I haven't taught this lesson since about 2019 and boy, have things gone downhill! My Grade 4-6 class really struggled with both manipulating the chalk, drawing the dinosaur and creating a creative landscape background for their dinosaur.
For context, our Grade 4 students go on a field trip each year to the famous Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller. Set in the rugged Alberta badlands, the museum displays one of the world's largest collections of dinosaurs. Nearby is also Dinosaur Provincial Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is well-known for being one of the richest dinosaur fossil locales in the world. Fifty-eight dinosaur species have been discovered at the park and more than 500 specimens have been removed and exhibited in museums around the globe. There's also incredible hoodoos you can hike around nearby.
Our students go for an overnight trip to the museum where they get to sleep in the museum under the dinosaurs! I've been on this field trip and it's incredible!
Drumheller is also a cute town to visit in the summer, as it has loads of cute dinosaur sculptures scattered throughout the downtown.
When it came to the background, there was little imagination and I really had to coax the kids. Honestly, I think this is symptomatic of a generation being raised in front of screens. They want to do everything fast and have little patience for subjects requiring sustained lengths of work and patience, like art.
I have been reading the book The Anxious Generation, by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and it has been really eye opening and confirms what I have been seeing as a teacher who has taught for over 25 years.
You can see my kids art from 2019 in my previous post HERE. What do you think?
Some Grade 5,6 results:
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