Title of Lesson:
Eric Carle Collage
Grade Level:
Kindergarten
Designer of Lesson:Tracy V. Kuzminsky
QCC or Content Standards: (Fulton County Standards incorporating QCC
and National Standards)
I.
Creates artwork reflecting a range of concepts, ideas, subject matter
[national std. 3, 6]
A. Creates artwork inspired by personal experiences, environment,
imagination/visualization, and careful observation of real objects.
[QCC K.1]
B. Creates artwork inspired by natural connections with math,
language arts, science and social studies. [QCC K.5]
II.
Uses formal qualities of art (elements and principles) to create unified
composition and to communicate meaning [National Standard 2]
A. Identifies and emphasizes formal qualities of art (elements and
principles) in artwork:[QCC K.2]
1. Color: names colors (primary, secondary, neutral) [QCC K.6]
Lesson Theme: Art is a Language (the language and vocabulary of visual
arts will be emphasized)
Objectives: Student will create painted papers by mixing two or three primary
colors.. Secondary and neutral colors will be created and named. Students will
then view and create a self portrait collage in the style of illustrator Eric Carle.
Students will cut and glue various colors of the painted papers to create a unified
composition.
Resources: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? by Bill Martin and
Eric Carle, photos of collage from the book and other Eric Carle books, color
wheel.
Introduction/Motivation:
Day One: Students may recall having listened to Brown Bear, Brown
Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle. Students will discover or revisit this
book during a reading in class. Students will be encouraged to name the colors
they see in the illustrations. Students will speculate what method Carle might
have used to create the illustrations and learn the term collage. In order to
create large 18x24 painted papers, students will begin by learning the term and
significance of primary colors. Students will choose two or three primary colors
to mix together on their paper to create a secondary color.
Day Two: Students will view and recall the book from day one. The will
name the paint colors they started with (primaries) and the colors they created
(secondary, neutral) on their painted papers from day one. Students will view a
large reproduction of Eric Carle’s collage of children in the book. Students will
identify ways that Carle has made each face different. They will imagine
themselves as an Eric Carle collage. Students will learn the term self-portrait
and brainstorm the parts that would need to be added for a collage to look like
them. Students will view a demonstration for the creation of a collage selfportrait. They will be reminded that their artwork will look different than the demo
artwork because theirs is an artwork of them! Students will cut the painted
papers and add parts to the collage self-portrait for the remainder of class.
Day Three: Students will review the terms collage and self-portrait.
They will review color mixing. Students will utilize this third class time to
complete and add details to their self-portrait. Various Eric Carle books will be
available for students to view while they wait for peers to finish their self-portraits.
Content Paper:
Biographical Notes for Eric Carle
Eric Carle is acclaimed and beloved as the creator of brilliantly illustrated and
innovatively designed picture books for very young children. His best-known
work, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, has eaten its way into the hearts of literally
millions of children all over the world and has been translated into more than 30
languages and sold over twenty million copies. Since the Caterpillar was
published in 1969, Eric Carle has illustrated more than seventy books, many best
sellers, most of which he also wrote.
Born in Syracuse, New York, in 1929, Eric Carle moved with his parents to
Germany when he was six years old; he was educated there, and graduated
from the prestigious art school, the Akademie der bildenden Künste, in Stuttgart.
But his dream was always to return to America, the land of his happiest
childhood memories. So, in 1952, with a fine portfolio in hand and forty dollars in
his pocket, he arrived in New York. Soon he found a job as a graphic designer in
the promotion department of The New York Times. Later, he was the art director
of an advertising agency for many years.
One day, respected educator and author, Bill Martin Jr, called to ask Carle to
illustrate a story he had written. Martin’s eye had been caught by a striking
picture of a red lobster that Carle had created for an advertisement. Brown Bear,
Brown Bear, What Do You See? was the result of their collaboration. It is still a
favorite with children everywhere. This was the beginning of Eric Carle’s true
career. Soon Carle was writing his own stories, too. His first wholly original book
was 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo, followed soon afterward by the celebrated classic, The
Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Eric Carle’s art is distinctive and instantly recognizable. His art work is created in
collage technique, using hand-painted papers, which he cuts and layers to form
bright and cheerful images. Many of his books have an added dimension—diecut pages, twinkling lights as in The Very Lonely Firefly, even the lifelike sound of
a cricket’s song as in The Very Quiet Cricket - giving them a playful quality: a toy
that can be read, a book that can be touched. Children also enjoy working in
collage and many send him pictures they have made themselves, inspired by his
illustrations. He receives hundreds of letters each week from his young admirers.
The secret of Eric Carle’s books’ appeal lies in his intuitive understanding of and
respect for children, who sense in him instinctively someone who shares their
most cherished thoughts and emotions.
The themes of his stories are usually drawn from his extensive knowledge and
love of nature—an interest shared by most small children. Besides being
beautiful and entertaining, his books always offer the child the opportunity to
learn something about the world around them. It is his concern for children, for
their feelings and their inquisitiveness, for their creativity and their intellectual
growth that, in addition to his beautiful artwork, makes the reading of his books
such a stimulating and lasting experience.
