Lesson Goals
Students will demonstrate listening comprehension of reading material. Students will be able to use art to describe characters, setting, or events.
Students will be able to talk about the story elements as well as the art elements they used in their illustrations.
Students will listen to the story by Maurice Sendak, “Where the Wild Things Are”. But there is a catch, during this time students will close their eyes and use their creativity along with the words to create the scenes in their minds. Students will then each create original art to go along with the book “Where the Wild Things Are”. Students will become illustrators and will share their work of art during a gallery walk and with the use of technology.
Materials
Book (any book can be adapted for this lesson): “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak
Plain white construction paper
Crayons
Lined Paper
Pencils
iPads
Activities
1. Instruct students to close their eyes as you read the book Read “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak (any children’s book can be used for this activity) and remind them that their job is to create a movie in their head based on what they are hearing.
2. As you read the book (or a section of it) do not show the children any of the illustrations.
3. Before students go back to their seats, review with them the different elements of art so that they can use this in their work.
4. Students will use plain white paper and crayons to create an original art that illustrates a scene from the book.
5. Remind students to think back to the characters, setting, or event present in that scene.
6. Encourage students to fill up the entire sheet and to use the elements of art.
7. When students are done with their artwork have them use pencils and lined paper to write down a short description of the scene they illustrated.
8. Students will set up their work along with their short description around the classroom.
9. Tell students that they will go on a gallery walk where they will only observe their classmates art and read their descriptions.
10. Inform students that they may later use their observations to add-on to their artwork if they want to borrow a classmate’s idea.
11. At the end of the gallery walk students will go back to their seats and add on to their drawing if they want to.
12. Once students are done with their illustrations they will save it to their online portfolio, they may use an iPad to access the app SeeSaw where they will take a picture of their illustrations and include an oral description.
13. Students will then get into pairs and share their SeeSaw video with their partners.
14. Encourage partners to use the 2 Stars 1 wish method. Students will tell each other 2 things they liked about their illustration and 1 piece of constructive criticism.
15. Bring the class back together and share with them the book illustrations.
16. Ask them to compare the art elements used by the book illustrator to their own.
Differentiation Approaches
1. Students who struggle with drawing can use different art processes such as collages or finger painting.
2. Students who have a difficult time writing will be able to use the voice recording on SeeSaw.
Assessment
Students will be able to self assess by using the following questions:
1. Does my illustration show a setting?
2. Who are the characters in my illustration?
3. What main event does my illustration show?
Teacher can assess the students digital video based on the following questions:
1. Does the students illustration include setting, characters, and events depicted by the words from the book.
2. Is the student able to verbally explain why (s)he chose to draw what he did based on evidence from the book.
3. Does the student use Elements of Art
Follow Up and Extension Ideas
Students who chose different events from the book can sequence their illustrations to tell the story from beginning, middle, and end.
Additional Details
- Grade Level: First
- Arts Content Area: Visual Arts
- Non-Arts Content Area: English Language Arts
