Christopher, grade 1

cut-paper collage
STUDIO artist: Susan Austad

One of the goals of the lesson was to have the students really spend time moving their collage shapes around, using both big and little shapes and looking closely and rearranging them. The project posed some challenges and limitations, which really spurred the children to reflect and use their imaginations.... Then we spent time on the process of creating a composition. Throughout there was a big emphasis on arranging, which was a challenge as all the students were anxious to glue! After working on our collages, we talked about what they thought they shapes were supposed to be, how they don’t have to be particular shapes, about the way they were arranged, or the colors. Then it was apparent that the students did begin to appreciate the process of looking and arranging. This moment of discovery came when one student’s shape was moved by accident. Then he thought of making it look like it was a boat sinking: “Oh, when I moved it, it made me think of this.”

(Click on the image to enlarge.)