Monochromatic Memories

"My father was four years old when his father died in a car accident..."

"We went to the mosque to pray for him..."

"I was on a swing and it was too fast.  I was six.  I fell off and was bleeding..."

For a week, I was sick.  For PE, we had swimming and I missed the whole thing..."

"I broke my arm at school.."

"I felt sad and mad..."

"My grandma died and I was two years old..."

This Grade 2 unit focused on the many ways of self expression.  In art class,we talked about difficult times in our lives-- specifically times where we felt angry, sad, ashamed, in pain or frustrated.  I showed them Ms. Kristin's Gallery of Depressing Art Powerpoint and we investigated what the artist was trying to express.

To prep for the final painting, we did a few things:

1) Practiced tints and shades with tempera
2) Sketched 4 memories of a difficult time in their lives
3) Decided where on the final painting each memory will go-- one was large, one was upside down, one was on the side of the page, and one was medium sized

When everything was sketched on the final paper, the kids made 5 lines going all the way across the page in different directions.  The directions for painting were, anytime they crossed a pencil line, they had to change to a new tint or shade.

After the painting was complete. the kids came up to me one by one with their painting as a reference and told me the story.  I typed as they spoke and printed it out-- -they could  cut and paste it in whatever way they wanted onto their final piece.