Drawing Lessons, Kindergarten 201

In my last post, Drawing Lessons, Kindergarten 101, I wrote about how I used directed drawing materials in a kindergarten center.  In this post, I want to share a whole class lesson in directed drawing which results in a booklet individual students will create.  This was a very successful project used for many, many years by at least one of my colleagues and me.

The first few pages of the booklet, entitled Drawing Lessons, are pictured above.  Here are images of the second, third, and fourth series of pages:

If you click here, you can download a template for photocopying.  In this way, you can photocopy the booklet for each of your students to complete!

This is a fun booklet to work on over the course of one week.  Here's how:

Start on Monday by reading a book such as The Shape of Things by Dayle Ann Dodds, so that the students can begin thinking how common objects are formed out of basic shapes.

After reading the book, show the children your sample copy of the book. (Yes, you will want to go ahead and create your own version so they can envision the end product.  This is directed drawing, after all!)

Still on Monday, have the children follow clear directions to color and add features to the first series of three pages, the series, "A circle can become a face." 

On Tuesday and Wednesday, proceed in the same manner to complete the series of pages, "A square can become my house," and "A rectangle can become my tree."  On Thursday, depending on the needs of your class, you might brainstorm objects other than a cookie which are formed from an oval.  If your students are capable, they might be able to work independently to create a dog with an oval body or an oval plate or an oval balloon, etc.

On Friday, discuss with the class how illustrators often choose their favorite picture from the book to be the one they copy on the cover.  Have the students illustrate the cover in this way.  Ask them to complete the dedication page, too, with the name of someone in their family who would appreciate the dedication.

My next post will feature yet another directed drawing booklet!  I hope you will continue reading!

Drawing Lessons, Kindergarten 101

This, of course, is an absolutely wonderful kindergarten drawing of a happy little girl holding hands with her smiling teacher.  But how many times have you looked at a child's drawing and asked yourself, "What is this?!"  

There are many resources which help children to develop their ability to draw something.  In recent years, directed drawing has become a popular kind of lesson.  There are numerous youtube videos where real artists teach students to draw popular animals, historical figures, and characters from children's literature.  Here is a screenshot from one such video showing how to illustrate Martin Luther King Jr.:

You can have your students follow along as a whole class
watching the smart board and drawing on whiteboards and/or paper
OR in centers using tablets or laptops.

You can also download free and inexpensive directed drawing resources from Teachers Pay Teachers which students can use in centers.  In fact, my most popular, favorite center for many, many years was my drawing center. Here is how it worked:

I purchased one of the many step-by-step drawing books like this one available on Amazon right now:

Here's the link, if you want to buy it.

Then, I cut off the bottom half of each page and laminated the tops to be task cards like this:

Next, I created a paper like this one below which is your freebie download:

As a class, the children learned how to work in the drawing center. I took out one drawing task card and projected it on the smart board side-by-side with an "I can draw a _____" paper.  Each child had her own copy of the drawing paper. Students wrote their names and copied the name of what they were drawing at the tops of their papers.  Then, we had to learn what each of the symbols represented: a pencil, a crayon, a colored pencil and a marker. While I demonstrated on the smart board, everyone took out a pencil and followed the step-by-step directions to create the drawing projected on the task card. Then, they repeated the same steps to create the drawing with the other tools (crayon, colored pencil, and marker.) 

After several practice sessions, the kindergartners were ready to use the task cards and drawing papers independently in the drawing center.  My centers were typically 15 minutes in length and most students would complete a couple of drawing lessons each time they visited the drawing center.

I have a few other favorite lessons for teaching children to draw more representationally so please look forward to the next blog posts for other ideas for drawing lessons!