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Instructional Objective:
The
students will understand and apply media techniques and processes.
The student will use their knowledge of structures and functions.
Curricular Integration:
Farm
animals and chickens in particular are a popular theme for many
children’s book and even appear in a variety of multi-cultural books
as well. In young children part of learning to read successfully is to
hear the written word read to them on a daily basis and integrated
into much of their regular classroom curriculum. I am always looking
for new and
innovative ways to motivate my students and especially the very young
in developmentally appropriate ways that encourage higher level
thinking skills and to help students who are reluctant artists feel
comfortable enough to allow that natural creativity to shine. If I can
combine the need to motivate my students with encouraging a love of
reading I am thrilled to do that.
Materials and Equipment:
12”X18” white drawing paper
permanent markers
oil pastels
watercolor paints
Resource Materials:
The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone
With Love, Little Red Hen by Alma Flor Ada, illustrated by Leslie
Tryon
Mediopolito Half-Chicken by Alma Flor Ada, illustrated by Kim Howard
Rooster’s Off to See the World by Eric Carle
Variety of Folk Art prints showcasing chickens.
Dynasty/FM Brush - Eye of the Tiger
Brushes:
Oval: #4, #6
Flats: #10, #12
Project Requirements:
- This project allows the student to explore
the elements and principles of design.
- The students will begin to understand how
to convey character, personality, and expression into their artwork
- .By utilizing a variety of media this
becomes a multi-media approach.
Project Introduction:
Read aloud The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone.
This story has been told and retold countless times and also teaches a
lesson on having a good work ethic. That is certainly something that
we should continue teaching our students in this day and age. Discuss
the illustrations found in the story and how these illustrations help
to tell the story and to even foreshadow what is to come. Show a
variety of photos and prints of Folk Art Chickens and discuss how the
artists presented chickens using primitive as well as realistic
representations. This also lends itself to a discussion of what folk
art is and the historical significance.
Art Production:
- The students begin the project by drawing
the chicken/rooster using basic shapes and lines with teacher led
directions. If the students prefer to draw the Little Red Hen I then
show them how to change their rooster into a hen and add a hat
similar to the one found in the story. One skill that I continually
stress with young children is the fact that the ground and sky meet
at a horizon line, in reality there is not a little patch of sky at
the top of the picture and a patch of ground at the bottom, the
students then add the horizon line somewhere in the middle of the
page. The students are then instructed to add interesting details to
their picture in both the foreground and background of the piece. I
have had students add aliens as well as the typical farm scenes to
their projects and allow their naturally creative little minds to
work.
- Children love to experiment with color and
to encourage that I require that the students add patterns to their
chicken; we brainstormed a variety of patterns that could be used on
the chickens and came up with polka dots, lines of different shapes
and sizes, ovals, checkerboard patterns, as well as many others.
They were then instructed to include different patterns in each
section of the chicken/rooster.
- We then outline the picture with permanent
markers.
- Using oil pastels the children outline the chicken/rooster and
the patterns on the chicken with bright colors using a different
color in each section of the chicken and to color the details in
portions of the background that the students will struggle with
painting. Using oil pastels to outline certain areas of the piece
helps to contain the watercolor paints when they paint. It is
frustrating to the children to have their colors bleed into one
another when that wasn’t the desired result. I have found that if I
have them outline certain areas the paint is contained within the
pastel area due to the resist effect. After they have completed
outlining with oil pastels they then paint everything else with
watercolor making sure to paint each section of the chicken with a
different bright color. This experimenting with color is a perfect
introduction to further color lessons.
- Paint the remainder of the picture with watercolors.
- Mount the pictures for presentation.
- Every year that I complete this project with my students I find
that in our end of the year evaluation of projects presented each
year this is one of the student’s favorites.
Evaluation: Teacher observation, record
keeping, peer evaluation.
© Christy Hartman 2007
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