Lane Smith's award winning book Grandpa Green was the inspiration for this lesson on stencil printing. I found this beautifully illustrated book over the summer and thought it would be perfect for teaching my 3rd graders about positive and negative space, among many other things. The story is told by a young boy, the great grandson of a topiary trimming master, and it shares a sweet sentiment of family history.The kids and I had much fun printing our stencils and I am now looking forward to including stencils in other projects. We began, after reading the book together, by designing our topiaries and cutting away the positive shapes - this was a little confusing for them in the beginning but everyone figured it out. Then we used sponges to create the leafy texture, adding blue and yellow to create values and form. Lastly, we added a setting and details! A really fun project, indeed...
I can't tell you how much I love that book! I'm amazed at your ingenuity in coming up with such a fun, cool lesson with the book as inspiration. I am going to try this with my 3rd graders and can only hope they will come out half as good as your student's work!
Found your blog by way of Miss Young's Art Room! What a great teaching resource. I love the fact that you put a word wall on your sidebar and the way you made the distinction between Abstract and Non-objective. So often I see them used interchangeably but I like the way you are using them because it makes more sense.
What a sweet lesson and a great way to use stencils!
ReplyDeleteThis is GREAT!
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you how much I love that book! I'm amazed at your ingenuity in coming up with such a fun, cool lesson with the book as inspiration. I am going to try this with my 3rd graders and can only hope they will come out half as good as your student's work!
ReplyDelete:)Pat
I love these green creations.
ReplyDeleteThe drawings are so beautiful.
What a wonderful way to explain positive & negative shape - I'll have to check out that book! Thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteReally great, love the stenciling!
ReplyDeleteFound your blog by way of Miss Young's Art Room! What a great teaching resource. I love the fact that you put a word wall on your sidebar and the way you made the distinction between Abstract and Non-objective. So often I see them used interchangeably but I like the way you are using them because it makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteThese are adorable! What a great way to use stencils. Have never heard of the book before- thnx for sharing!
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