My 4th graders did a printmaking project on painted paper this year. I thought the results were stunning but the project was a little confusing for some. We began by discussing the importance of bees. What is the job of the honeybee? What would happen if the bees became extinct? We watched a couple of videos that explained the perilous situation of the honeybee and the detrimental impact it is having on our environment. Then, students began to practice bees in their sketchbooks. I had several "how to" sheets for those that wanted to use them. On the same day they were sketching, they also were using ocatgonal templates to create a honeycomb pattern on a 8.5x11 sheet of white paper. The next class was used to paint the honeycomb using liquid watercolors. The liquid watercolors (as opposed to the cake palettes) produced such bright, vivid colors that contrasted nicely with the black ink. Students chose their best bee from their sketches to reproduce on scratchfoam and print on the painted paper. The results were lovely but I think next year, I may do this with 5th grade instead. Only about half of the 4th graders had really great results. Live and learn!
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