| Book Title |
Author |
Activity / Idea / Weblink
|
Grade level
|
Submitted by |
| Ramona and Her Father |
Beverly Cleary |
In chapter three of the book, "The Night of the Jack-O-Lantern", Ramona, Beezus, and their father create a jack-o-lantern that actually ends up being eaten by their cat, Picky Picky. Have your class design a jack-o-lantern, using construction paper. The finished pumpkins can be used to decorate the classroom, and if you'd like to make it a contest, students could carve their designs into a real pumpkin, and the winning pumpkin could be displayed for the entire school to see. Happy carving!
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5839746/unit_activities_for_the_book_ramona_pg2.html?cat=4
|
2nd-4th |
Sarah Howard-Montgomery |
| Smoky Night |
Eve Bunting |
Students will make their own picture book, and like the illustrations in "Smoky Night", students will use various textures and mediums to create corresponding illustrations to their text. Students will share their creations in the "Reader's Share Chair". The books will be placed on display at Open House, and each student will read their story to their parents. |
K-3 |
Sarah Howard-Montgomery |
| The Z was Zapped |
Chris Van Allsburg |
Students can create their own Alphabet book to keep with them as they learn their letters. Each child in the class is given a letter of the alphabet (if there are not enough students for the alphabet, the teacher/assistant can make one also). Each child will then draw the letter and make up a story about that letter. The story the child makes should reflect the drawing of the letter. The Z was Zapped can be used as an example for the children to learn from and in turn create their own "letter story". After the letters are complete, the children can write or tell the teacher their story (who in turn can write what the child says) next to their letter. The letters can all be combined and copied into a book for the entire class to share. This can be a great project to show off at Open House or as a class project. |
K-1 |
Lauren Nichols |
The Keeping Quilt
|
Patricia Polacco
|
Read the book to the class and point out the black line drawings and the quilt- the only color on the pages. Ask "Why?". Show other books such as Round Trip by Ann Jonas, Five for a Little One, by Chris Raschka, and The Wall, Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis that use the same concept in their illustrations. Have the children draw a black line picture and adding color to the one item that has significant meaning or they feel is the most import part of their picture.
|
3-6 grade
|
Diane Haase
|
| The NIght Before Christmas; Polar Express |
Clement C. Moore with Jan Brett, ill., Chris Van Allsberg |
Use Glogster to create a poster of Christmas memories. Older students can use it individually, and with younger ones use it with the whole class or small groups. With this use you can talk to students about the elements of art such as line, space, texture, etc., and compare it to the artwork in the picture books. Students can get free clipart from Discovery School.
|
K-12 |
GIBSON |
| Holes |
Louis Sachar |
Use a variety of materials to make a model of Camp Green Lake |
5th-8th Grade |
J. Phillips |
| A. Lincoln and Me |
Louise Borden & Ted Lewin |
After reading the book, have tie students make their own profile (like the ones of Lincoln we all hang up) and sign their name under it like Lincoln signed his. |
K-6 |
GIBSON |
| The legend of the Indian paintbrush |
Tommie DePaola |
After reading The legend of the Indian paintbrush, let students discover ways to use natural elements to make their own paints. Students can use their new paints to paint a picture of the sunset and compare it to the one in the book. Some natural elements that can be used are: dirt, berries (blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.), black walnuts, lemons, onions, etc. For a more detailed description and DIY tips, see:
http://www.ehow.com/how_8196637_make-paints-like-native-americans.html
|
3-5 |
Lauren Nichols |
| Wagon Wheel |
Barbara Brenner |
Before students read the book, have students go through the book looking at the picture on each page. Have students see if they can tell what happens on each page of the story. Have them talk about characters in the story, the way the characters are portrayed; nice, old, young, dangerous, safe, etc... Also have students talk about use of warm and cool colors the illustrator uses display what the mood is during that scene of the story. Students then compare their comprehension to others in the class. After this have students read the story and see if they could understand the story just from the pictures. |
5-7 |
Jeremy Sanders |
| Legend of the Bluebonnet |
Tomie dePaola |
After reading this book and talking about the origin of things, students will choose a flower (any). They will look this flower up (library, internet) and find facts about its origin, description, uses, preferred environment, etc. They will create a poster about the flower and share with the class.This poster will include a picture of the flower and all related facts they found. |
4th |
Chassadi Strong |
Sing a Song of Popcorn
|
Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
|
I would use the poem titled, "Four Seasons," with the author being unknown from this great collection of poetry to introduce a lesson on the four seasons. We would read the poem as a class and talk about the describing words for each season. Then we would look at landscape paintings and drawings on the smart board to see examples of artwork depicting different seasons of the year. The students will then make drawings of each season on large sheets of white construction paper divided into four sections using crayons, colored pencils, and pastels. Then the students will present their drawings to the class.
