Charley Harper Winter Cardinals

I posted about this project back in 2013 here.  This years projects are turning out so sweet, I just need to post a few new ones.  I made a small change in the lesson this year as well.  Students drew the vegetation and bird during day one prior to applying the watercolor background with the kosher salt.  That was allowed to dry and week two they returned to the project using watercolor pencils to add color to the bird.  I think this gave them better control over the coloring of the bird and it gave me the opportunity to introduce them to an additional medium, which they loved.  This is alway a WOW lesson that I make certain to post on the bulletin boards and share with everyone in the school.  This is done with 2nd grade students.

Charley Harper Cardinals in the Evergreens

This year second grades placed their cardinals in evergreens.  Connections were made to science as the discussion was opened up about what an evergreen was and where we might see them.  The birds were drawn with black crayon and the evergreens were made with shades of green.  If you haven't purchased liquid watercolors for your classroom, they are wonderful.  Younger students can use them much more easily that the semi-wet watercolors in a tray.   I can better focus the lesson on technique and brush use rather than concentrating on the water/paint ratio.