The Southwest, 4th Grade

Okay, so I know I posted on this project last year, but I LOVE the results, so I thought I would post some pics again. I do this project every year when the fourth grade students study the different regions of the United States. It is just a fun way to depict the Southwest region. To begin, I have the students draw sand dunes, cacti, and an expressive sun on black paper. I do emphasize that I want everything drawn fairly large, and that things can overlap. (For instance, the cactuses can go all the way into the sky). Otherwise, they will draw tini tiny. This time, I had the students use oil pastels to color everything in. In the past, I have had them use soft pastels instead. Both work nice, just a slightly different look. Many of my students love to mix colors, which I love, but sometimes they don't think before they blend colors together. Before letting them color, I brought out the color wheel, and explained the concept of analogous colors. I told them that if they mix colors next to each other on the color wheel, they will never end up with a hideous color. I also tell them that complimentary colors look wonderful next to each other, but not as wonderful on top of each other.
The final step to this project is to outline everything with black glue. I basically just take regular glue and mix in black paint. Students have to be very careful when outlining with the glue. They should not squeeze the bottle to hard, or huge globs may come out.