Part of the Family

Our library features an author/illustrator every month and this month was Cynthia Rylant.  I read my third graders the book "Dog Heaven" by her and they shared their feelings about their pets being part of the family! It was touching to hear how important their pets were to their family!!  I followed that book with "Why is Blue Dog Blue" by George Rodrigue.  It was an opportunity to talk about color and why artists use certain colors in their work.

After an initial basic sketch on the board of "dog details", each student drew their own dog or one they would like to own, and we painted those in the Alpha Biggie tempera cakes.  Once dry, details, patterns and contrast were added with oil pastels.  Here are some of the results!