Identity through Place Unit

Our first unit of the school year focused on portraiture through place. As the culminating project within the unit, fifth and sixth grade students used color and shape to create collages that tell the story of where they are from. Before constructing their collages, students made decisions about the types of colors that represent the moods of their neighborhoods. 

Whats kinds of shapes and patterns might you use 

to represent a busy or calm neighborhood? 

What makes your neighborhood unique?

Next, they created structures, large details and small details to show the many parts that make their neighborhoods unique. Scholars used colored paper, foil, and rubbings that they created. They also looked at artwork by Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence and discussed how the artists used color and shape to create a mood and to tell a story. The unit ended with a guided class critique. 

Before creating their final collages, students explored collage by creating a scene using a limited color palette. Students also drew their neighborhoods from their imaginations, and practiced their observational drawing skills by drawing a still-life of 3D boxes. 

How do you show that boxes are three dimensional? 

How do you draw "in front" and "behind" on a flat piece of paper?