Title – Classroom Cave Art

By – Michelle Anthony

Primary Subject – Social Studies

Secondary Subjects – Art

Grade Level – 2-3

A lesson incorporating visual art, reading, and culture

2nd grade objectives/TEKS:

(2.10 A) respond to stories and poems in ways that reflect understanding and interpretation in discussion (speculating, questioning) in writing, and through movement, music, art, and drama.

(2.12 G) demonstrate learning through productions and displays such as murals, written and oral reports, and dramatizations.

(2.13) Reading/culture. The student reads to increase knowledge of his/her own culture, the culture of others, and the common elements of culture.

Introduction:

Show clip of cave art scene from the animated Disney movie “Ice Age” to capture the attention of students.

Development:

A) Procedures – Begin with a K-W-L chart, asking students what they know about cave art and list their suggestions under the “What I Know” column. Ask them if they have any questions and what they would like to learn about cave art. List these under the “What I Want to Know” section of chart. Share selected pictures (make transparency copies for overhead) and information from

Painters of the Caves

, by Patricia Lauber, and

The First Artists

, by Dorothy and Joseph Samachson. Explain how culturally we are different, and the same as those who lived during the time period discussed. Talk about how art was used as a means of communication and record keeping. Display an example you have prepared on brown butcher paper of what the drawings may have looked like on the walls of a cave. Give students their own butcher paper and let them create their own cave drawings. In a refrigerator box you have made into a “cave” (This can be done by rolling up/crinkling brown butcher paper and texturizing the outside of the refrigerator box. Add grass, stepping-stones, etc. for an authentic effect), let the students display their artwork to share with each other. Follow up with the “What I Learned” section of your K-W-L chart.

B) Projects incorporated: Cave art created by students, using brown butcher paper and black crayons or markers.

C) Audio-Visual Aids: Movie “Ice Age”

Conclusion:

Review the K-W-L Chart, discussing each section. Reiterate the importance of record keeping. Make the books shared available for personal reading/exploring time. Invite each student to spend time inside your classroom “cave” to admire the cave art of the class. Have students write in their class journals about why it is important to keep records and what we can learn from them.

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Michelle Anthony

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