Parade Illustrations from Brimfield!

     The Brimfield 5th graders just finished up one of my favorite lesson plans ever!  The characters in these parades are the students' responses to various drawing strategies.  They drew a few characters based on descriptions that I read them, they drew a character straight from their imaginations, and they drew a character based on Maurice Sendak's drawing techniques for his Wild Things.   If the students finished those they could add any other characters they wanted.  I photographed the students as well so that they could each "lead" their own parade.  They used watercolor crayons and tray watercolors to complete these.

     Here are the drawing prompts the students used.  If we had more time, it would have been really great to add a still-life type of character and a contour line, etc.

5^th Grade Parade Drawing Prompts

In your parade drawing:

1.      YOU will be leading your parade as the 1^st character.

2.      The next character is anything you can imagine.

3.      For the 3^rd character:

Draw a two-headed Pompadour with crooked necks and feet so big it is hard not to step on them.

4.       For the 4^th character:

Draw the fantastic Folderol.  This character is covered in so much armor that it is hard to walk.  Its legs are bent under the weight of that heavy armor.

5.      For the 5^th character:

Draw the great, tall, one-eyed Cavendish.  Its wings are so large they drag on the ground.  Its beak is so sharp!

6.      For the 6^th character:

Maurice Sendak is a very skilled illustrator of imaginary creatures.  Study the drawing techniques he uses by looking at this image of the wild things.  For your 6^th character, either copy one of these wild things, or use Sendak’s drawing techniques to create a character of your own.