Remember that post where I shared my planning process for designing arts integrated lesson based on a picture book? Well, here is the end result!
The rundown:
1- The lesson was taught in cooperation with an outstanding 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. H. The teacher read Silver Seeds to the children as a read aloud.
2- We emphasized how the illustrations helped to tell the story alongside the text. For more specifics on the art elements highlighted in this lesson, visit the planning post.
3- We also noticed author’s craft and how the authors used acrostics in a fresh way (with rich language, personification, etc.)
4- The students selected a weather word from the science unit they were completing. With that word in mind, they created a visual art piece using tempera paint and black Sharpie markers. (The markers were used to define lines once the paint was dry.)
5- After creating the images, the students generated acrostic poems that matched the theme of their artwork, using an images-first approach.
6- Finally, the children were given 1 inch letter stickers to add “word art” to their piece.
The end products turned out great, and I was really pleased to see such interesting acrostic poems; full of figurative language and creativity. Here are two examples:
Notice that the student used color to create mood and also found a way to establish an interesting ground line. His black marker lines generate movement within the tornado and add visual texture in the haystacks next to the barn/house. In addition, he attempted a “foreground” object by adding bits of trash swirling around outside the tornado.
The acrostic is wonderful too:
“Twisting, twirling
Over and over again
Roaring
Nothing is left when it ends
And if you get hit your life ends.
Dancing destruction,
Out it comes.”
The little girl who completed this piece really understood the idea of a large foreground object. She actually created a butterfly on a separate piece of paper and collaged it onto her painted background page. I love how she echoed the colors of the sky in her butterfly. If she had asked, I probably would have advised her to constrast with warm colors such as red and yellow, but the blue is very effective!
Her acrostic reads,
“Cloudy puffs of cotton
Like white crayons on blue paper
Outlines the sky
Use an umbrella when the water pours out
Drizzly rain pushes out
Slowly pushing through the air.”
Did I mention that these are second graders? Pretty impressive stuff!
I love designing these kinds of highly engaging lessons that integrate multiple standards and topics. Stay tuned for more!
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