I found this project on
Kid Artist along with several other wonderful winter projects. I was winding down with printing projects late last month and had one class that was ahead of all the others. I needed one more lesson to keep this group on track and not too far ahead of everyone else. My November focus was printmaking and this definitely filled the bill. The tree is printed using cardboard and the owls were fingerprints. Week one, students colored in the full moon, printed the tree overlapping and added the fingerprints that would become the owls. Week two, they added details to the owls using drawing pens and stamped snowflakes using commercial stampers from the dollar store. Really cute, don't you think???
Jen Arnayi was the perfect choice for a one day project the week before holiday break. Her illustrative style offered simplicity and yet a very colorful mini painting. Fourth grade students painted on a round format using 4 x 4 scraps of watercolor paper that were left over from a previous project making this a win-win. I saved some small pieces of paper avoiding waste. The lesson began as a directed draw with instruction to draw a line of pointed mountains across the center area of the circle. A horizon line was drawn under the mountains curving downward to the bottom area of the circle. Based on personal interpretations, all of the projects began to develop their own style at this point. Later discussions included adding a 3D dimension and texture to the mountains. Students then shared previous knowledge as to what the cool colors are as they began to paint the area above the mountains. Everyone was excited to tape a mat on these and take them home to share with family for the holidays. 
