A humid summer haze covers the River Seine and the grassy bank where young men and boys go swimming on Sunday. Everything seems so quiet, still, and very hot. They wear hats to protect them from the hot sun. The artist Georges Seurat used warm tones to give viewers the feeling of the hot sun. Seurat was trying to catch the dazzle of hot sunlight…

In this article, second-graders create a sunflower drawing using pastel techniques that produce similar effects to Vincent van Gogh's brushstrokes. They also learn how layering colors and using white to lighten colors creates depth in their flowers.

Flower petals, acorn hats, exoskeletons of beetles, and lichens are just a few of the objects students may find in a surprising array of vivid colors. These tiny examples from nature's palette can be discovered in a school yard, a park, or even along the edges of a paved sidewalk...it simply takes careful observation! This article describes a…

In this article, the author describes a lesson he created for his second-grade classes which was inspired by the children's book, "Why is Blue Dog Blue?", by George Rodrigue. In this lesson, the students make associations between places, food and events to determine the color of their dogs. (Contains 3 resources.)

The wonderful book, "How Are You Peeling? Foods with Moods" by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers inspired a lesson on feelings and expressions for this author's second-grade students. Many students at her school have difficult lives and lots of emotional baggage, resulting in behavioral problems at school. Using the example of Fauvist portraits by…

It is no wonder that works of art by Henri Matisse appeal to children, as his work has been said to "invite participation." His use of shape, color, design, and composition make his creations stand apart from others. By sharing examples of his line drawings, paintings, sculptures, and paper cutouts, children gain the sense that making art can be a…

While exploring Keith Haring's Web site one day, the author discovered two untitled pieces from 1982 that became inspiration pieces for a lesson on symmetry and complementary colors for her second graders. Haring's simple shapes and colors and playful images are very similar to those found in the margins or on the cover of any typical child's…

Young children are experts at make-believe and delight in listening to tales of fantasy and wonder. When the author learned that the second-grade students in her school were studying fairy tales and legends, she took advantage of their natural interests and classroom experiences and introduced them to the magical, dreamlike paintings of Swiss…

Light is radiation in wavelengths composed of many colors that are visible to the eyes. These wavelengths can be separated. One way to separate colors is with a filter. Filters keep certain wavelengths out and allow other wavelengths to pass through. In this article, the authors discuss an activity to provide students the opportunity to build a…

A six-week long intervention that introduced second graders to poetry writing is described in this article, ending in a classroom "poetry cafe" culminating event. This article details the established classroom "writing workshop" structure and environment and the perceptions and observations of how students responded to the instruction. Four poetry…