Chatty Cherry Stories

Read and respond to literature and create original stories and illustrations, focusing on details of people, places, and things.

• 1.

  Read Vera Williams' <u>Cherries and Cherry Pits</u>. Talk about Bidemmi's drawings and the stories she creates about her drawings using her imagination.

• 2.

  Create your own story world. Use Crayola® Washable Markers to draw a background of trees filled with cherries or your favorite fruits. Tell your story to a listening friend as you draw. Then switch roles and listen to your friend's story as his or her pictures grow and grow.

• 3.

  Cover your work area with newspaper. Use Crayola Washable Watercolors and Crayola Watercolor Brushes to paint a self-portrait in the setting you drew. Add clothing in your favorite colors, patterns, and styles. Tell a detailed story about yourself as you create your artwork.

Benefits

• Children respond to reading children's literature, by engaging in original storytelling and representing their own images through the visual arts.
• Children orally describe details of people, places, and things in their stories and art creations.
• Children create relevant illustrations using drawing and painting techniques similar to those used by the illustrator.

Adaptations

• Record stories as they are being told. Transcribe them, and add written text to pictures. Bind the collections of stories and drawings into books.
• Explore the difference between drawing and painting. Wet each watercolor pan with a few drops of water squeezed out of a wet paintbrush. Paint areas rather than outlines, using a damp but not dripping brush, dipped in wet watercolors. Experiment.
• Use other children's literature to explore art techniques such as colored pencil drawings, chalk, painting, and collage.