Pier Reflections Results

Our 102 year old pier is a popular destination for tourists and locals. When I asked the kids in each class who had been to the pier almost every hand shot up. They were enthusiastic to recreate it as a piece of art.

We started looking at 6 photos (from Google images) showing reflections and I asked the students to tell how the photos were alike. They got that each had buildings and water and there was someone in each class who noticed the reflections. We discussed the "wiggly" lines in the reflections. Next, we looked at and discussed photos of the pier with its colorful buildings, the carrousel building with arched windows/doors and the ferris wheel.

Then the kids got started on their buildings with me reminding them to PRESS HARD with the crayons. The last step was to use liquid watercolor and a sponge to make the sky and water. I had them use the sponge square to "stamp" the sky and then wipe on the water (so we would have different textures).

These are a a few drying on the drying rack. I guess I could have displayed these all strung together in line like the bottom three. Maybe next time!

One cool thing that happened was when I was hanging some of these pictures in the hallway.  A group of 4th/5th grade girls came by on their way to instrumental music. They stopped with an "Oh my gosh, look at these -- it's the PIER!! They made reflections! These are SO GOOD!!" The girls stopped and had a whole discussion about which classrooms had done the art, whether they knew anyone in the class, what class they were in when they were in 1st grade and how the kids make the reflections look more real. DON'T YOU JUST LOVE MOMENTS LIKE THAT!!!!