Students will be able to:
- create relief prints with their hands;
- work independently and self-regulate;
- create personal responses to the poem Alligator Pie;
- share their ideas with peers;
- demonstrate a sense of accomplishment.
ALLIGATOR PIE – Shape, Colour, Handprints
Steps
Step One
- Paint your hand.
- Cover all the finger tips and the palm of your hand.
Step Two
- Think of the shape of an alligator.
- Use the shape of your hands to make an alligator.
- Press your painted hand onto the paper.
- Make sure the fingers touch the paper too.
- What part of the alligator will this be?
Step Three
- Use more handprints to make the rest of the body, the head and the tail.
- Add more details with contrasting colours.
- Add googly eyes and shells if you like.
Step Four
- View your painting with fresh eyes.
- Think about the alligator in Alligator Pie.
- What is your alligator thinking?
Learning Goals
Extensions
Have students:
- explore other ways to respond to the poem using a variety of materials, for example, create:
- 3-dimensional sculptures
- mixed-media collages
- alligator habitats that match the poem
Prepare
- Prior to this lesson read and discuss the poem Alligator Pie, by Dennis Lee with your students.
- Have them learn the poem by repeating it, moving to it and repeating it back to you.
- Gather, and make available, books about alligators, for example, Zack's Alligator Goes to School, by Shirley Mozelle, and James Watts; There's An Alligator Under My Bed, by Mercer Mayer; Alligators: Amazing Photos & Fun Facts Book About Alligators, by Rita Terry; Alligator Pie Classic Edition, by Dennis Lee, and Frank Newfeld; Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book), by Julie Falatko, and Tim J. Miller; and If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't, by Elise Parsley.
- Download images of alligators from the Internet, for example,
Sleeping Alligator
Alligator on Pond
Chinese Alligator
Albino Alligator - Set up a printmaking/painting centre with paper, paintbrushes, washable glitter paint, glue, googly eyes and shells.
Introduction
- Revisit the poem Alligator Pie with your students.
- Discuss and review the variety of things that the poet is willing to give up for tasty alligator dishes.
- View the images of alligators and place your hand over parts of its body to show how hand prints might be used to make a picture of an alligator.
- Introduce the centre.
- Introduce the challenge.
Activities
The Challenge
- Use your own ideas to make an alligator with prints of your hand.
- Share your ideas with others.
- Demonstrate technical accomplishment and creativity.
The Process
- Ensure that students understand the challenge.
- Establish success criteria with your students, for example,
I know I am successful when I:
- use my own ideas to make my alligator
- use handprints to make my alligator
- add details to my picture
- explain how I made my picture - Demonstrate how to make a handprint.
- Guide students through the steps outlined in the lesson plan.
- Observe students as they work.
- Provide individual assistance and encouragement.
Sharing
- Gather students to view and discuss their art. Ask students to share:
- What they learned about alligators.
- How they made their alligator pictures.
- What they learned about making handprints.
- What they like best about their pictures. - Display all the pictures in the classroom.
- Encourage students to view the pictures and notice how they are the same, and how they are different.
Assessment
- Observe students as they work – thoughtful focus, discriminating, seeking more information, elaborating, experimenting.
- Observe students as they discuss their pictures – speaks with a clear voice, looks at audience while speaking, points to areas in the picture, provides accurate information, answers questions from the audience effectively.
- Observe students as they listen – looks at presenter, asks effective questions, supports ideas with evidence found in the artwork.
- Use a checklist to track progress. (Download – AlligatorPie_tracking.pdf)
- Have grade 1 students use the self-assessment form to evaluate their work. (Download – AlligatorPie_self-assessment.pdf)
