Personal and Imaginative - 3rd Grade Compositions

first on the left: I and The Village by Marc Chagall; three on the right Sample Student Artwork

- Third graders studied the artwork of Marc Chagall, focusing on the painting I and the Village. (see artwork) Students noticed and analyzed the artist's use of personal icons in his composition.

- They came up with possible answers for questions like "Why is the man's face green?" "Why is the woman floating upside down?" and "Why is there a woman milking a cow inside a goat's head?"

-The students concluded that there must be important reasons for the artist's choices in color, size and placement of his icons.

Students made an imaginary composition using their own personal icons. Here's what they did:

Brainstorming

Students began by making different icons (symbols) for things that are significant in their lives, such as their favorite food, an important person, a hobby or sport they are involved in, or a special toy. Icons are pictures that represent a person, place, thing or idea.

Sample Student Worksheets

Sketching

Next, students began drawing a sketch to figure out how they would arrange their icons to create an interesting composition.

Students had to meet the following requirements within their compositions:

- Include at least 6 icons

- Place 1 icon inside another icon to create a relationship

- Make at least 2 icons large to create emphasis

- Include a horizon line to create a sense of space

Students also learned that a strong composition makes the eye move around the whole page, so they worked on using the whole page for their sketches!

Sample Student Sketches

Drawing With Glue

On black paper, students drew their final composition using Elmer's liquid glue! The glue dries overnight. When it's dry, it's clear - which makes the lines look black!

Adding Color with Chalk

As a final step, students added colored drawing chalk to make the black glue lines pop out! Chalk does not stick to the dried glue lines. Students practiced color blending and mixing, filling in all parts of the paper with vibrant color.

Sample Student Artwork

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Attention 3rd grade parents - I need help! All third grade classes need their work spray-fixed in order to take it home. This can be very time consuming for one person! If you think you have some time to help out with this please email me at kweymout@houstonisd.org . The students really want to take their work home... WE'D REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR HELP!