I teach my 2nd graders art based on history of the Middle Ages, which they are learning in class. They have a history timeline song that I use as a jumping off point for planning the projects. My projects have grown and changed throughout the years. It’s hard to not have time for all the ideas! I love talking to my students about Jesus throughout this study of art and history. I often get the question of if a certain historical person was Christian, which gives us a chance to talk about what it means to be a Christian. Did they accept Jesus into their heart? Did they follow and obey Jesus as their King? God knows for sure. As another part of my class, I give each student a sketchbook. It is a folder that contains coloring pages and art activities for each stanza of their history timeline song because there’s just not enough time to touch on every one in art class. They use these whenever they finish a project early and they get to take them home at the end of the semester.
Their first project is a long but fun one. They make a royal self-portrait inspired by King Charlemagne, who was a king in the 700s. I ask them to compare and contrast some paintings and busts of Charlemagne and to think about what they would do as a king or queen. Jesus’ love for others and obedience to God are great examples to imitate, whether you're royalty or not. For their project, they use oil pastels as they learn the proper placement for facial features, they use paint for their hair as they look in a mirror to see how God made them, and they learn how to weave with paper to make a complementary colored shirt. They use warm or cool colors with watercolor crayons to make a patterned background and they finish it off with details like jewels on a symmetrical crown and symmetrical sleeves. This is on large paper and has many steps. It’s always fun to see the students’ work!
Then they move on to make a symmetrical watercolor castle. Their history timeline song, to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell, says, “1095 to 1250, The Crusades made hostility. Christians fought to regain Zion from Muslim claim, Bringing pain and calamity.“ They use a ruler to draw the castle inspired by the Crusades then they use white crayon to make brick details and their choice of some other lines like on the door or other parts of the castle. When the watercolor paint is used on top you can still see the white crayon lines with a technique called wax resist. I love how we can see beauty in architecture.
This next one will either gross you out or intrigue you. It’s based on the Black Death plague. As the song goes, “In the 14th century, A terrible sickness increased. The Black Death took its toll And changed many roles So feudalism ceased.” People with this terrible disease would have blackened skin and we now know that the disease was carried by fleas on rats. So the students make black rats! They use air dry clay and we talk about different poses the rats could have to show movement in our installation. They get to choose where their rat will go on the installation and we warn passers-by to stay away! This project is a good chance to talk with students about how we are still called to love God and others, even when terrible things happen.
The next part of the song that we do is “1456 AD, The world had a great need, So the Bible was spread And widely read, Thanks to Gutenberg’s printing machine.” As they learn about Gutenberg they draw half of a self-portrait. As they’ve had practice with portraiture with their first project, this project adds an extra challenge because they have to be careful about adding just half the face! They are inspired by illuminated manuscripts to make a fancy letter then they stamp the rest of their name. Sometimes they get their letter backwards, which is a great way to discuss how Gutenberg had to try a lot of times to get his printing machine right! I encourage my students to try their best and to not get upset when they make a mistake. Everyone will make a mistake at some point and we can often turn them into something beautiful. My favorite book on this topic is Beautiful Oops! I am so honored to be able to encourage my students to try new and hard things, to think outside of the box, and to notice and appreciate beauty in how God made them.
You might recognize this line - “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” I love to show a painting of Columbus landing. We do picture studies to practice observing closely, thinking critically, and discussing respectfully. I encourage them to use vocabulary we’ve learned in class like the Elements of Art (line, shape, color, form, value, texture, and space) and to look closely at the details of the painting. I hope that practicing looking closely will help other areas of their life as well. Looking closely at God’s word, looking closely at their teacher’s instructions, looking closely for ways to love others.
The students continue seeing beauty in architecture by creating a Tudor style house drawing. Tudor style houses flourished during the time of Queen Elizabeth. The song says, “Mid 16th century, Catholic Church was left by the 8th Henry. Next Elizabeth’s hour To make England a power, And a Protestant one it would be.” Their houses include steep roofs, chimneys, and wood beams surrounded by the lighter material of stucco. They learn that only first stories would have been made with brick as that material and their tools wouldn’t make for a secure second story. So much has changed in history and so much has stayed the same. I love that my students get to learn from, study, and explore God’s story through history. I pray for many opportunities for them to use the creativity God has given them throughout everything they learn.
Shakespeare is their last history peg for this study of the Middle Ages. The song says, “In 1592, Shakespeare wrote humanity’s truths, Into classic plays Performed on-stage, Still enjoyed and often viewed.” Students use wax resist again by using crayons to draw lines and shapes in an abstract-art kind of way then color it with watercolor paint. They are asked to be able to discuss the colors they chose. Were they warm/cool, complementary, analogous, primary, secondary, a pattern, etc.? Next they cut out an image of Shakespeare and ten of his play’s most famous quotes. They practice their compositional skills to try out at least 3 different ways of positioning their papers. Do they want the papers to go around Shakespeare? Do they want to orient the paper a different way and have the quotes line up in an orderly way? There are so many options! This is practice in training to think carefully about where they put things on the paper to make it look visually pleasing. I love that God gifted us with so many colors, lines, and shapes to play with!
And that ends their time with me in second grade. There are so many more projects we could make and it always makes me sad when they move on out of my class. Thankfully, their time in the arts is not done but continuing to grow with other teachers in our school and I will see them again in third grade!
Lord,
Will you please guide these second graders to Your feet and open their eyes to Your beauty all around them. May they see You in whatever they study and grow a love of learning.
Help me teach them well and with a calm, loving spirit. Help me show them who You were, who You are, and who You will be.
Amen.
*Some pictures are my examples and some are student work