Fall Leaf Watercolor Print

This project showcases the beauty of the leaves in fall. In class student pretend to be a bug on a leaf as we explore the lines and shapes that nature creates. Students then explore outside to find a variety of leaves to use in thier artwork. Students then use the backside of thier leaves under thier papers and the side of a wax crayon to create a rubbing or print of thier leaves. Students them outline the leaf with a marker and them use watercolors to blend around the leaves and fill in the background. To culminate this project students write a haiku about the experiece of being a leaf falling from a tree.

Under the sea

This is a 1st grade lesson that allows students to explore the world that lives underwater. We start by finding interesting fish facts from books and internet sources. We have a class discussion on ideas we already know about underwater life then we build on that knowledge base by adding new facts from research.

Now that we have a good knowledge base we delve into the art process. Student do thier sketchbook connections first by doing step by step how-to-draw demos that allows them to do sketch work on about 8 different marine life animals. Then we choose our best fish to create a large individual sketch. Then we create a resit with watercolor and oil pastels. To wrap up each student presents their fish along with one interesting fact they learned and places them in a mural that we have previously created.