Well, first let me start off by admitting something about this project...it did not start off as a Starry Night lesson. Originally, it was going to be a Snowy Mountain Cool Collage. We created them before the holidays, when it was cold, then I went away for 9 weeks to the other school I teach at and we had to put it on hold. When I returned, it wasn't cold anymore, so it felt a little funny making snow pictures. But, true to my plan, I had a first grade class sponge snow over their cool mountain collages. I was definitely non-plussed with the results! I felt that the collages were so nice, but yet still needed something to complete them and decided to hold onto them until I figured it out. Meanwhile, we went on to a new project. When that project was finished, I was looking in an art book at Van Gogh's Starry Night, and had a light bulb moment- we'll use oil pastels on top of our landscapes to create our own Starry Nights! I really love the results. First graders enjoyed making the swirly broken lines just like Van Gogh, and added their own ideas... the results are beautiful-just like them!
