1st Grade - When Pigasso Met Mootisse - Day 1

For the last couple years, I have struggled with 1st grade lessons.  I am not sure if it is the time limit that I have with them or the structure of mixed classes that has given me the challenge, nonetheless, I have struggled, until this year!  This year we have rocked in first grade, we have had so much fun this year and created so much amazing art this year, and I from what the 1st grade teachers have shared, I think they have learned quite a bit too.  (I am beaming about this!)  We are at the part of the year that I dread, the end, and I am wanting to keep our lessons very meaningful, but short and sweet, due to end of the year activities and such.  So this is a weeks worth of fun wrapped into a fun story! 

After we watched the story being read, we talked a little about abstract art.  We talked about it being something that doesn't look like anything in particular, mostly unfamiliar.  I drew an example on the board of an apple (that looks like an apple) then I drew an abstract apple (that has all of the apple parts, stem, leaf, but were in the wrong places on a different shape.)  I told them that this was an apple too.  We discussed that sometimes we need more information about a piece of artwork for us to learn about what it is, or what it is about.  This allows us to look further for meaning within artwork we do and see.

When we were done discussing, I gave students a 6x6 square of paper and allowed them to create something abstract using oil pastels.  Each one explained what they were drawing when I walked around and inquired.  They took these home and I asked them to show their artwork and explain it to those at home.

Here is a sampling of day 1's take home artwork.