Texture Notan Designs

Every year 2nd grade students go on a Texture Safari.  We first define safari and then talk about texture to make sure there is a clear understanding of our goal.  Students then use 12' x 18' paper and square crayons in a variety of colors to search for textures in the classroom. These are crayon texture rubbings that have been incorporated into art for ages.   The student's goal  is to completely cover the paper with texture from side to side allowing for overlap and not allowing for white spaces. I usually gather a few items up to supplement what I know is readily available in the room to make certain students understand the concept of texture.  The class is filled with many exclamations of "wow, look at this one" and "where did you find that texture" during the class time.  I usually have students complete two papers.  This does take a full class period.  Week two, students select one of their papers for part two of the lesson.  Inspired by Notan Designs, the students turned their papers over and drew lines that originated from one side of the paper and ended on the same side of the paper near to the origin.  They were encouraged to draw one line on each for the short sides of the paper and at least two on each of the longer sides of the paper.   These shapes were cut away and everything was glued on a larger piece of paper, student choice of color.

In previous years these papers have been used to create a tangram based project.   Shapes were drawn on the back of the papers and once the shapes were cut out then configured into a composition.