Caterpillars have again invaded Thomas Elementary as the first finished art project of the year. We've been in school for about three rotations now and I'm just posting. Sorry for the lull. (What an odd word lull is. As Mitch Hedberg would say, "It's almost all L's.") Bonus cool points if you know who Mitch Hedberg is.
I feel like teaching first graders at the beginning of the year is somewhat akin to a lion tamer doing his job. I don't see kindergarden students here, so first grade is the first time these kids have ever been in the art room. The beginning of the year is all about establishing routines and expectations for behavior. Also, for the 17th time, we won't be painting on the first day of art in first grade. Thanks for asking.
I've used this as my first project of first grade for several years now. It's a nice way to show the kids were a few supplies are located in the room and have them follow some simple steps. The kids all really enjoy working with the texture rubbing plates and the results are nearly 100% successful.
The first project of first grade is about texture. Students learn that texture is how something feels. We spent time examining many textures in class. Each student made one circle with crayons and texture rubbing plates. When everyone was done, the texture circles were attached to each other to make a giant caterpillar!
Having new first grade students is always exciting. They always look forward to coming to art and learning so much! While their first questions is always, "When are we going to paint?", I always start out with something a little less demanding for their first project. For this lesson, students learned that textures are something that you can feel with your hands. 1st graders used texture plates in order to create individual segments for a collaborative caterpillar project. When all of the pieces were finished, they were hung in the commons to look like huge, colorful caterpillars. This project got us off to a great start to the year.
