2nd Grade Scholars Interpret Poetry with Drama and Art

Scholars enjoyed listening to Robert Frost's classic poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" and participating in imaginative improvisation games.  A favorite activity was to create a tableau--similar to enacting a painting--of a woodland scene in winter:

How to Create the Illusion of Space

Artists use several techniques to create the illusion of Space.  2nd Grade scholars analyzed artwork by Childe Hassam and snow scenes by Andrew Wyeth.  They discussed how these artists created an illusion of space by "overlapping" elements, making distant elements smaller, and placing background elements higher on the picture plane.  After reviewing the poem by Robert Frost, scholars suggested items they could include in a snow scene.  Everyone was delighted to discover how to use the same techniques that artists use in their own works of art.  Overlapping was a favorite technique--no need to draw the entire snowman in the distance, just draw only the parts you can see!  Scroll down to view the Printmaking activities!

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Oil Pastel Transfer Prints!

Scholars first covered a 3X5 card with a layer of oil pastel.  They wrote their name on the front of a piece of construction paper, then placed the paper face down on the 3X5 card.  Using overlapping and other techniques to create an illusion of space, scholars drew a snow scene on the back of the paper.  The moment they lift up the paper to see how the drawing was transferred is always exciting--"Ohhh!"
Click to view more 2nd Grade Scholars--be sure to scroll down the page!  

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