Time Required: 45 minutes
Materials
- A selection of Caldecott Award-winning and honored books.
- Colored paper
- Black poster board (one board per child)
- Glue
Set up
- Position tables so that each workstation offers a large space to spread out and work, or set up stations on the floor.
- Arrange colored paper and glue in the center of each workstation.
- Borrow a large selection of Caldecott Award-winning books from the local library or print copies of the covers from the Internet. Position them so that several children can see them at a time.
Directions
1. Read aloud a Caldecott Award-winning book to the children.
- Explain that this book won this prestigious award based on its illustrations.
- Ask children to share their thoughts about the pictures.
- Compare the art work with other Caldecott winners.
- Tell children that they will do a style study of one of the pieces by recreating the pictures in mosaic form. Explain that for a style study, a student or artist looks at the work of another artist and tries to reproduce it either by using the same materials or by using the original to inspire a new piece of art. Style studies should always reference the original as its inspiration.
2. Create a mosaic.
- Show examples of mosaics. Some can be found on http://www.umamosaics.com. [site title]
- Explain that mosaic work is usually done with glass or ceramic, but the style can be reproduced with torn paper as well.
- Allow each child to pick out a Caldecott winner that inspires him or her.
- Have children draw a simple outline of the picture onto the poster board.
- To facilitate their work with the paper and glue, they should draw outlines of areas where colors change and label those areas.
- Children should then tear the colored paper into little pieces and glue the pieces onto the pencil drawing on the poster board until finished.
- Allow the pieces to dry and post them to commemorate the exceptional artwork childrens literature brings to us.
Volunteer Involvement
Assign volunteers to:
- Monitor the progress of the style studies.
- Help children draw shapes, tear paper, or share materials.
Family Involvement
Encourage families to:
- Select their own favorite illustrations and draw pictures of them.
- Post the pictures in their homes or in childrens rooms.
Community Connection
Adaptations
- Have children use colored tissue paper and black poster board to create stained glass versions of the art they are modeling.
- Instead of pasting paper on boards, older children can use an exacto knife to cut windows into the poster board and then glue the colored tissue behind the frame.
