"Cat and Bird" mixed media collage

1st graders are wrapping up their studies of mixed media collages with this book, "Cat and Bird", by Geraldine Elschner.   I began the lesson by reading this book aloud to my students and then we discussed the artwork together.

We used some visual thinking strategies in our talks about the landscapes in the book. My students pointed out that the cat was chasing the bird over rooftops, bridges, and that the horizon line was important in knowing where the sky was separate from the ground.

Next my students used oil pastels on construction paper to draw a horizon line and a city landscape inspired by the story. They then used geometric shapes to draw their buildings and bridges. 

On the second day they added painted paper collage details such as additional buildings and bridges. Lastly, they followed me in a directed drawing of the cat, that they then cut and glued to their compositions.

I was pleased to see that these artists were able to show me their understanding of using a horizon line in a landscape. The demonstrated their use of collage techniques as well. 

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