Yesterday I got to teach Miss Cook's 2nd grade class. We did a lesson called "Howling Houses" that I found on the Arts and Activities website. (I recently found this website and it is awesome. They offer full lesson plans with lots of fun ideas). You could adapt this lesson for any age group.
As our lesson began, I played a scary music CD in the background. The music was a big hit with the kids. They would have thought anything was cool at this point. Then we looked at pictures of haunted houses and talked about the colors used and the mood they create.
Walter Wick's On a Scary Scary Night is a great place to start. We also looked at paintings by the artist Charles Burchfield.
(I printed these from the internet)
The prints below would also be great visual aids on this topic and are available in the Grovecrest Library:
El Greco's View of Toledo
Van Gogh's Starry Night
As we discussed mood, we also talked about cool vs. warm colors and how they affect the way you feel. I asked the students to tell me how the paintings make them feel, what elements specifically create these feelings, and what details they would expect to see in a haunted house (cracked roofs, jagged edges, moon, stars, bare trees, etc.)
You could use many different mediums for this project. I choose oil pastels against black paper but colored pencils, paint, or even crayons would work well. I steered the students away from blood and ghosts, and tried to focus on just the house. I also asked them to stay within cool colors for their palette.
They loved the outcome.
I would love to hear what lessons you are using and how they are going. If you'd like to share them with us, please email us at grovecrestart@gmail.com
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