3rd Grade Lesson

Rainbow Rainforest

I modified this lesson (it's a combination of two similar lessons I borrowed from Ms. Goitia at Liberty Elementary and Mr. Russel at Balls Bluff Elementary) to teach the 3rd grade students at Discovery Elementary the techniques of arranging patterns, combining interesting colors, observational drawing and 3-dimensional collage. We first discussed and looked at paintings by Henri Roussau. We looked at pictures of different plant parts, and I showed the class how to break down complex objects from nature into simple shapes in pencil. We learned the technique of overlapping and repeating shapes to create patterns to frame in our compositions. I encouraged the students to try a wide range of colors in their leaves, flowers, trees, vines and grass, rather than coloring with the typical greens. This allowed for vibrant contrasts. On the second day of this lesson, we looked at pictures of jungle animals and I demonstrated how to draw, cut out and paste on an animal so that the paper would lift off of the background. The students enjoyed this lesson.