Sunday, April 1, 2012

Sweet Tweets!!

1st graders finished up their Calder-inspired, rocking birds this week. Here are a few:






I posted the whole lesson earlier in the week HERE and HERE.

One little disclaimer. Attaching the wire was WAY too hard for my classes (25ish in a group) to do on their own and have them not wobble. Fortunately, I discovered this before we started, so guess who spent an evening in front of the TV twisting wires and applying a bit of masking tape to cover the sharp end?!! Not really as bad as it sounds:))
I also cautioned kids to pinch the blue spot with one hand when they moved the wire neck with the other (if they had to move the neck, that is). That kept the neck from wobbling.  These turned out pretty cute, but if I were to do it again, I'd allow time enough for the kids to make feathers come out of the top of the heads:))

8 comments:

  1. These birds are adorable; I am looking for ideas to use wire for sculptural projects.

    Thanks for sharing

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  2. They really are cute, though, despite the challenges. I'll bet the kids are thrilled with them! I would be!

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  3. I love this lesson and I will be trying it at some point for sure! Thanks so much!!

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  4. Would it work to just tape the wire to the inside of the folded cardboard? I'd like to try this project too!

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    1. I don't think that just tape would work, although I didn't try that. Even with twisting the wire tightly, I still had to tape the wire on the underside of some of them for added stability so they wouldn't wobble from side to side. I was just using masking tape, though, maybe something like duct tape would work. Good luck with it:)

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    2. thanks for your response. i'll have to play with it before i decide to do it with a class. i'm also wondering if a pipe cleaner neck would work or be too heavy? we shall see!

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  5. Doin' this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe before the end of the year!!! LOVE 'EM!

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