Colour Exploration
Our aim was to have the students
explore colour using the primary colours.
We placed only the primary colours
(red, yellow and blue) paint at the art center for students to experiment with.
We wanted the students to discover
naturally that when mixing the primary paint colours, new colours can be
created. For some students, this became evident right away as they mixed red
and blue to create purple and yellow and blue to create green and yellow and
red to create orange. Many of the students mixed a lot of paint but it all
turned brown.
Exploring Paint
Extending Students’ Thinking
Students described the colours they
saw emerge before their eyes. The discovery of mixing paint and creating new
colours allowed for a conversation about colour mixing and which primary
colours to use to create a specific colour.
S: I mix the red with the blue
and it makes purple. Now I made green!
Ms. P: How did you make green?
S: I mixed yellow and blue.
Ms. P: What would happen if you
added more blue to the green you made?
S: It gets really, really dark
again.
Ms. Nitsotolis: You don’t have any
green paint, I wonder how you made green?
R: Yellow and Blue!
J: I make yellow.
Ms. P: I wonder how we can make any
new colours?
J. experiments with mixing new colours to her yellow. She mixes all the colours
together and creates a brown colour. A little while later, J. returns to
the art center and begins to mix paint while creating dots on her paper. J. creates dots that are different shades of orange.
Ms. P: How did you make your orange
dots?
J:
I’m making lots of dots for the contest,
look
yellow and red.
A lesson in teamwork
During
the colour exploration, the students displayed signs of collaboration by
sharing their learning with one another. The excitement of their new
discoveries made students eager to share with one another.
Collaboration
Collaboration is a key component of
our classroom. The children collaborate when they are engaged at play at the
centers, exploring the outdoors, participating in projects and when engaging in
group discussions. It was important for us to teach students the word
“collaborate” and to have students begin to understand the benefits of
collaboration. We began by reading Kathryn Otoshi’s book, One and discussed as a whole group why it is important to work
together.
Colour Sorting
We began our colour exploration by
sorting some classroom materials by colour. The students worked together to
sort the materials, cut materials and then place the items in jars. The product
was six mason jars full of items and sorted by colour.
The Collaborate Colour Collage
In order for students to see
first-hand the benefits of collaboration, students were invited to work
together on a class colour collage. Students first used watercolour paints to
paint the background. The students then used the materials they had sorted by
colour to glue onto the watercolour painting. While students worked on the
collage, their discussions, questions and actions all defined collaboration.
To
expand on the concept of collaboration I asked students what they thought
collaboration means:
Ms. P: What does collaboration mean
to you?
T: Andrea’s helping to get the
clean water for our brushes.
S: Teamwork!
Ms. P: What do you mean by teamwork?
T: We are all working together.
Many Hands, One Collage
The final product, a unique colour
collage is an example of why it is important to collaborate. This collage would
have been a lot of work for one student to complete on his or her own. However,
together the collage encompasses the ideas of multiple students and it is a
shared project that they can all feel proud of.
As students worked on the
collage they were engaged in conversations that discussed the placement of the
found materials, their theories of colour mixing and their conversations
highlighted a sense of respect as they listened to the ideas of their classmates.
Even More Collaboration!
It is important for us to provide the children with many opportunities for collaboration.
|
Acrylics on watercolour paper |
C.Z. and R.S. observing the acrylic paint move in the bottle.
C.S: Why is it moving so slow?
Ms. P: Let's feel the acrylic paint. What does it feel like?
C.Z: Its hard and sticky.
Ms. P: I wonder what would make the paint less sticky?
C.Z: Maybe some water.
These collaborative paintings sparked conversations about colour mixing theories. Students practiced teamwork skills as they listened respectfully and shared ideas with one another.