Activity 5: Color It... My Way

Objective:

Materials:

• Crayons, markers
• White construction paper or white bulletin board paper

Motivational Link:

1. Share facts about Clementine Hunter and Edgar Degas from the fact sheets provided. Emphasize how they each painted and how they might have felt. Tell them that neither artist painted to please others, rather they painted what they felt like painting.

2. Read the books The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle (Cromwell Publishers, New York, 1984) and Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O'Neal (Doubleday: Garden City, NY, 1961).

Learning Activity:

1. Ask students to close their eyes and imagine a special place where everything is beautiful. It is a place where they would be most happy, where nothing bad happens, that is safe.

2. Ask the students to draw a picture of the place they just imagined. Encourage them to use as much detail as possible. Ask each student to describe his/her place to the other classmates.

Extension:

1. Have the children write a description of their special place to accompany their artwork.

2. Display the students' works on a bulletin board or in the hallway. Plan to save these pictures for the Art Museum activity.

3. If time permits, let each student positively "critique" another student's work. It is important here that only positive comments are made. Begin the sentence, "What I like best about (student's name)'s paining is..." Remind students that no two works are alike, but that they are all special and beautiful.