Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Ancient Egyptian cats - grade 5


This was a fun drawing lesson I did with a group of grade 5's studying Ancient Egpyt. We did a group draw on construction paper, and students colored them in with pastels. They used tempera paint to fill in the space around the cats. Students were then allowed to use jewels to decorate their cats, making them look rich and regal.

What I love most about this project is the creativity of the students. I know some art educators aren't wild about the group draw, but as someone who struggled in art class as a child, group draws are a favorite of mine. I have never been good at drawing, and always felt like I was not a good artist because of this. I've dedicated myself to never having my students feel this way. I always start lessons with a loose guided draw, but let students know that they can change anything they want about it, and if they want to go off on their own, they can go nuts (as long as they don't need my help!)

Below are some examples of students that used the guided draw. Their results are fantastic, and likely a lot more purposeful than they would have been had they just sat down and tried to draw a cat. Above and far below are examples of students who decided to go off on their own. They used inspiration from the unit that we were studying, and used elements of our guided draw to make their own cats.

I love the way all of the different Egyptian cats turned out!





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