Teach Primary Issue 18.5

THE B I G SUMMER S END - OF F Adele Darlington is an experienced teacher, art lead and primary art consultant. She is also the author of the Bloomsbury title 100 ideas for Primary Teachers: Art. part of the session; they’re the perfect visual prompt to spark discussion and aid the recall of thoughts and feelings. You may wish to write down some of the responses to display for children to refer to when it comes to the creating stage of the project. Putting pen to paper After an adequate amount of time strolling down memory lane, give your class access to drawing and colouring materials and a bundle of sticky notes. Their task is to draw one memory on each of nine sticky notes. The novelty of working on a smaller scale really adds to the charm of this activity. Children are so used to working on A4, that the change of scale really excites them. Will they decide to draw an episode from a school trip to the farm, the delicious Wednesday roast dinner served up in the canteen, the time a butterfly caused chaos in the classroom, the delight from the drumming workshop or their efforts and triumphs on sports day?Whatever they choose to illustrate, ask them to first sketch out their pictures in pencil and then to colour them in. Encourage detail, for example by asking pupils to try to show emotion on the faces they draw to really capture the feeling each memory evokes. When the drawings are finished, ask the children to carefully go over the image outlines in black felt tip pen or fine liner to make the images really stand out. Once pupils have completed their drawings, it’s time to assemble them onto the backgrounds. Lay the backings out on a table and ask pupils to place the sticky notes in a three by three square formation on top of it, leaving a little gap between each. When pupils are happy with their image placement, give them some glue to stick the notes down on the background. Finally, help the children add a title to their artwork, such as My Time in Year 6 or My First Year in School . These mini masterpieces will make a lovely keepsake for the end of the school year and deserve to be framed and hung in pride of place on the wall. TP Creating a background • The children’s mini masterpieces will need a background to be displayed on. This can be made from a piece of coloured paper, wallpaper, wrapping paper or brown parcel paper. • Cut the required size from your chosen paper type and assemble the sticky notes on top. • If you have more time, and the class are still feeling creative, encourage them to paint a patterned backing. Prior to gluing the sticky notes down, provide pupils with paint, paintbrushes and paper, and set them free decorating the background however they wish. They might go for stripes, spots or a more elaborate pattern. You could show them some wallpaper designs for inspiration. • Another idea is to paint the backgrounds in your unique uniform or house colours, to add to the theme of memories of the school year. • The meaning and sentiment behind these artworks certainly make them wall-worthy. Why not create frames with your class to highlight the importance of their pieces? To make a simple frame, cut out a rectangle of cardboard approximately 10cm taller and 10cm wider than the children’s finished artworks (i.e. the nine notes on their backing paper). Stick the artwork onto the ‘frame’, leaving a 5cm gap all the way round the edge. Paint the frame edges with gold, bronze or silver paint and add ornate swirls on top with another colour. www.teachwire.net | 49