Pixel Self Portraits

 

Minecraft is all the rage right now among students. It is a computer game where the characters look like they are created through pixels- meaning they are square shape with very generic details.

4^th and 5^th graders discussed pixel art at the beginning of the project. When I asked them what they thought pixel art was I got a lot of blank stares UNTIL I brought up Minecraft- then the room exploded with discussion!

We first practiced making pixel art on the mini laptops at a pixel art creator website (http://piq.codeus.net/draw ) where they got practice creating a self -portrait using pixels digitally. Once they had some practice they were given graph paper and used color pencils to create a pixel self- portrait drawing. After their drawing was complete they then created an enlarged self-portrait using paper squares. They were really working on their gluing skills for this portion of the project. Their learning targets for this project were:

 

·        I can create pixel art on the computer, with colored pencil, and with construction paper.

·        I can make sure all the pieces of paper stay glued down.

·        I can use glue neatly so that it doesn’t leak out around the edges.