2nd Grade did such a great job with these Shape Birds! We learned how to recognize the basic shapes and proportions of each body part in photographs of 2 birds found locally in Northern California: the American Robin and the Lazuli Bunting.Starting with a cool technique to make texture on their tree trunk, we tapped cardboard squares into black tempura paint. I asked the class if trees are flat, or 3 dimensional, can we put our arms around them? I showed them how to scrape their cardboard in a "smily face" motion "around" the trunk, instead of straight across. This will help give the illusion of a 3-dimensional form. They loved this technique!
We moved onto cutting, starting with squares and rectangles. Students were able to tell me how to cut semi-circles and triangles (including isosceles triangles) out of these quadrilateral shapes. After each shape was cut, we talked about how to place it - looking at the photographs to help us. Which shapes overlap another? Which shapes should we make sure are the right proportion to the rest of the shapes? Where would we glue our head and beak shapes if we want our bird to be looking up/down, left/right?
At the end, we used black and white pastels to add important features of these birds like the wing bars on the bunting and its white stomach. The Robin's speckled throat and white rings around the eyes.
In the last minutes of class after clean up, we gathered around to listen to the songs/calls these birds sing using my nifty, mini, portable i-pod speakers.
Fun!
