Third Grade

I did this project with my third graders back in the fall, but I was so pleased with how it turned out I just had to share. This was actually one of those time I went to school having no idea what I was going to do with my third graders that day. I had them go outside and collect three leaves all different sizes. We then painted the leaves white and then pressed them onto black paper. I had them use metallic paint and the koosh balls to fill in the background space. Then next class period we colored the leaves using oil pastels and blended the colors together. I also had cut out different kinds of leaves from cardstock. I had them place the leaves on a tan paper and using a sponge and the metallic paint sponge around the leaves to create a composition. We then talked about the black paper leaves being the positive space and the tan paper leaves being the negative space. I then had them weave the two papers together. I was afraid it would take them too long to weave the entire thing, so we just did the two ends. I had a parent tell me they got this piece custom framed (for $120 I might add) to hang in their home.