|
K-1
|
Marisa Gebert
|
| Chicka Chicka Boom Boom |
Bill Martin Jr. |
I have used these activity in my own classroom. Students will use create trees from construction paper and paper towel tubes. The students will use construction paper and glue it around the paper towel tube to cover the tube and make the tree. Green construction will be needed to make the leaves for the top of the tree. Next, give students the letters of the alphabet to color, cut out and glue upon their tree or the teacher may opt to purchase alphabet stickers to place on the tree. When the trees are finished, the students can point to the letters on their tree as they sing the song or read the book. It is also an instant formative assessment for the teacher to use to assess whether students have letter recognition skills. |
K |
Shannon Compton |
| Sing a Song of Popcorn (Untitled Poem pf 64) |
Eve Merriam |
This poem is kind of a mystery. It is describe some kind of animal but never really says what kind it is. Have the children close their eyes while you are reading the poem. Have them picture what kind of animals or creature they think the poem is describing. After you have read the poem, let the students draw a picture of what they pictured. Have students also write a few sentences describes their animal/creature. |
K-3 |
Lindsey Dickson |
|
Action
Jackson
|
Jan Greenberg & Sandra Jordan |
Jackson Pollack was an influential American artist whose trademark drip style painting made him a force to be recconed with in the world of abstract art. To help enhance the story, educators may choose to do a variety of art related activities with their students. For example,after reading the story, Action Jackson, provide students with paper, paints and various visuals of Pollack's work. Ask students to choose one painting they like and then create their own works inspired by it. Also, provide students with background information about Pollack as well as provide many different visuals of his paintings. By doing so, you ultimately enhance their art schema.
|
Grades 2/3 through 5 |
Lesley Whitaker |
| The Hunger Games |
Suzanne Collins |
After reading the book, have students complete a project. The project list can be teacher created but the choice of what to complete should be up to the student. One of the choices for the artistic person could be drawing a representation of each of Cinna's outfits for her in the story. Then the student could present the drawings and discuss why they were drawn a particular way. Students could also label the pictures with specific quotes from the book as evidence to support the artistic version. Students could go a step further and create the designs on the computer and use a SmartBoard to present them visually. |
Grades 7-12 |
Elizabeth Coomer |
| Joshua's Masai Mask |
Dakari Hru |
Joshua's Masai Mask is a cute story about a little boy with stage fright. To overcome his problem he receives a special mask that will give him the power to do what he needs to do. This book would be great to use in art class when creating masks from other cultures. Students could get ideas from Joshua's mask or do an internet search to find some more ideas. The teacher could model the activity under the elmo and smartboard and allow students to present theirs once it is complete. |
K-3 |
Kristen Gregory |
| Grandfather Tales |
Richard Chase |
The book features stories that may be above the children's grade level when it comes to reading independently but this isn't reading its art. First I would read a few of the selections to the students, using my smartboard and computer to show illustrations that tie into each story. In my case I used my DOC. Camera to show the actual book illustrations in addition to other work found on google. Next, provide the students with various colors of cardstock paper, markers, crayons, pencils, etc. Allow the students to recreate some of the main scences from each story. Once completed the art work can be displayed in the class or on a hallway bulletin board. The lesson could be extended by allowing the students to dictate a caption.
