For my four second grade classes, I created two main projects, a folktale storytelling project and a surrealist collage project. Working at this age level was interesting because they are older enough to have read more books and stories, and I wanted to use that to my advantage. In my lessons I wanted to push students into analyzing art more and how to incorporate meaning into their artwork through visual qualities. Students were tasked in using color more expressively and incorporating symbolism within their work.
Folktale ProjectOverall Lesson Objective: Given colored pencils, pencil, oil pastels, paper, a presentation on Marc Chagall, folk tale stories, and a brainstorming think sheet, students will imaginatively recreate a scene from a folk tale story they love, expressively using color to symbolize the emotions of the characters in the chosen scene.
In this project, I wanted students to connect colors to emotions, and before we went into this longer project, we did exercises based on Kandinsky through listening to classical music and drawing what we thought the music sounded like or felt like. Students were practicing how to draw different characters or animals, and using color expressively. Students were also reflecting on the different folktales and stories they have read, and I let students pick outside of folktales to books they have read and what lessons they have learned from different book and stories. |
Surrealism CollageOverall Lesson Objective: Given a presentation on surrealism and Salvador Dali, demonstration on weaving, review of a collage, construction paper, scissors, glue, and examples of landscapes students will imaginatively create their own surrealist landscapes incorporating texture, shape, and line within their artwork.
In this project I had students create surrealist collages and focused on having students use line, shape, texture and color throughout. Students initially had to weave construction paper as their base, and create a collaged landscape with a horizon line, foreground and background. I wanted to leave the project open for students' interpretations, encouraging them to use their dreams and imagination to create their landscapes, as well as asking them to include a symbol to represent something personal. |