Second Grade Elmer the Elephant

One year at the SES Book Fair, I purchased a tote bag full of Elmer stories.  I just love the bright colors on Elmer and funky jungle scenes in the illustrations.  As we have read through these in second grade, we are making art from this fun Literature.  I often use literature as a launching point for art. The characters are fun, the illustrations are inspiring, and the read-aloud time is so  valuable. We drew Elmer together and drew a grid of horizontal and vertical lines on him. Then using oil pastels, children drew mini patterns in each square. There are a lot of squares!!!!!! I told the kids they could repeat a pattern if they moved it far from the original pattern, and used a different color. We drew black oil pastel over the lines AFTER all of the patterns were created, so as not to smear back while we were still "patterning".  Come back to see the next steps!