Fifth Grade and Lady Liberty

We've been working on patriotic symbols in fifth grade, and I got this lesson several years ago at my state's fall conference (at "Drag 'N Brag", as it were).  Someone in my district said it was in an art education magazine (Arts & Activities, maybe?) but I didn't see it there.  I love this lesson because it covers the 5th-graders-learning-about-patriotic-symbols Grade Level Expectation from my state and they learn/re-learn all about monochromatic colors.

We drew with pencil, outlined with black tempera block,
and painted with tempera.

Love this one!  This student is a "detail" sort of girl.

 We started out with a SmartNotebook lesson (that you can download here), where we brainstormed symbols that remind us of America, and looked at some (like the Liberty Bell, the American flag, etc).  The last slide in the presentation is just photographs of the Statue of Liberty.  They choose one (there's six to choose from) and draw it.  I put the slide up every time they're there--drawing or painting.

Some of them on display in the hallway--
I love the one with the extra-long neck (second from the left).

More of our display.

They always want to fill in pupils in her eyes.
This student went back and covered them.

I love how "painterly" this one is, it has personality!

These are always so lovely, and no two are ever alike.  I let them choose to have a light blue background or an American flag in the background.
God Bless America! Land that I love, stand beside her, and guide her . . .