Oil Pastel Lesson

Lesson Summary:
Students first learned about the foreground, middle ground and backgrounds of art pieces. Artists such as Terry Redlin, from South Dakota, use this in their art pieces. Then students were taught how to properly use oil pastels- how to blend them, work with them, overlapping colors, etc. The assignment was to create your own personal snow globes using oil pastels that included a foreground, middle ground, and background. Snow globes were at the tables for motivation for the students. In my snow globe, I created a mountain scene with a snowboard as my foreground, log cabin and trees as my middle ground, and mountains as my background. I incorporated my objects because I love to snowboard in the mountains, so it was personal to me.

Extension Activity:
Students could choose a tradition that his/her family does that is individual to them. They would then create that using a foreground, middle ground and background in oil pastel. Then students would each get a chance to share what they have created. This would give students a chance to share their culture and learn about their classmate's culture.