LIBRARY MEDIA SKILLS OBJECTIVES

The student will:
-learn about the illustration techniques of author/illustrator Lois Ehlert.
-understand digital photography used as an art medium.
-use *Microsoft Publisher to combine image and text (grades 2 and 1).

CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES:

The student will:
- increase his or her knowledge of local plants and flowers.
-understand elements of collage.
-experiment with adjectives while writing descriptions of collages.

MOTIVATIONAL OBJECTIVES:

The student will:
-become interested in the research process.
-understand the importance of information skills.
-experience increased confidence in research ability.
-achieve satisfaction in research accomplishments.

INSTRUCTIONAL ROLES:

-The library media specialist and art teacher may collaborate on this activity. The art teacher helps students create plant cut-outs in art class. The lesson also works well with students drawing their nature objects directly onto their collage paper.

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES FOR COMPLETION:

Part I: Plant Exploration
-Begin by reading aloud Ehlert's - Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf. Using the trays of found objects, lead a discussion of what the items are called and document the following: Names of items, descriptive words, colors. Encourage students to be creative with their descriptive words, e.g. alligator green leaves, teddy bear brown points.

Part II: Author/Illustrator Study
-Read several of Lois Ehlert's books aloud with students. Ask questions to help students decipher the illustration techniques, such as

-Once students understand the items in the illustration, ask:

-Once students understand the illustrative process, your class will be ripe for the final question:

Part III: Collage Creation
-Everything for the collage is done in 'twos'. Two students choose two natural items each from the tray. They place (or draw) two imitations items onto the 11x17 paper, and then they place two natural items on the paper. Next, they describe two items of their collage on their writing paper. When the collage and written descriptions are complete, students call out "PHOTO". Take a digital image of their work, being sure to document the order of photos and student names.

-After class, rename the photos with student's names and save to a folder. Create a blank publication in *Microsoft Publisher, draw in a picture frame and insert the photo in the frame.

Use the cropping tool to remove any table edges showing in the picture. Use a text box to type in the student descriptions. To make the text box transparent, right click on the text box and choose 'change frame', 'fill color', and 'no fill'. The final photos look best with a variety of font colors. Be sure to include the students' names on the final project.

FOLLOW-UP:

- Repeat the lesson in the spring with a new set of seasonal plants and flowers. Create a display of the fall and spring digital photos/descriptions with a caption banner to sum up the changes, e.g. "Seasons Change and so do I".