Exploring the Great Outdoors - Meridian International Center

help them to do this. For instance, if they painted the word “hot” they would probably use bright
colors like reds, oranges and yellows. But if they chose the word “cold” they might decide upon
pale colors like blue and gray. Now pass out the paints, have them decide upon a word and
encourage them to create “paintbrush words.”
Brian Pinkney, Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin’ Cowboy
Suggested Activity:
• Brian Pinkney uses scratchboard for his illustrations. Here is a way to prepare scratchboard:
Color a sheet of paper with crayons, pressing hard and covering it completely. Mix a few drops
of liquid soap into black tempera paint; paint the crayon-covered paper with black paint. Dry for
twenty-four hours. Scratch in a design with a toothpick or other pointed tool.
• Create a work of art showing rhythm or movement by using repeating shapes, lines or colors.
Is your art loud or quiet, bright or dull, fast or slow
Jerry Pinkney, New Shoes for Silvia
Suggested Activity:
• In New Shoes for Silvia, Silvia has new red shoes that she is anxious to wear. Illustrators often
use the color red to lead viewers’ eyes to certain places on a painting. As you look at picture
books, see how often you find red in the illustrations. Here are some ways to use the color red:
draw a picture and make something red that is not usually red and notice how it stands out. Or,
become a shoe designer and design a fantastic pair of red shoes. You might even draw yourself
wearing them!
Related Activities
Wendy Watson, Little Brown Bear
Suggested Activity:
• After sharing the book or artwork with your students copy the word “bear” on the chalkboard.
Ask the students for rhyming words for this word. Copy their suggestions on the board;
possibilities: care, dare, fare, mare, rare, blare, flare, glare, scare, share, snare, spare, square,
stare, air, fair, hair, lair, pair, chair, flair and stair. Read the following to the students and explain
that it is a type of poetry called a “triplet.”
Hurray for the little brown bear,
He found a large horn in the chair,
So now he can make a loud blare.
Now copy the following on the chalkboard.
Casey’s the name of our cat,
This time of the year he gets fat,
From lying all day on his mat.
• Explain to the students that this is another triplet. Can they guess why Sure, it has three lines
and notice that each line rhymes. This is what they are going to make. But before they begin
you need to talk about using terms that have many words that rhyme with them, such as: CAT,
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