Australian Endangered Bird Artworks- Grade 2

 Lesson Background:

We have been investigating change in animal life cycles and populations. We read the beautiful Australian picture books "Rusty the Rainbow Bird" by Aleesah Darlison and The Black Cockatoo with One Feather Blue by Jodie McLeod and learned more about gouldian finches and black cockatoos and why they are endangered.

Lesson Materials (per student):

1 sheet trimmed white A3 art paper

lead pencil

good quality thick acrylic paint in lots of colours

watercolour paints for background (optional)

Lesson Steps:

1. We began by looking at images of the gouldian finch and black cockatoos from the 2 picture books we had read. We discussed shapes and colours of them, and then I moved snipped images of them around on my screen showing them the impact of different sizes and positions. We looked at filling in the backgrounds with native plants and how positive and negative space are affected by different decisions we make with size and position of the things we added in.

2. I modelled how to draw the finch, branch and cockatoo step-by-step while students followed along. After that, I modelled some possible plants on the board and students chose which ones they wanted to include in their artworks and drew them in.

3.  I demonstrated how to use the acrylic paint and mix colours.

4. Students painted their artworks. They did find it tricky to paint around their drawings with the blue background acrylic paint. Some students chose to leave it white and we did agree that using watercolour for the background might be easier next time.

5. Once dry, students outlined their drawings with black sharpie to neaten up messy paint lines and make their drawings pop.

Student Artworks:

Growing Trees Art - Grade 2

 Lesson Background:

Our spelling word of the week was "grew". We investigated the /gr/ blend, the /ew/ sound and past tense words. We read the gorgeous story "The Boy who Grew a Forest" by Sophia Gholz. We learnt about the country of India where the story is set and wrote information reports, had a visiting Indian friend of mine come to answer student questions about India whilst making us masala chai tea, and we looked at how plants and forests grow. 

Lesson Materials (per student):

A3 white art paper

lead pencil

Watercolour paint

Lesson steps:

1.  We looked at photos of forests looking up into the forest canopy. We talked about perspective.

2. I demonstrated how to draw a tree looking up to show perspective and how to place them around the page. Students drew their first tree alongside me step-by-step, and then completed the rest of their page independently, using as many trees as they wanted and changing the shapes, number of branches etc. to make it their own.

3.  I demonstrated how students could use light and shade in their tree foliage by using a mix of dark and light green and yellow watercolour paint. I also demonstrated how they could create the effect of foliage by pressing their brush in different ways.

4. Students painted their trees and backgrounds.

Student Artworks:

Grade 2 Character strength self-portraits

Lesson Background: 

As a part of our positive psychology program, we have been learning about the VIA character strengths. Students learned about the different strengths and then undertook a quiz to determine their own top strengths. They then created these artworks. 

Lesson Materials (per student):

1 sheet A4 white art paper

oil pastels

watercolours

a black sharpie

Lesson Steps:

1.  Students followed a directed-draw of a face, being given opportunities to make their face their own (e,g, demonstrating how to do thinner/thicker lips, narrower/wider eyes etc).

2. Students coloured in their drawings with oil pastel.

3.  Students were shown how to break their background up into a "stained glass window effect" by using straight lines to create sections with a lead pencil, and then tracing over them with a sharpie.

4.  Students painted each section.

5.  When dry, students wrote their top strengths in each section of the background.

Student Artworks:

Grade 2 Quokka Art

 

By Edith (Year 2)

Lesson Background

Our new class mascot for the year is a toy quokka the children have named Gumdrop. We did lots of research about quokkas and used it as our spelling word of the week. It was a great way to revise the "qu" digraph!

Lesson Materials (per student):

1 A4 white art paper

oil pastels

Lesson Steps:

1.  We looked at lots of photos of quokkas and talked about their features.

2. We followed a guided drawing from Art for Kids hub: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4IikQm_970

3.  We coloured our drawings in with oil pastel.

4. We used watercolour to paint our own background designs based on photos of quokka habitats we had seen.

Student Artworks: