Friday Art: Cursive Insects

Our first unit in Science is the life cycle and description of insects. The students LOVE this unit and learning more about the insects we see around us at all the time. So we brought insects into our art instruction!

Because the students have not mastered their cursive handwriting (we're working on it, though!), we had a parent volunteer write each student's name beforehand. The names were written on a folded piece of paper and the students went over their name in black oil pastel. Then the papers were refolded with their name on the inside. The students used a marker to roll over the oil pastel to transfer their name and go over the transfer with their oil pastel.

Then comes the tough part: the cutting. Students need to cut their name out, but their insect will consist of both names (the "normal" one and the reflection). Some students are more skilled than others at how fancy they can get with their cutting. Many can get close to their outline, while others do more swooping cuts for a general shape.

Then comes the decorating time! Make that name into an insect!! I gave my students complete freedom on how to transform their name into an insect. My only requirements were two eyes and six legs. When they were done, the students attached their insects to a green (paper) leaf.