Cinderella Stories

Part of the scope/sequence for this 9 weeks here in Nashville is Narrative Artwork with 1st grade.  Since we had used Cinderella as a jumping point for our observational shoe drawings, I decided to keep going with a good thing.  We talked about our favorite parts of the story- we summarized, talked about important details for particular parts.  We also had a quick talk about action, and using lines to show action.  Then, I turned them loose, and had them sketch out their scene.  When they came back the next session, I had the paints ready, and they just went to town,  Honestly, I haven't met a 1st grader who doesn't like to paint.  In their enthusiasm, the painted scenes were a little hard to decipher, so when they returned the next session, I had them trace their pencil lines with Sharpie.
 

Trying on the Slipper while the jealous step sisters look on. 

Preparing for the ball with the help of the Fairy Godmother

Running away at midnight

The loss of the slipper

(Not So) Sweet Dream Pie

Introducing narrative art to the 1st grade crew is not always easy.  They tend to lean on words to tell their stories, and it's a struggle to get them to draw the action, and leave off the words and arrows (you know, the word tree pointing to the tree in the picture?).  I don't know what made me think of trying this method, but it worked very well, and it's going in the "Keeper" file.  I read the kids the book "Sweet Dream Pie"; a cute story about a group of neighbors who eat too much sweet pie- and their dreams are not so sweet.  We then made 3 lists - a list of characters, or creatures, a list of actions, and a list of places.  Students were to pick one from each list, and create a picture- perhaps a giraffe, jumping rope at a birthday party?  The crazier the better.  This method allowed students to have a concrete thing to draw, but also allowed great freedom of choice.  I did lead them in constructing a "pie".  It was a good review on cutting/basic craftsmanship and direction following, and it gave my more hesitant artists some comfort.

A Giraffe wearing a birthday hat at his party.

A cat, jumpng rope in outer space

Narrative Drawing

So, my 4th graders are looking at Storytelling as their enduring theme for this 9 weeks.  One of their first requirements in the curriculum is a Narrative Drawing.  I had a bowl of Nouns, a bowl of Verbs, a bowl of Prepositions and a bowl of places.  Each student pair picked one from each bowl, and worked together to create a spooky sentence from their chosen words.  They could add whatever words they wanted, but they had to use the words I gave them.  We looked at the Disney Villains, and discussed the importance of details when creating a picture that tells a story, and then they sketched.  To complete their drawing, they used overhead film and permanent markers in order to create a more cartoon like effect.