ANIMAL POEMS – Texture, Colour, Value

Students will be able to:

1. Create a layered painting of an animal to illustrate a poem they have written;
2. Use colour mixing and value to create the illusion of texture;
3. Demonstrate technical accomplishment and creativity; and
4. Support their ideas with evidence found in the works.

1. Take digital photos of the paintings and create a class e-book of paintings and poems students have written.

1. Prior to this lesson gather and make available books of poems about animals, for example, National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs That Squeak, Soar, and Roar!, by J. Patrick Lewis (Compiler); Animal Poems, by Valerie Worth; Pug: And Other Animal Poems, by Valerie Worth; Mammalabilia, by Douglas Florian; Tiger, by William Blake 
2. Download animal images from the Internet, for example,
   Tiger
   Lion
   Crocodile
   Giraffe
   Raccoon
   Skunk
3.  Have students:
   - Choose an animal to research and find at least one image of the animal. 
   - Explore poetry, and animal poems in particular.  Write a variety of different types of poems about their animal focusing on different aspects of the creature, for example, acrostic; haiku; cinquain; rhyming couplets; shape; diamante; I wish; limerick.

1. Have students share some of their poems while their peers listen with their eyes closed.
2. Discuss the imagery.
3. View images of a variety of animals paying attention to the texture of their fur/skin.
4. Demonstrate how to use a viewfinder to isolate some of the textured surface. (2 L-shaped pieces of cardstock paper placed together to make a small frame)
5. Demonstrate how to use black and white paint to mix shades of grey to paint a patch of the texture on a chart paper.
   - point out how to use the tip of the brush to get fine lines and the side of the brush to get thicker strokes
6. Introduce the challenge.

1. Place students into small groups with their paintings. 
2. Ask them to: 
   - Compare their work and describe to each other what they did to get certain effects.
   - Discuss the things that are especially effective and why.
   - Talk about what they found difficult and what they found easy to do.
3. Share ideas with the whole class. 
4. Ask some students to read their poem while showing their painting. 

1. Observe students as they work  – thoughtful focus, discriminating, seeking more information, elaborating, experimenting
2. Observe students as they discuss the art works – active listening, insightful contributions, supporting ideas with evidence found in the artwork and from personal experience.
3. Use a checklist to track progress. (Downloads - AnimalPoem_tracking.pdf)
4. Have students use the self-assessment form to evaluate their work. (Downloads - AnimalPoem_self-assessment.pdf or AnimalPoemPrimary_self-assessment.pdf)