Description

This collaboritive project, inspired by a set of prints Haring made titled, RED AND BLUE, asks children to interpret classmates' abstract shapes and write or tell a story about them.

Objective

Children will interpret classmates' abstract shapes as suggestive of real objects.

Children will write or tell a story about their favorite resulting image or series of images.

Resources

Story of Red & Blue

Materials

4 sheets of drawing paper per child
Red and blue tempera paint
A crude brush or sponge
Black marker
Writing paper and pencils; or computer word processing program

Procedure

Read Story of Red & Blue.

Children paint their own abstract shapes in red or blue on four separate pieces of paper. Encourage children to paint only one or two definite shapes with particular qualities on each page (for example, round or large or tall or fat or pointy).

Allow the paintings to dry overnight.

Shuffle the papers and pass four out to each child.

Children imagine what the abstract shapes suggest, then draw black lines to detail the images, making their interpretation more obvious.

Children invent a story about one of the pictures or a series of pictures.

Depending upon their abilities, children write or dictate their stories.

Children read or tell their stories to the whole class.

Extensions

Create bulletin board display of paintings and stories.