Story Collage

After watching  a video about Eric Carle, we were able to create our own story collage. As a class, we painted 12x18 white sheets of paper. For this process, we wet our brushes before applying the paint. This paint was a half and half mixture of wall paper paste and paint. We were allowed to create different textures using our brush, sponges, and stamps. We could also use our hands during the process. We allowed them to dry on the racks until the following class period. The next step was to create a drawing on an 12x18 piece of white paper. The paper represented two pages of a story. We were also to think of a short story (no more than a few sentences) to go along with the picture. I drew a squirrel along a trail.

During the following class period, I cut out the objects I drew. To this, I placed my picture on top of the colored sheets of paper. The colored sheets were what we had painted the previous class. Under all this was a matte. I used a X-Acto knife to cut. I needed to be sure to place enough pressure that it would go through both sheets. I often switched the colored sheet I used. I used my original drawing as a guide to where I should place the objects. I used one of the colored sheets as a background. I glued each piece down using regular glue. I used sharpie to add the details. The last step was gluing the story onto my art piece.

Extension Activity: I would divide the students into groups. I would ask the students to create a fantasy story. Once they have completed the story, I would have each students create a drawing to go along with their story. They would be provided with blank sheets of paper to paint. They would cut the object the need out of them.