Self Portraits
4th Grade
Beginning, Middle, & End Caterpillars
Kindergarten
In this Common Core aligned lesson, kindergarteners applied what they'd learned in their classroom about beginning, middle, and end by listening to The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. They answered questions about what the character was in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. They then used jumbo marshmallows as stamps to make an egg, caterpillar, and butterfly.
Self portraits are one of my favorite things to teach. In kindergarten we focus on the basics, identifying skin and hair colors, placing features in the right places, etc. By fourth grade though, I encourage student to incorporate their heritage, interests, and more into their self portraits. We learn that to capture a true portrait, you have to realize than you are more than your outward appearance. The student in the example above incorporated his Mexican heritage along with his love for animals.
In this lesson, students learn the difference between geometric lines and shapes (lines and shapes you would find in math/geometry) and organic lines and shapes (lines and shapes you would find in nature). They then have to create their own abstract drawing using organic lines. This is so much harder for 3rd and 4th graders than you would think. It's hard for them to this abstractly instead of concretely so this lesson builds creativity and problem-solving skills.
Everybody makes mistakes! Mistakes are a part of learning and a part of art. However, many students get upset when they make a mistake in art and want to start over at the slighest mistake. This lesson, along with the book Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg, allows students to explore mistakes and use them to make better artwork.
Organic Designs
3rd and 4th grade
