This past week we worked with Van Gough's Starry Night and two activities we could use for upper elementary students. the top picture(which is side ways) is a finger painting using Van Gough type strokes while applying the paint to the paper. the idea was we needed a foreground, middle ground, and back ground in the painting. the tree is the foreground, grassy hills are middle, then the sunset turning to the night sky is the back ground.

the second project below it is much of the same thing except for we used tissue paper for a little bit of translucency. Then constructed some foreground by laying another cut out shape over it and then made it come alive with some pastels. Once we were finished constructing we glossed the whole thing to give it a nice shiny finished look.

With older kids I would consider making life size outlines of them selves and have them tissue paper what they would want on their out line.

5 Elements or Principles of design

 

This Picture was taken in a Colorado Evening, Contrast

 

Picture from a MAN MADE castle, Color

 

Hike up to Old Baldy in the Black Hills, Texture

 

Collage of pictures put together by Lindsey Varnell, Unity

 

Picture also taken from the Colorado Sky, Value

Extension activity for this would be to have a random bunch of pictures and have the student describe which element it is and why.

We will start from heel to toe. Drew a stick man jumping off a cliff into water because that is something I really enjoy doing in the summer time. Its the closest thing to flying I can get my hands on right now and its awesome. Next we see the lobster roll and peanut butter cups because I absolutely love to cook and eat all the time, love having a big get together and cook for any meal of the day. Just below we see a model of my fathers fish house that I wish i could be fishing in. I have some of my fondest and best memories out on a freezing cold lake. To the right we see some ivy dry, I used this because I'm very out doorsy in the summer time and I need a lot of ivy dry to cure all of it that I annually get. To the right you see a Northern Wrestling logo that I made one day, I put that on there because I had no intentions of going to college til I was called by college wrestling coaches wanting me to come wrestle for them. So I guess I could say that I would not be where I am now if it was not for wrestling. Above that is a drawing of a shoe, this is there because I'm a shoe shopper. got way to many. then on the toes are the five brothers of my family including me.


Extension activity that would work for this unit would learning about recycling and the student Carbon Foot Print. They can create a foot that represents things that effect the earth negatively or positively