Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Dots with Line and Color

I love the messages in Peter H. Reynolds' books, particularly for older kids (4th and 5th) who suddenly decide they "can't draw". Makes me nuts!!! The Dot and Ish are a great way to start the school year and set the tone that we ALL can make art.

What I didn't know, until reading it on Hope Hunter Knight's blog here, is that September 15 is "International Dot Day"!! My art classes start on September 12 so the timing is perfect for a lesson based on The Dot.

I have the book so I may read it to classes or, it is also on YouTube, so we may just watch the animation.

There will be 4 classes of 4th graders and 1 class of third graders participating in this lesson focusing on the color wheel. I am planning on several different options of "dots" for each class. Some dot makers will be using colored markers and permanent Sharpies, some will use paint (tempera cakes) and permanent markers,
I like to tape over the black and white to limit the palette to the 6 main color wheel colors.


some will use just paint












I like this idea from the book to teach positive/negative space!!

One class may use oil pastels and baby oil (see technique here). I haven't quite decided about that yet. Whatever the media, I will be asking students to use their knowledge of the color wheel to plan their art AND for those using concentric circles and Sharpie markers I will be focusing on repetition of line patterns. This will be a good way for me to find out what students remember from last year.

It feels GREAT to be back in the classroom even if the kids aren't in here with me yet!!!

3 comments:

  1. Cool, thanks for the shout out! Loving the Dot as usual, my motto this year is "just make a mark and see where it takes you." especially like the negative space one.

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  2. This is one of my favorite books.
    We did a project last year, and we will make another one this year.

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  3. I find one of the cool thing about painting dots is that once you start you don't want to stop. One pattern idea leads to another and another and ... Well, you get the idea! Hope the kids feel the same way!!

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