Cityscapes with 1st grade

Greetings all- it's been awhile, but if you are reading this, you probably know how crazy the beginning of a school year can be.  The kiddos are amazing this year, but there is so much to do!

The 1st graders have been exploring architecture; specifically cityscapes and skyscrapers.  We began by looking at a variety of city structures such as the Brooklyn Bridge, the Chrysler Building, Willis Tower (in the old days, this was The Sears Tower) and other buildings.  We compared and contrasted, and to get a little math in, we used the "Greater Than/Less Than" symbol as we discussed features, sizes, etc.  And, we each created our own skyscrapers, which were assembled in the hall to make a giant skyline. 

This project stemmed from that.  It's an oldie, but a goodie- the kids think it's just magical.  I had the students fold their paper lengthwise and draw a cityscape across the top.  They used water soluable cray-pas to color and trace.  While I didn't force a lot of small details for this project, I did encourage a variety of buildings.  When the students had completed the coloring, sky included, I sprayed their paper with water, they folded, and rubbed.  When they opened, it revealed a reflection of their city on the bottom half of the paper.  I made this a one day project to assess how we were progressing with the idea of city buildings, but you could extend it in a variety of ways- having students do preliminary drawings, or layer colors, or even be a little pickier about pushing hard and tracing important details.

I don't know what it is about this one- but I love it in an abstract sorta way.