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Lovely lady liberty

Arts & Activities, June, 2004 by Jane Carminati

Our school was preparing for a first-time, all-school event. I guess that you could say it was a little World's Fair. The theme was celebrating cultures around the world. "Many Countries, One World" was one suggestion for a theme title.

Each grade level was assigned to a continent and was to focus on countries from that continent. The kindergartners had North America. There were five different classes so it was decided that one would have Mexico, two would have Canada and two would have the United States.

Because all the subject areas were involved we had to have some sort of art project. What could kindergartners do that would be representative of the United States? Being so close to New York City, what would be more fitting than to draw pictures of the Statue of Liberty?

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The question now was, could they do it? I searched around for some pictures and a short history. Simple would be better and I found what I needed on the Internet.

We used 9" x 12" royal-blue paper and black crayons to start. Holding the paper vertically, I demonstrated step-by-step how to draw the statue, breaking it down into simple shapes that 5-and 6-year-olds understand.

We began near the top of the paper with an oval shape for the head. Then we added a band for the crown. We put some rectangles for the windows. On the top of the crown we drew seven tall triangles for the spikes. I explained that this stood for the seven continents and the seven seas of the world. We added simple dots for the eyes and a smile for the mouth. We drew two small lines for the neck. We continued the lines to the shoulders and onto the arms.

We drew two lines up near the top of the paper for the arm holding the torch. I had a student demonstrate the pose. We added the torch. We talked about how the torch was used to light the way for the immigrants coming to this country for the first time.

We continued with the left arm. "What was she holding?" I asked the class. We discussed what the book stood for and the inscription that was on it. We drew two lines for the arm and wrapped it around the rectangle.

What was Lady Liberty wearing? After some discussion about a dress, we decided that it was a robe. I showed them how to draw the folds and how it draped down and around her. To finish off the basic drawing we drew a simple rectangle for the base.

I explained to the children how the statue was made from copper and that, "after being outside in the rain, eventually it turned green. Using the green construction-paper crayons we colored the entire statue except for the torch, which we colored yellow. The construction-paper crayons work well on the royal-blue paper. Regular crayons will not be as brilliant.

The drawing was done, but something was missing. I decided to let the students glue on some gold stars that I had. They loved it. Showing them how to draw stars with gold crayons also work well. The finishing touch was adding an outside mat of red and an inside mat of white construction paper. It was just what was needed to add a special touch.

Needless to say, the drawings were a hit during the event. The children had a great time drawing them and they also learned some new facts about Lady Liberty who sits in our own backyard.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* use different media, techniques and processes to communicate ideas, experiences and stories.

* learn to draw using simple shapes.

* learn about o new medium: construction-paper crayons.

* create an original drawing of the Statue of Liberty.

MATERIALS

* 9" x 1 2" royal-blue construction paper

* black crayons

* green and yellow construction paper crayons

* gold stars or gold crayons

* red and white construction paper for matting

RESOURCES

* National Park Service www.nps.gov/stli/

* American Park Network www.americanparknetwork.com/ parkinfo/sl/

* Liberty State Park www.libertystatepark.com/statueof.htm

* NYC Tourist Info. www.nyctourist.com/liberty/htm

* Statue of Liberty Facts, News & Info. www.endex.com/gf/buildings/ liberty/liberty/html

Jane Carminati teaches K-5 art at Walnut Street Elementary School in Uniondale, New York.

Lovely lady liberty

Arts & Activities, June, 2004 by Jane Carminati

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