These tempera paintings were done by 3rd graders in the fall. Students see several Van Gogh sunflower paintings and I read them the book, "Camille and the Sunflowers" by Laurence Anholt. The lesson is based on one I saw demonstrated at the NAEA convention in 2009. Students painted on a 9x12 gray construction paper using cotton swabs (the medical kind hold up best.) I had several still life arrangements for them to look at. They were to start with the objects at the bottom and work their way up the still life. I asked the students to have a flower or stem going off the paper on several sides of the paper. I see that one of these examples accomplished this on only one side, but the main purpose of this instruction was to avoid the tiny vase and flowers in the middle of the paper. I demonstrated what I wanted and didn't want for their composition on the board prior to the painting. The background was added last. This lesson took two classes. If some had created "mud" during the first class, they were able to treat that as an underpainting the second time. I also allowed brushes at that time if it looked like it would save some frustration. I was amazed and pleased at how successful all the paintings were.
This lesson addresses a power learning target for 3rd grade in my school district: Identifies still life.
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