This website had some good ideas for art in class: http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/
|
K-3 |
Richard Frazier |
| The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig |
Eugene Trivizas |
This book could be used in a variety of content areas and that is one reason this is a great book! After reading the book, the students could create a class book of houses Each child will make his/her own page titled "The house made of..." and then fill in the blank with what their house is made of. The children could design their house out of any material that they would like, an idea from the book or their own. They will color their house and use various art materials that the teacher has available to create their house. We will discuss how it is important that their words and their illustration match because their illustration shows their words. Then the teacher will combine the pages into a book at the end. To extend this activity for older students, the students could write a short paragraph on their page about their building material and whether or not the big bad pig could blow it down or not and whether or not it is strong. |
Grades
1-4
|
Molly Fackler |
| The Faithful Friend |
Robert D. San Souci |
This traditional folktale book can be used in several content areas such as reading, social studies, writing, and art. I will use this book for an art content lesson. While reading the book, students will use post-it notes as a note-taking activity (for later use). After reading the book, the students will discuss the artistic aspects of the book. They will describe aspects of the art used throughout and how it made them feel. Did they make a connection to something they felt in the story (text-to-self)? Emphasis should be on color, texture, etc. Introduce the "scratchboard" technique to students and explain how it was utilized in the book. A website to use as a example of the illustrators work is
http://brianpinkney.net/main.html
Students should be allowed to produce their own scratchboard artwork, beginning with a black ink-covered canvas and then painting over using a technique that gives the impression that one has used a sharp tool to “scratch-in” color resulting in thin, straight, lines. Students will discuss how their authentic artwork makes them feel. What do you think someone viewing your artwork will feel? |
Grades 2-4 |
Kimberly Simpson |
| The Snowy Day |
Ezra Jack Keats |
This story has such fun illustrations!
Ezra Jack Keats often combined patterned papers and cloths with paints to make striking illustrations. Look at the illustrations with your students. Can your student pick out the parts that are paper, cloth, paint? Did the artist use only paint brushes with the paints? Have your students attempt to create a picture using the same techniques. This website gives instructions on how to reproduce an collage similar to his illustrations:
http://www.brightring.com/jackkeats.html
|
Grades K-2 |
Stephanie McSpadden |
| Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad |
James Rumford |
As adults, there are many instances where we do not think of the effects our actions may have on the children around us. When children are placed in such situations, their resilience and strength shine through. In his book, Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad, Rumford tells the story of Ali. Ali, who lives in Baghdad, is a young boy who loves soccer, music and practicing calligraphy. As the story progresses and war is upon Baghdad, Ali uses his love of calligraphy to help divert his attentions away from the bombings. Educators can use this story as a means to introduce students to the penmanship of other cultures. To develop student schema, one might show or display examples of Arabic calligraphy as examples. Discuss the area from which this style of lettering originates and possibly how it is performed. Lastly, encourage students to create their own examples of Arabic writing. Two resourceful websites containing valuable information regarding the Arabic culture and calligraphy are as follows:
http://www.islamicplayground.com/Scripts/default.asp
http://www.islamic-games.co.uk/arabic-letters-and-numbers-calligraphy-handwriting-practice-islamic-online-flash-game-by-happy-books.php
|
Grades 3-5/6 |
Lesley Whitaker
|
| The Big Wave |
Pearl S. Buck |
Using this book with higher grades would be great. A teacher could use this book along with an art unit on illustrating based on character's point of view. Students could draw the different landforms mentioned in the book. I would have students illustrate what they think the sky, the ocean, the wave, or volcano looked from the character's point of view. I would encourage the students to really read how they describe them, almost giving the elements a human personality. It would be interesting to see what students could come up with. |
4-5 |
Bethany Endicott |
| American Tall Tales |
Mary Pope Osbourne |
American Tall Tales is a wonderful book to use for the “story box” activity. Creating a "story box" is a great cumulating activity for intermediate students to create when finished with a book. For this activity students will recreate their favorite scene from the book Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osbourne. To create a "story box" students need s shoe box and art materials for building their scene. Students can use clay, construction paper, sticks, markers, ect. This is a very fun activity for in class and also for students and families to do at home. To incorporate writing into this activity students can write the book, author, and why they chose that specific scene on an index card to be placed in front of their "story box."
