At the beginning of each new school year, I have my students create these owls via a direct drawing video on the Art For Kids Hub. The reason this directed drawing is so perfect for the beginning of the year and building community in the classroom is the branch. When the drawings are complete, I place them together so that the branch aligns with the drawing on either side.
I love the effect that the owls are all sitting side by side on a big branch.
We use black sharpies to do the drawings then fill them in with oil pastels. I laminate them for durability since I leave them up for a long time. I put a large piece of black construction paper behind the white paper to make them stand out on our classroom wall. This project never disappoints and looks terrific every year. The students love them and they are a focus of our Open House in October.
I use Art For Kids Hub YouTube channel pretty much exclusively when doing directed drawings with my students. It is a family site and the father, and son, draw alongside each other. It is a good perspective for students since the father and son projects look different based on age, and experience. The camera angle is also great, and they have a delightful banter with each other.
You can pause the video if students need to catch up or is someone is absent they can easily watch it at a later time.
Often, we will write stories about our owls which we add to our memory books. You can download that writing paper template to use with your students if you like. Owl Writing Template
Enjoy,
