3-5th tree project progress

Moving backwards...
5th grade: One class comes once a week and one class comes twice a week. The once a week class just finished their op art spheres. They loved them so much that they begged to take them home then and there. I said yes and now don't have any from that class to photograph. What can I say, they were so excited to take them home! The twice a week class did my painting based on this one
(lower grades version)
the kids had fun making their trees with masking tape. I had them add branches and then paint the entire thing blue and white and set to dry. The next class we removed the tape and used yellow, orange and red to add impressionist style leaves. Each one ended up unique. Hopefully I will take photos this week. They are destined for the school office bulletin board. Next both classes will tackle a Klimt style tree as inspired by this project:
Ok who did I get this photo from?! Claim your project please!!!

4th grade: Is still working on our project inspired by Kids Artists lesson. Last week we managed to color our hills and paint the moon and sky for the background. During our 20 min lesson this week we will cut out our black tree and add it to our background and call them good. I am not really happy with how the sky's look using paint instead of oil pastel, but if we are out of supplies we are out and there is nothing I can do about that. We DO have white paper, glue and watercolor so I'm going to hop on board with Kristen from The Love of Art and this super awesome pumpkin drawing/painting she has created.
The Love of Art

3rd grade: These kids (all three classes of them) were nuts as 2nd graders, wild animals as 1st graders and out of control in kinder. I don't know what was in the water the year these kids were conceived. Year after year these classes turn teachers hair gray and cause honest to go nervous breakdowns. I will say, two of the three classes have mellowed out enough that we can actually DO a project for the first time in three years. The 20 min long classes are PERFECT for this group. Their raindrop trees are pretty cute. Their painting skills are sloppy but the trees are still cute. I am afraid to see what will happen when we try to cut them out and mount them on blue paper this week.... when we are done with that we will create some painted paper for our harvest collage.

That is aside from the one class...the 3rd grade class that is going to make ME have a nervous breakdown. They are SO out of control it is absurd. I can't have them come to the art room. I have to go to them, keep them in their seats with very limited supplies. On Thursday I had them do a very simple tree painting and they were looking good and done. One table at a time I am calling up table groups to put their art on the drying rack and wash their hands. I get to the green table and discovered that all four of them have put their hands on their painting and just smashed all the paint around to create a "pile of poop" as one girl told me. Awesome. "Guess what, those piles of poop are going in the hall with the other tree paintings... with your names on them." WHAT they asked horrified!!! "That's what you made in art this week, just like everyone elses I'm going to display them in the hall" I smiled. They looked a little horrified at what they had done. Perhaps we will not have that problem again.