Each student undertakes creation of a 4 to 12 page picture book (average length - 8 pages).

Teacher will:

Introduce picture books as art form.

• show students professional work in the form
• introduce the following ideas and discuss them with the class: Picture books use words and images equally to tell their stories. Some have no words at all. Pictures can be used to communicate and explore ideas
• show pictographs (hieroglyphs, old Chinese characters)
• lead the class in a symbol drawing exercise
• list 20 or 30 words, allowing a minute or so in between for students to draw a symbol to represent the word

Students and teacher will:

• look at and discuss the results, noticing that we all have the basic language we need to communicate in pictures

Students will:

• tell a simple story in pictures (e.g., your trip to school this morning)
• tell the story verbally
• write the story

WEEK 2: SELF PORTRAITS

Teacher will:

• give an overview of the process of making the books with students, explains what the steps will be
• share assessment criteria for the finished books with students (using rubric as a guide)
• lead class in looking at some self portraits by other artists and discussion of how a self-portrait communicates; class looks for clues to character in the pictures

Students will:

• draw self portraits with mirrors, using pencils, 81/2 x 11 paper
• do the following writing assignment: Write a piece about yourself as someone else sees you, or as several people see you. What do they notice about you?

Teacher or students will:

• photocopy the self-portraits at the reduced size that they will appear in the final book (50%)

Students and teacher will:

• display the self portraits on a classroom or hallway wall, using construction paper backing

Students will:

• see how their work will look at the reduced size
• get a taste for public presentation
• begin to see the shape of the project

Teacher will:

• introduce basic shape families and do warm up exercises to get familiar with them
• talk about variety, repetition, rhythm, pattern

Students will:

• practice using these different qualities
• make an abstract or representational picture using the basic shapes, either drawn or made from cut paper
• write: Choose a simple shape; look at it and write about all the things it could represent

Teacher will:

• introduce the concepts of time and transformation in books. Picture books use time. Between the beginning and the end, something changes. Something happens, or something is revealed

Students will:

• draw a four-panel accordion book about a transformation; think about what the three key changes are, to get from beginning to end
• write the story of a transformation
• revise and edit portrait piece

Teacher will:

• demonstrate ways of drawing action: gesture drawing, tube figures (expanded, jointed stick figures)

Students will:

• practice drawing figures engaged in different actions
• choose one piece of writing and draw a related action (or make a new story)
• begin to map out a possible book on a storyboard: look at all their work so far to get ideas
• begin choosing which pieces they want to use in their books
• decide on horizontal or vertical format for their books

Teacher or Students will:

• photocopy or scan artwork to adjusted size (Final page size will be 5 ½ x4 ¼ inches)

Teacher will:

• lead discussion on what art is, what makes a good piece of art
• list student ideas on board, develop criteria for good art

Students will:

• think about a place they know or imagine that can trigger memories and ideas

Teacher will:

• lead discussion about ways of depicting space and point of view, how point of view changes the meaning of a picture
• instruct students on basic ways of showing space and depth (overlapping, change in size of objects, change in sharpness, page placement, one-point perspective)
• demonstrate the use of watercolors
• show examples of landscape art, interiors, etc.

Students will:

• do warm-up exercises relating to depth
• using watercolor, draw a place they know or imagine
• think about what’s there, how it feels, what it means to them
• write about the place
• continue work on story boards
• think about settings
• revise written drafts

Teacher will:

• introduce theme of observation as a tool for art and writing. Close observation of the outside world brings new ideas into mind

Students will:

• draw from observation (plants or other objects, or go outside to draw)
• look closely and with new eyes; listen to their minds while they draw
• reflect on and write about their experience

Teacher will:

• ask these questions: What did you notice? About yourself, about drawing, about the subject, about other students? What problems did you need to solve?
• hand out standard typing paper cut in half to be 5 ½ x 81/2 inches (Folded in half this will be the size of a book)

Students will:

• fold three pieces of paper together to be an 8-page book plus cover
• begin layout, using scissors and glue sticks to place photocopied artwork and typed text in place
• look over the work completed and continue work on story boards

Teacher will:

• ask: What do you still need to do?

Students will:

• set final goals
• continue writing revisions
• begin typing any completed written work

(Note: books can be scanned and laid out on computer if the school is equipped for that)

Teacher will:

• introduce concept and use of negative space Contrasting elements provide interest and drama in art. The artist decides what weight to give different elements.
• show examples of professional work: Escher, Drooker, Muafangejo
• demonstrate use of scratchboard

Students will:

• do negative space exercise using letters, their names, or book title
• choose a page from their story boards to work on which will make good use of this medium
• complete at least one scratchboard picture(5 ½ x 4 ¼ )
• do final writing revisions
• do title and cover design
• type the rest of the text

At this point everybody will have different things they need to finish.

Students will:

• look at books and determine what needs to be completed for the last session
• complete drawings
• do any last minute writing revisions
• complete the cover
• complete the final layout: book must be ready to be photocopied

This is the time to celebrate and share the books.

Teacher and students will:

• invite other members of the school, parents to a public reading

Teacher will:

• present the students with the copies of their books
• record the event with video, audio recorders, cameras

Students will: