmentedreality from the screen or print when you scan the QR code with @eyejackapp. Alessandro's monster is mad expressed through a creative #stopmotion animation. (This piece is also in the @ilaea art show) #drydenrocks #d25itspersonal @DrydenSchool pic.twitter.com/SGVTexGSV7

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) November 25, 2020