Pattern Harvest Corn

I really try to work on the basic fine art motor skills and knowledge in First Grade. A lot of the projects might seem very basic, but our kindergartners do not have art class in our district. So a lot of the time I get first graders coming in who don't know much about how to use a scissor properly, or glue correctly, or even how to hold a paintbrush. This lesson was a bit of review and also new information. I also focus quite a bit on proper art vocabulary. No hamburger or hot dog folds in my art class, we say vertical and horizontal. Students first looked at real harvest corn and we discussed what types of lines we saw and any colors that repeated. First we drew the shape of our corn using curved lines and vertical lines. Next we used three fingers to measure our horizontal lines going across so that they would be somewhat evenly spaced out. We outlined our drawing in Sharpie. Next we talked about pattern. I always tell my students the key to making a pattern is that it has to REPEAT! I give them tons of examples and then always let them complete the pattern. I even make a pattern out of the class using a boy/girl pattern. Someone always figures it out and they love that. Students choose 2-5 colors to make a pattern on their Harvest corn. Paper towels were ripped, twisted and glued on for the stalks.