Carle says: “With many of my books I attempt to bridge the gap between the
home and school. To me home represents, or should represent; warmth,
security, toys, holding hands, being held. School is a strange and new place for a
child. Will it be a happy place? There are new people, a teacher, classmates—
will they be friendly?
I believe the passage from home to school is the second biggest trauma of
childhood; the first is, of course, being born. Indeed, in both cases we leave a
place of warmth and protection for one that is unknown. The unknown often
brings fear with it. In my books I try to counteract this fear, to replace it with a
positive message. I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn.
I want to show them that learning is really both fascinating and fun.”
Eric Carle has two grown-up children, a son and a daughter. With his wife
Barbara, he lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.1
The official Eric Carle website also has a slideshow of Eric Carle creating his
works of art. This slideshow about how he creates his papers can be found at
http://www.eric-carle.com/slideshow_paint.html. The slideshow for his collage
technique can be found at http://www.eric-carle.com/slideshow_collage.html.2
Instructor’s Procedures:
Day One: The instructor will have 18 x 24 paper, plenty of primary colored
tempera paints, large brushes, and art shirts ready for use. The drying rack will
be cleared in preparation for large painted papers. Brown Bear, Brown Bear,
What do you See? will be checked out from the school library. Instructor will
scan image of children from the book to project upon the Activboard.
Day Two: The scissors, full glue bottles, and painted papers will be ready to
pass out to the class. The instructor will have tempera paint bottles available to
review color mixing from week one. A large image of Eric Carle children will be
projected onto the Activboard.
Day Three: The instructor will have scissors, full glue bottles, and self portrait
collage from day two ready to pass out to the class. The tempera paint bottles
will be available to review color mixing from week one. The image of Eric Carle
children will be projected and various Eric Carle books will be checked out from
the library for students to view if they finish their self-portrait collage early.
Materials and Materials Management:
Various Eric Carle books
Primary Colors of tempera paint
Brushes
18 x 24 white paper
Scissors
Glue
Art shirts
Student Procedures:
Day One: Students will listen to Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You
See? by Eric Carle. As we read the book students will begin to name the colors
they see in the illustrations. Students will also speculate what method Carle
1
2
http://www.eric-carle.com/bio.html
http://www.eric-carle.com/
might have used to create the illustrations. Students learn the term collage. In
order to create large 18x24 painted papers, students will begin by learning the
term and significance of primary colors. Students will choose two or three
primary colors. Student will use a large brush to mix the paints together and will
be encouraged to paint the entire paper. Students will then share with the
teacher and the class what color has been created by mixing two or three
primary colors. Students will then learn the terms secondary colors and neutral
colors.
Day Two: Students will receive their painted paper. They will recall the
colors they started with and the colors they created. Students will cut that paper
in half and trade half of their paper with their table neighbor. Students will cut
each ½ into quarters and trade with neighbors. Finally, each student will cut two
of their quarters into eighths, and trade with neighbors. The teacher will facilitate
the trading to be sure the students get a variety of colors.
Students will then view a large reproduction of Eric Carle’s collage of
children from the book. Students will name ways that Carle has made each face
different. They will imagine themselves as an Eric Carle collage. Students will
learn the term self-portrait and brainstorm the parts that would need to be added
for a collage to look like them. Students will choose one of their ¼ sheets to use
for their skin color. Students will view a demonstration on how to cut the corners
off the rectangle to make an oval while preserving the majority of the painted
paper. Students will continue to cut and add parts to the collage self-portrait for
the remainder of class.
Day Three: Students will receive their self-portrait collage. Students will
review the terms collage and self-portrait. They will review the color mixing.
Students have this third class time to complete and add details to their selfportrait. Various Eric Carle books will be available for students to view while they
wait for peers to finish their self-portraits. Students will participate in a final
review of color mixing, and the meaning of collage and self-portrait.
Closure/Review:
Students will review color mixing, collage and self-portrait at the beginning of
days two and three. At the close of day three, students will participate in a final
review of color mixing and the meaning of collage and self-portrait.
Assessment:
Students will meet both of the primary learning objectives. The first objective, the
creation of an artwork inspired by a connection with language arts, is
accomplished through the creation of painted papers and a self-portrait collage.
The collage is inspired by reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?
by Bill Martin and Eric Carle.
The second objective is QCC K.6, the students’ ability to recognize primary and
secondary colors. Students will participate in an assessment designed to directly
assess accuracy in recognition of the primary and secondary colors. (Fig. 5)
Assessment Questions:
1. Did the student create an artwork inspired by the book Brown Bear, Brown
Bear, What do you See? by Eric Carle.
2. Does the student know the difference between primary and secondary
colors?
Assessment Instrument:
Student will receive Xerox copy of handout in Fig. 5. This paper provides a
frame for two drawings: the first one is labeled “primary colors” and will be
created using only primary colors; the second drawing is labeled and created
using secondary colors.