Mythical Creatures - Our Theme for March and April

I struggled a bit with this month's theme. There are so many directions one could take! But one thing was sure - I wanted to somehow design a class project that would get children excited, and would introduce some new ways of sharing our work.

The first decision I made was to narrow the theme down to one aspect of mythology - the creatures, beasts, and monsters that inhabit that world. I now have several art/drawing books that will give students practice in representing some mythological or magical creatures the way they are usually depicted. But I also want to honor and celebrate the children's own imaginations, so we will be doing a lot of brainstorming and creating our own visions of what a mythological creature could look like.

Using the above book as inspiration, my goal over the next couple months is to create a book/CD set. First and second graders will make an art piece using oil pastels depicting a creature using the head, body, and limbs from at least three different animals. Then they will try their hand at writing a poem about the creature they invented, using word play, imagery, and humor. We will create a class book by typing our poems into a class document. Each child will take a photograph of their own artwork and will add that to their poem. Finally, we will practice reading the poems aloud and then record our voices. A CD will be made that will accompany the book.

I'm pretty excited about this project as it will allow ALL of us to stretch out of our comfort zones. I don't usually use a lot of technology in the classroom, so this is a great opportunity for students (and me) to practice different skills - making word processing documents, using a camera and iPhoto, and audio recording.