Monday, October 1, 2012

Dallas Clayton Inspired "Positivity Monsters"

My 1st graders' first project for the year was inspired by artist/author Dallas Clayton. I started following him after his book, An Awesome Book, came out and when I saw some of his personal artwork, I got an immediate idea for an Art lesson. Clayton created a bunch of 6x9 inch paintings that all feature a little creature with a positive message written on them. I don't know what he calls them, but I nicknamed them "Positivity Monsters".
On the first day of the lesson, I told the students a little bit about Dallas Clayton and we read his entire book online, projected big enough for the whole class to see. You need to read this book. It has an awesome message. It really is an AWESOME book. I'm planning to order copies for my son, niece, and nephew next year when they are a little bit older. You can read the book for free right here: http://veryawesomeworld.com/. We talked about how Dallas Clayton wants to use his Art to make the world a better place and discussed how that is possible. The students agreed that you can make the world better by making something that makes people feel good. The students drew an imaginary "monster" and then wrote something positive on their artwork like the monster was saying it. This was the biggest challenge- writing short sentences with 1st graders at the beginning of the year. I tried a one day version of this lesson, with crayon instead of watercolors, with 2nd grade and that was a lot easier. I'm hoping to have a "spare" Art day when I can try this with older students, maybe 5th graders, because I think they would do an amazing job.
 Enjoy a sample of the 1st and 2nd graders' Positivity Monsters. 
And have an AWESOME day.
Dallas Clayton featured some of my students' drawings on his website! Check it out: http://dallasclayton.com/post/32756062044/look-at-these-amazing-drawings-of-positivity

1 comment:

  1. What a great idea, incorporating positive aspirations with monster art! Positive self talk is SO important, and this is a great way to promote it with students :) I just love the red one in the middle!

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