Sketching the exterior of your school

My students finished the NECAP Reading Test today. The sun also came out too. (I was on the verge of building an arc since there had been a lot of gray skies this past week.) Therefore, I took my students outside of the building with oil pastels and soft pastels to sketch the community, which is a variation of an idea I had a couple of months ago.

First, I zoomed in on one interesting feature, a set of chairs and a table, that are outside of our school. I wanted to show them how to zoom-in and notice the details of an item AND I also wanted to show them how to use their kneaded rubber erasers. This is the finished product (of what I started during the demo):

Here’s an overview of what my kids created when they sketched the exterior of our school building and the street area today.

Next week, I’m going to have them do a little bit of writing about why they chose to focus in on the item(s) they zoomed-in on. Then, I’m hoping to create a little gallery in the hallway outside of my classroom.