Week of 4/3/2023 - 3rd grade Fantasy Fish and 2nd grade cacti textures

Following a visit from Birch Aquarium in December 2022 to all 6 3rd grade classes where students were given hands on experience with a variety of fish, I followed up by having students create a "Fantasy fish".

I gave each student a planning sheet where they planned what habitat, body type, teeth type and coloration their fish would have. They exaggerated the features and drew their fish on poster board. I gave students the option to pick a medium of their choice to color their fish.

Here is an example - I realized I didn't take many photos! We continued work next class to complete the lesson.

2nd grade students created cacti using a variety of textures. We looked at different paintings and discussed what different parts may feel like if we could touch. We discussed different words to describe those textures - soft, rough, prickly, furry, sandy and bumpy.

I gave each student a long piece of poster board to challenge them so they would figure out how to create art on a different size base and not just the regular 9x12 size. We created a planter and added different cacti after looking at examples. - pencil first and tracing with a black Sharpie! Some students started coloring with paint sticks to finish next class.