5th Grade: Georgia O'Keeffe Nature Close-Ups

One of my favorite artists of all time is Georgia O'Keeffe.  My classroom mascot is a beta fish named, Georgia. :)  I have a class of 5th and 6th graders who excel at drawing, so I knew they would be up for this challenge!  First, we learned all about O'Keeffe and looked at many of her pieces.  We also read a couple of books about her (children's biographies).  Next, I had them compile a list of things they thought would be interesting to create a close up of.  We also made zoom finders and looked around the art room after discussing how things become interesting when super cropped.  I tried to find pictures of as many things on their list as I could for their next class.  The next class each student chose one of the pics, folded it to crop which area they wanted to zoom in on, and began a light pencil sketch.  The final two classes, I introduced basic chalk pastel techniques and let them work.  The end results impressed me- they really exceeded my expectations on this one!  I am having students write poems to accompany their artwork as a finishing touch.