|
3-5 |
Jessica Isenhour |
| The Keeping Quilt |
Patricia Pollacco |
Students will learn from the story the importance of how quilts can tell a story and can be passed down through generations. Students can each create their own patch for a class quilt. Students can make self-portraits of themselves on their patch square. They can also write words that describe themselves and who they are. The quilt can be sewn together and hung up in the classroom. This will help students understand that it is "their quilt" and that each one of them is unique. It would also be interesting to invite a quilt maker to the classroom. They would be able to show the children quilts that they have made and can explain the process of creating a quilt.
|
K-5
|
Meredith Cook
|
| Silver Seeds |
Paul Paolilli, Dan Brewer |
Silver Seeds is a delightful picture book that uses real life objects to compare them to things in nature. For example, falling leaves are referred to as brown parachutes. It is a very fun book written as an acrostic poem. I love using acrostics in almost every subject. It is also a great way to have students summarize and build comprehension of what they've learned. I use this book to teach students how to create an acrostic. Then, I let them choose something in nature to write about such as seasons, the solar system, etc. They will create illustrations to match whatever subject they write about. I love to let them be creative with their illustrations. Once they learn the style of an acrostic, I use it in science, social studies, and reading. One good thing about acrostic poems is you can use them in almost every grade level. With proper guidance and assistance, you can use it with the lower grades. Students in the upper grades enjoy doing acrostics, as well. |
1-12 |
Rebekah Walden-Coffey |
| Witness |
Karen Hesse |
Witness is an excellent book of poetry by Hesse in which she describes the true horrors of prejudice and discrimination in American during the 1920s. The book can be an eye opening experience to students who are beginning to study the Civil Rights Movement and who the extremist groups began to reemerge in the United States. Often when we talk to adolescence about such topics like prejudice and discrimination they sometimes struggle to find the words that actually describe the actions. A great way to enhance their understanding of these abstract concepts would be to coordinate with the art teacher during a study of the book and have the students create specific scenes for the book. Another way students could display their understanding of the emotions of the period would be to have them simply create a drawing called "Discrimination" or "Prejudice." I think it could be intriguing to see how their verbal definitions of abstract ideas differed or were similar to their artistic versions of these words.
|
6-8 |
Andrew Felker |
| A Visit To William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers |
Nancy Willard |
This is a wonderful book of narrative poetry that tells the story of a young boy and his magical stay at William Blake's Inn. The poems revolve around fantasy characters who run the imaginary inn belonging to William Blake, a famous poet. After reading this book, students can select a specific poem they liked and create a painting/ drawing of what they visualized when listening to it. Since some of the poems are somewhat confusing, the teacher can display them on the board as they are being read (using a document camera) and discuss, in detail, each poem and the fantasy elements it contains. Before students create their artwork, specific art elements can be taught or reviewed such as color and line to represent mood as well as artistic medias that can be used. An alternate option for this book would be that students can create a painting of a magical journey they'd like to go on and they must use particular art elements in their artwork. |
3-5 |
Michelle Jenkins |
| Where the Sidewalk Ends |
Shel Silverstein |
This is a story filled with hilarious poems for children and illustrations to go along with them. However, some of these poems do not have illustrations to match. I would love to have students create an illustration for a poem of their choice in the story that is missing a picture. Show the students on the document camera some of the illustrations from the book and the poems that match those illustrations. Read several of the poems that are missing pictures and discuss what students could draw to help describe the poems and make them more entertaining. This website: http://www.shelsilverstein.com/indexSite.html is the official website for Shel Silverstein and it would be a great introduction to this art activity. |
3-5 |
Dana Brinkley |
| Demi's Secret Garden |
Demi |
This book contains 20 poems that are geared to children written by famous poets such as Keats, Whitman, and Shakespeare. Each poem is about a different insect and is gorgeously illustrated by Demi using a collage of paints and paper embellished with gold. Show the students the illustrations and read the accompanying poem. Students will choose another insect not mentioned to create a collage using different papers and write a short poem.
