Sunday, April 19, 2015

Stencil prints: Grandpa Green

Lane Smith's award winning book Grandpa Green was the inspiration for this lesson on stencil printing. 
This beautifully illustrated book was 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 and passing on a legacy.
Here is the video trailer:



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 looking at some real topiaries and talking about how they were like living sculptures that required care. Next we designed our topiaries and began 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...
Find more pictures of the process here http://dolvinartknight.blogspot.com/2012/11/grandpa-green.html









4 comments:

  1. What a cool idea!! Thanks for sharing -- this book is new to me, and I LOVE finding new books to use with kids!!

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  2. Fabulous. The children's voice is loud and clear.

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  3. Oh, what a great lesson! It opens the kids up to use so much individual creativity and story telling. I'm going to have check this book out. Gorgeous illustrations!

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  4. Love this! Thanks for sharing. Can you tell me what brand of drying rack you have-and if you like it? I need a new one!

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