Monday, July 2, 2012

Big Flowers / Georgia O'Keeffe


I feature an artist and composer each month in my classroom, so in April when I introduce Georgia O’Keeffe my students are primed to learn about another great artist. 
Each month I hang up works of art by the artist-if-the-month. I have a large collection of Georgia O’Keeffe works. There are also a few really good picture books about O'Keeffe as well.  This makes integrating lessons on Georgia O'Keeffe a snap. We read: Through Georgia’s Eyes by Rachel Rodriquez; My Name is Georgia by Jeanette Winter; Georgia O’Keegffe by Mike Venezia; Georgia’s Bones by Jen Bryant; Georgia O’Keeffe The Artist in the Desert by Britta Benke.  These books provide ample information on her life and art.

My students complete 2 major art pieces for this unit: a still life and a large flower. We also make a large group painting of clouds inspired by her work. See previous post for still lifes.  The BIG FLOWER paintings are the biggest hit with the parents and ME! They all look great - especially when hung en masse. It reminds me of the old commercial  "Kid tested, Mother approved."  But it's "Kid MADE, Mother approved."


I wanted to give directions on how to make this flower so I made a unit packet on Georgia O'Keeffe with all the different O'Keefey things we do. Find it here: Georgia O'Keeffe Unit

The kids do all the drawing and painting - I outline with puffy paint.


1 comment:

  1. These are gorgeous! So are the Van Gogh sunflowers. I've just spent the past half hour discovering your site. I love all of your sight word ideas, the artists and composers, your literature choices and writing workshop... I'll be bookmarking the page about using fabric to refer to when I have my own classroom. Looking forward to reading more! Thanks for sharing :)

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