Crayola Crayons, 24 Count
Marker & Watercolour Pad, 60 SheetsStudents will be able to:
- create a crayon drawing of a tree;
- use contrast to show highlights and shadows;
- explain their process;
- express opinions about the drawings;
- support their ideas with evidence found in the drawings.
HOW TO DRAW A TREE WITH CRAYONS – Highlights, Shadows
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Steps
Step One
- Use a pencil to draw the outline of a tree with lots of branches.
Step Two
- Imagine where the light hits the tree.
- Colour patches of yellow to show where the light is hitting the tree.
- Colour right over the pencil lines.
- Let the colour lead your eye through the tree.
- Colour the trunk yellow too.
Step Three
- Fill in the rest of the leaves with green.
- Let the colours overlap and mix a little.
Step Four
- Use dark brown to colour the branches and part of the trunk.
- Let the colours overlap and mix where they meet.
- Colour green on top of some of the branches to make the tree look more 3-dimensional.
- you may need to erase the branch colour to be able to add green - Add strokes of green and yellow at the base of the tree for grass.
Step Five
- Imagine where the darkest shadows would be in the tree.
- Use a purple crayon to lightly colour patches of shadow over the green.
- Let the colour lead your eye through the tree.
- Colour a small edge of purple along the outside of the trunk.
- Add a few strokes of purple in the grass at the base of the tree.
Learning Goals
Extensions
Have students:
- apply their crayon skills to create an Anatomy of a Tree brochure that includes information about leaves; branches and twigs; layers of the trunk; and roots.
- share and discuss their work with their peers.
Prepare
- Download images of trees from the Internet, for example,
Linden
Maple
Branches
Sugar Maple - Gather and make available books about trees, for example, The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-Ups, by Gina Ingoglia; Trees, Leaves & Bark, by Diane Burns; DK Eyewitness Books: Tree, by David Burnie; Ultimate Explorer Field Guide: Trees, by Patricia Daniels; and Tell Me, Tree: All About Trees for Kids, by Gail Gibbons.
- Download and display the Colour, Value and Contrast posters available on this website.
Introduction
- View and discuss several of the tree images. Draw attention to:
- overall shape of the foliage
- size and shape of the trunk and branches
- highlights and shadows
- how foliage overlaps some of the branches - Ask students to share what they know about using crayons.
- Explain that crayons are a combination of wax and pigments (a substance that contains colour). You can:
- colour with them with hard or light pressure
- colour one colour over another to make a new colour
- rub your fingers with hard pressure over a finished drawing to melt and blend the colours
- rub your fingers lightly over a finished drawing to polish it - Discuss the posters, drawing attention to:
- analogous colours on the colour wheel (green, yellow-green, yellow)
- complementary colours (yellow, violet)
- intensity (brightness of a colour)
- value (lighter values seem closer to the viewer than darker values)
- contrast (dark beside light) - Introduce the challenge.
Activities
The Challenge
- Create a crayon drawing of a tree.
- Use contrast to show highlights and shadows.
- Explain your process.
- Express opinions about the drawings.
- Support your ideas with evidence found in the drawings.
The Process
- Make sure everyone understands the challenge.
- Establish success criteria with your students, for example,
I know I am successful when I:
- create a crayon drawing of a tree
- use contrasting colours to show highlights and shadows
- keep the paper in good condition
- accurately describe how to make the drawing - Guide students through the steps outlined in this lesson plan.
- Observe students as they work.
- Provide individual assistance and encouragement.
Sharing
- Place students into small groups.
- Ask them to:
- Compare their work and describe to each other something they find interesting and why.
- Discuss the things that are especially effective and why.
- Talk about what they found difficult and what they found easy to do.
- Discuss how they might use what they have learned in another way - Share ideas with the whole class.
- Ask students to tell how they felt about doing this project.
Assessment
- Observe students as they work – thoughtful focus, discriminating, seeking more information, elaborating, experimenting
- Observe students as they discuss the experiments – active listening, insightful contributions, supporting ideas with evidence found in the artwork and from personal experience.
- Use a checklist to track progress. (Downloads – CrayonTree_tracking.pdf)
- Have students use the self-assessment form to evaluate their work. (Downloads - CrayonTree_self-assessment.pdf, or CrayonTreePrimary_self-assment.pdf))