Students could make an online collage using this very cool website from the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.
http://www.nga.gov/kids/
|
3rd-5th grades
|
Jennifer Green
|
| The Neighborhood Mother Goose |
Nina Crews |
This book has nearly 41 of our favorite nursery ryhmes. Nina crews did a fantastic job of putting her own unique illustrations with each verse throughout this book. I have never seen nursery rhymes illustrated the way she has done so in this book. I would read this story aloud to my students and have them pay attention to each verse as we are reading. I would then have them choose one rhyme that was their favorite as we were reading. I would give them a piece of construction paper and ask them to put their own unique style into illustrating what the verse is saying. I want to see their own personalities come out in their artwork and have them show what they think the verse is saying. Each student will illustrate a different verse so there are no two the same. Once students have completed their artwork, I will have them paste the words to the verse on the back. Each student's paper will be laminated and then they will be put together to create a book of nursery rhymes. This way, students are able to look through the book in class and see each other's artwork in our collection of nursery rhymes. |
1st-5th Grades |
Lauren Hamel |
| The Rough-Faced Girl |
Rafe Martin |
This traditional Native American Cinderella tale is another version of this classic fairy tale. Students can use this story along with the traditional story to create their own version of the story using only pictures, essentially creating their own books. Students can use watercolors or pastels for the activity. The paintings in this story are beautiful, and can mainly tell the story on their own. Students will draw their own version of the story to retell to someone using only pictures.
|
2nd-5th Grade |
Erin Larkin |
| Poetry Tag Time |
Yardell, S
Wong, J
|
The concept of this book is that one person writes a poem and the next person gets an idea from the previous poem to write theirs. For example if the first person writes a poem about a dog then it might make the next person think about the dog they had when they lived on the farm and they would write about a farm. Using the concept of everyone working together on one idea and commonality I made up something for my class. For my art unit I decided to put a painting up using my projector and the students said words and ideas that came to their mind when looking at the art. They then took thier words and ideas and turned it into a poem. We made books with the art piece on the cover and the poems throughout with each person explaining why the painting made them think of that poem. Like the book it taught them that people can read or see the same thing and each person that think something differently. |
4th-12th |
Jessica Pelfrey |
| Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt |
Deborah Hopkinson |
Students will be able to see how slaves used lines, patterns, and colors to create quilts that lead them north. Students will be working with a partner in this activity. After reading Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, students will be asked to create their own quilt blocks and then put it together to make a map leading from the school to their partner's house. Using sketch paper or fabric pieces (their choice), pencils, markers, colored pencils and glue, students will draw out their maps. Students would need to incorporate various lines, patterns and colors to their designs to make it look as if it was just an ordinary quilt but also be able to explain how their quilt is a map to their partner's house. This may be a challenge to some students, but the teacher can incorporate that struggle to explain how hard it would have been for slaves like Clara to draw a map based on what they have seen and what others have told them. Have each pair share their quilts with the rest of the class. |
4-7th |
Erin Hale |
| Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave |
Laban Carrick Hill |
This book could easily be used in an art class when discussing or introducing pottery to students. After reading this book to students, encourage students to use clay, possibly red art clay possibly to get similar patina, to create their own pots, or other vessel and decorate them in Dave's fashion. Allow them to dry either in an oven or kiln.
