Painting the seasons

On Friday we pulled out our water colors and crayons to experiment with painting a wash over our pictures. Though the leaves are changing colors outside, we made vibrant green trees like we remembered in summer. No two pictures came out alike and everyone added details as they saw fit: brown grass (because sometimes it isn't green), a hazy sun in the sky, bird nests and so much more. This detail will come in handy later when we write and are able to write to the pictures.

Painting the Sky

In first grade we will be writing a great deal. One of the tools we will use to write will be pictures--our own watercolor pictures. By first creating the picture, students will be able to use the concrete deail in their pictures to brainstorm descriptive words to use within their writing. Our first step in writing today was an introduction to watercolors--Painting the Sky!

No two skys came out alike, and everyone experimented with their watercolors while painting the sky. Some students chose to blend their colors together, others did a wash over their sky, some kept their brushes on the dry side to make distinct lines and some watched the colors run as they continued adding water. The results are fantastic:

                                  

Next week will will paint the sky again, and learn techniques to add clouds to our skies!