Try It Out: Roman Art

I love having my students read about the different art forms and then give them a try in my class. I think that art history tell us as much about world history as a primary resource. I also believe that it is an opportunity for our students to become more hands-on and involved in the civilizations that we're reading about.

My latest one is something that I have been doing for a few years now. I have my sixth graders create mosaics with construction paper and poster board. 

Here's how we do it: I show them my PowerPoint presentation on Ancient Roman Art and Architecture. Then we discuss the different things that they have seen that show Roman art today. Finally, I give them a full pack (per class, not each child) of construction paper, glue sticks, scissors, an envelope, and a blank paper/poster board and show them how to make a mosaic.

The best way to do it is to have the students create an image on the poster board. (Remind them that the large the image the easier it is to fill-in.) Then have the students take the construction paper they need and cut up the squares on their own. This allows them to cut round corners and odd shapes that cannot be easily filled-in with squares. 

Here is just one of the mosaics from this year's group of sixth graders:

I know that it's kind of yellow. That's just the lighting in my room. Her monkey was too cute for words. I'm excited to see the others when they finish this year.