All About Alligators

Second grade was learning all about texture when we did our Lady-With-The-Alligator-Purse project, and I continued the texture theme and threw in a little color mixing with non-fiction alligators.  We reviewed how to make green, mixed our own green and painted 12 x 18 papers green.  We then viewed a Smart Notebook lesson about alligators, focusing on how they really look.  We even watched short video clips from here. If you want the Smart Notebook lesson I made you can download it here.
We wrote facts about alligators in our sketchbooks, and practiced drawing alligators.

I then gave them small stickers (that were a donation from a sign company, but masking tape would work too) and had them cut them up, put them on one section of their green paper and paint blue on top (a resist technique).

With the stickers still on.

After it's dry, we pull the sticker/tape off carefully.

 After their painting was done, they drew a large alligator on a seperate 12 x 18 white paper in pencil.  We then talked about how the alligators we saw in photographs and on the videos were more of a brownish/grayish green.  So, when we mixed our green for our alligators, we added the tiniest bit of red (discussing compliments, and how they brown out a color).  After our alligators dried, we added texture with small printing plates I made out of 2 x 3" matboard and sticky-back foam.

We also used tiny brushes to add our details like eyes, teeth, etc.

The only thing left to do was to cut out our alligators and glue them to their swampy-water backgrounds:

This alligator is giving her baby a ride
like we saw in the video.

Another baby on mama's back.

Sideways once again! Says "alligators are dangerous.
I like alligators."

Babies on backs was a popular theme.

And a shot of part of the display in the hallway: