Owl Collages

I love, love, LOVE children's books! I'm drawn to the illustrations mainly, but a good story is always amazing too! But the illustrations, now, that's what brings the story to life! I was awestruck when I found out about this gem of a book:

It's just too cute! A little owl falls out of his nest and desperately tries to find his Mother with the help of a few forest friends. The story is simple, but the colors used in the book will blow you away! So bright and graphic. Look for it here on Amazon.

See what I mean?! I knew I had to create a lesson for my Elementary students with this book! I wanted to go out and purchase the book instantly! The only problem? My local book store didn't have a copy available and I couldn't wait for shipping. I hopped on YouTube, hoping that someone put the book up online. Even better, I found an animated version of the story! My students loved watching it. I got several requests to watch the video over and over again. It's even in a different language. The voice acting is incredible, but unfortunately, there were no translations! Thankfully there were other videos on YouTube that showed the English translation! It took some work, but I added subtitles to the video. The students didn't seem to mind reading the subtitles.

I had a huge box full of scrap construction paper and I had an idea. Students could create their own Little Owls with construction paper. I spoke with the students about color theory (not too in depth though!) and overlapping and collage. I did this project with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders and here are the results:

One stipulation I had with this project was that there were NO PENCILS allowed to draw elements before cutting them out. Earlier in the semester (I'll post about it soon!) we did a Matisse project where we learned to 'draw with our scissors' in the style of Matisse. I wanted the students to stop relying on the pencil and the eraser and just create what was in their minds. In hindsight, could have added more structure to the lesson, and really stress layering different shapes to create a forest background.

However, I think that these projects came out great! Especially because this was a one class period project. These students created these AMAZING COLLAGES in around a half hour! I'm so pleased with the results!

P.S. I'm developing an obsession with owls now!