This week we took a little break from learning the heavy hitting standards to venture into the world of Zentangle. I had my kids break out a piece of white copy paper (or, since not all of the kids have this handy at home, it was ok if they just used lined paper from their notebooks) and they drew a pumpkin shape. We learned about Zentangle patterns and they covered their pumpkins in the patterns. Then, they used a sharpie or other black marker to outline the pattern. Finally they colored it in using various shades of orange. (Every year, when in class, I have done this fun little art project with my students. You can read a detailed description of how we created these pumpkins here on Panicked Teacher's blog.)
Now, since we are virtual, I don't really have the traditional way of displaying the final art projects. So I was forced to get a bit creative. Instead of the usual display, I decided that we could pretend we were picking these pumpkins in a patch and insert our pictures into a patch.
Then, I asked each student to take a picture of themselves holding the Zentangle pumpkin that they created. The picture needed to be a head to toe picture. I took that picture and downloaded it into remove.bg. This website removes the background of any picture, so I was left with a picture of the student with only them and the pumpkin. Nothing else. This allowed me to insert the picture into the pumpkin patch on Google Drawings. I simply layered the kids in as they were submitting their pictures to me.
The final product looked like my students were standing in a pumpkin patch TOGETHER holding the pumpkins that they "picked". I have replaced my students with my family in the picture below, but you get the idea. It truly does make it look like we are together, even though we are only over Zoom for now.
Our next step is to now write narratives about those pumpkins in the pumpkin patch! Stay tuned for that post ;)
How have you had to alter how you are displaying your work for the students? What creative solutions have you come up with?
Stephanie, I'm constantly amazed and inspired by your posts. You've always been a great teacher, and now even in a pandemic, your colors are shining! You students are so fortunate to have a dedicated and talented teacher like you! I just wanted to let you know you've inspired me, too!
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