I use Edvard Munch's "The Scream" this time of year with my 3rd graders.
It's a great time to discuss expressions and expressionism and to imaging
what the figure is screaming about. We draw long, tall screamers on a 24" x
12" paper and paint with fluorescent and black.tempera. We later look at
them in the black light. The entire project is a favorite.
In the past I have had 4th graders tear a witch profile out of tissue
paper after crumpling it. It makes for a wonderful, lumpy, warty profile.
We used scraps to complete it.
I used a project from Arts and Activities called "Howling Houses" with
2nd graders. The houses aren't just haunted---they have come alive along
with bushes, trees, etc. I limited their palettes to black, white,
yellow, green and orange and we painted on gray construction paper. I am
sorry. I can't remember the year/issue but the effect was eerie.
I don't have 1st graders any more, but after learning the primary
colors, we used to make a blotto using red, yellow and blue. The following
week, we cut out the blotto and used scraps to create blotto monsters.
