The Art Studio at PS 250: Fishy Fishy! Kindgergarten Collages

Monday, December 9, 2013

Fishy Fishy! Kindgergarten Collages

Zhi Yi Lu, K-B07

Kindergarten just finished a collage unit! Collage, as Kindergartners learned, is art made with paper and glue. Students began the unit by exploring the ways they could change paper with their hands (ripping, folding, tearing, etc.) and with scissors (cutting zig zags, curves, etc.). Students also explored the ways we can arrange shapes so that they touch (or overlap) in order to make big parts from smaller parts. We read the book "Perfect Square" (by Michael Hall) together at the beginning of class for two weeks (great book that introduces students to various ways they can change paper), then students spent those weeks working on collages of anything they chose. Students learned proper gluing technique (dot, dot, dot, don't glue a lot, around the edge) and how to manipulate the materials during these explorations.
After finishing their exploration collages, I read the book "Fish Eyes" (by Lois Elhert) to students.

At the end of the book, the question is posed "If you could truly have a wish, would you wish to be a fish?". Students then considered what they might look like if they were to turn into fishies! Students began collages of their fish by cutting/ripping big parts (head, body, tail, fins) out of colored paper, then arranging the pieces together. The following week, students considered small parts (eyes, mouth, stripes on the body, etc.) their fish might have, then cut/tore and glued these onto the collages from the previous week. The next week, students looked at collages by Eric Carle and created their own hand-painted paper that they used the following week when they created their fish's habitat (under the sea, in a fishbowl, under some seaweed, etc.) on cool colored (blue, green, purple, etc.) paper. The final week, students cut out their fish collages and added them to the habitats they had created.