1st Grade

Self Portrait

In this lesson, 1st graders made observational self portraits of themselves using pencil, Sharpies, oil pastels, and watercolors.

"Picture A Tree" Collage

We began this lesson by reading Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid and looking closely at the different colors and textures the illustrator showed on the trees. Then, students mixed tempera paint to create colors for their tree's trunk, branches, leaves and flowers. Next, students painted a background for their tree, considering what season and what time of day they wanted to show. Finally, students traced and cut out a trunk, branches, and leaves or flowers, and glued these parts to their background to create a collage tree scene.

Recycled Robots

After reading Robo-Sauce by Adam Rubin, 1st graders used cardboard and recycled materials to make retro-inspired robots. Then, they coated their robots with Mod Podge, painted the robots, and made prints using the printing press and rubbings using crayons.