So, it is the second week of school and I have some of the same kids I had last year. So much for re-using all of my art lessons from last year! This is good thought because it is forcing me to think of some new ones too.
My first lesson was last week and I started by reading "Ish" by Peter H. Reynolds. (Also the author of "The Dot" another favorite of mine.) As always, I pointed out that if we stopped writing or reading at the age of 11 or 12 we would never get any better, so why do we think we should stop drawing at that age?
I then had students choose something in the room to draw an "ish" drawing of. I also told them if they were going to try to draw person-ish portraits they needed the person's permission/consent first. (We sometimes tend to get a bit touchy about being "ish" and it opens the door for unpleasantness in a classroom!) This all ended up taking about 45 minutes including clean up. The students were enthusiastic and even asked if they could do more than one. It was fun and the kids worked well and had a few (safe) laughs at their ishy drawings because they knew they didn't have to be realistic. In this context, they weren't afraid to draw, they just did.
This week I continued in the spirit of "Ish" and taught the lesson I have linked from Google docs.
To Doodle or Not to Doodle
We spent about 75 minutes on this lesson and a number of the students aren't quite done. The great thing is now, when the kids have any free time they are asking if they can draw or work on their art rather than fooling around! YAY!
I am planning on making a bulletin board displaying the art, so I will try to post pics soon.
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Thanks, Chirt. My copies of "Ish" and "The Dot" are ready to pick up at Books and Co. I'll share this lesson in our art workshop, an extra optional activity time that I am trying this year, on Tuesday. Some people came last week because they say they need all the help they can get in art! So...the lesson of "ish" and this fun, non-threatening project will be well-received, I think. We look forward to your photos and your site is now linked to my new blog.
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