Words of Wisdom From 2nd Graders...

Another project I was able to do at a local elementary school, before the end of the year, was the paper plate fish project relating to the book "Only One You." My original post is here.

"Be Artistic!" What a great idea!!

I had the teacher  share the book with the children before I arrived and get them thinking of "words of wisdom" that they could impart to others. This was a great thing to do before my arrival so they were ready to go on the art project!

I started my presentation, by sitting with them and the book and talking with them about it. I did a quick recap of the plot and then we looked at the book from an artistic point of view. This was a good discussion in realism, pattern, line and repetition.

Then we got to work! I wasn't sure if the lesson would engage all of the students since I hadn't done this project with a group before (only my "test subjects" at home). It went VERY well! The project kept the children engaged the entire time and their words of wisdom were wonderful! There are some very wise second graders in Mrs. Bevilacqua's class!

As you can see, each fish was so unique!

This one gives new meaning to "Rainbow Fish." Beautiful!

Some of these read: "Think Positively" and "Don't Lie"

"Have a Vivid Imagination," "Be Unique," and "Be Careful"

Mosaic Snowglobe Project Results

This past week I had the pleasure of visiting Mrs. Bevilacqua's second grade class at Wilkin's Elementary School in Amherst, NH. Mrs. Bevilacqua usually does a themed unit that involves snow globes and I thought the children would also enjoy doing the snow globe mosaics from my blog.

All 17 snow globes! Beautiful!

The second graders were very enthusiastic and creative! I started with a revised worksheet and had the students use a limited color palette (10 crayons) so that they could easily match up the paper squares with the colors they chose for their pieces. It was a two-session project, but it went quickly and the children were very happy with the results (me too!).

The revised worksheet has different labels than before.
 It is a bit easier for the children to understand: S = Sky, R = Roof, G = Ground, etc.
They use this worksheet to plan before moving onto the actual gluing.
See the original post for "how-to" info.

A detailed look at one of the mosaic pieces.

This project was a great way for the children to explore math concepts relating to a grid (each child had 100 squares on his/her piece!) as well as exploring color choices and value (in order for the sections of the picture to be easily read, the student needs to vary his/her value and color choices), learn the art of mosaics and, even within the set parameters, there was a chance for choice and creative expression.

What a fun way to spend the afternoon! Thank you, again, to Mrs. Bevilacqua and her students for all of their hard work and energy!

NOTE: I used 5" x 7" canvas boards from www.dickblick.com to mount the finished pieces on (24 for $7 or so). I then added a border above and below the mosaics with navy grosgrain ribbon glued on with hot glue. When done, I attached a paper label with the child's name. I justified the expense because these are "keepsakes." 

If you had less time and a limited budget, you could enlarge the project to 10" square (each square of the grid is 1") and have students do this project on thin white paper paper using 1" construction paper squares and glue sticks. Skip the Mod Podge and mount the finished mosaic onto a piece of construction paper. Very inexpensive, but still great!