Great website-http://www.davetheslave.org
|
4th grade and up |
Lesley Whitaker |
| Sarah, Plain and Tall |
Patricia MacLachlan |
This historical fiction novel would be great to use to introduce students to people of the Great Plains during the late 19th century. After having students read Sarah Plain and Tall, encourage students to work cooperatively to research what life was like for people living on the Great Plains during that time in history (clothing, housing, transportation, etc.) After students complete research, have them make dioramas representing a certain aspect of culture. Groups can then present their project to the entire class. |
2-5 |
Daneika (Nikki) Hunt |
| Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What do you see/ |
Bill Martin Jr |
I chose the picture book, "Baby Bear, Baby Bear What do you see?" because of the unique illustrations. This book would be wonderful to use for an Art lesson. Before class you would need to cut animal shapes out that are in Eric Carle's book. Also prepare an example to show the class.
I would begin the lesson by reading the book. Then as a class we would talk about the illustrations in the book. How do we think he made the pictures ?, How did he create the colors or the interesting texture?
Then I would explain that his illustrations were created with tissue paper and glue. I would demonstrate how you dip the tissue paper in water and glue. Then show them how to place it on the animal shape.
Finally, the students will be able to create their own Eric Carle illustrations.
|
K-5th |
Jennifer Camp
bell
|
| The Invention of Hugo Cabret |
Brian Selznick |
The Invention of Hugo Cabret is an exceptionally beautiful book with page after page of exquisite pencil drawings as well as several pages of text expounding upon the story told in the pictures, instead of the other way around. The following project could be used as culmination of practice in each drawing technique specified, including portraiture and figure, and/or as the Art component in collaboration with literature. Its duration would be determined by the frequency and length of meeting times and skill level of students. After reading and discussing the book and studying the drawings, create an autobiographical narrative picture book of no less than 15 pages in graphite pencil on 5x7” sheets of paper. Use the cross-hatching technique for creating value depicting chiaroscuro, spatial perspective, drama, and emphasis. Each drawing should cover an entire page. Further the project by designing, finishing, and binding the books.
|
Advanced High School or Higher Education-Drawing |
Geraldine Allen |
| Leonardo's Horse |
Jean Fritz & Hudson Talbott |
Students should read the book, initially, for enjoyment. Once they have finished ask: “Did you recognize any artwork that you had seen before?” They may recognize some of Leonardo’s famous works such as Vitruvian Man, Mona Lisa, and The Last Supper. Work through the book with the students to identify characteristics of Renaissance art in Hudson Talbott’s illustrations, such as linear perspective, realism and expression, symmetry, sfumato (softened edges rather than sharp, crisp lines), chiaroscuro (the dramatic use of light and dark), etc. Once they have identified the characteristics, ask students to locate particularly good examples of Renaissance art and explain their choices. To bring in the philosophy of the period, reading Leonardo’s Horse might be a fun opportunity to teach the concept of the “Renaissance Man” as the book helps to illustrate how Leonardo was certainly one such gentleman! |
Grades 7-12 (General Arts & Humanities class) |
Kate Hendrix |
|
The Song and Dance Man
|
Karen Ackerman |
This realistic fiction book could be used to introduce the performing entertaining era known as Vaudeville to Arts and Humanities students. In the book the grandfather reminisces about his days of performing on Vaudeville stages. Before reading the students can make predictions of what they think Vaudeville was. Then after reading the students could create their own performance based on the moves presented by the grandfather in the book. Student's could research the types of acts that performed on the Vaudeville stages and do a large performance piece to show what they learned. Not only could they learn the original scores of songs that were performed but they could research the choreography to present as well. Students could also do a modern day Vaudeville performance that presents songs and dances from today's time period. This picture book can introduce an era that most students do not know about. |
Middle Grades 6-8 Arts & Humanities |
Shakira Harris |
| Jumanji |
Chris Van Allsburg |
Objective: Students will utilize details from Jumanji to create their own board games.
Activity: Divide the class into groups of three to four. Each group receives a piece of foam board and classroom art materials. Using details from the story, students must create their own board games. They can use a storyline similar to the one in the story or they can be as creative as they wish. Games should be playable. Do a jigsaw and have one player move to another group to play a round of their game. |
Grade 4 Art |
Angela Crider |
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