Rainbow Fish Shared Art: A Learner Profile Project {FREEBIE}

When introducing the Learner Profile to my little nuggets, I typically start with the attribute of being caring. This is something that they can understand fairly easily and it is also something that they have to practice daily as new members of our school community. Whether it is taking care of a friend that has a boo boo or sharing crayons, demonstrating that they are caring is something that they can all do. I like to use literature to introduce the learner profile attributes. I have amassed quite a collection of books (with even more still on my wish list). Below are some books that I use to introduce the attribute of caring.

    

  

 

Lola & Fred is a wordless book- This is a great way for the students to tell their own story of kindness.

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For the older kiddos I LOVE:

 

This year I really wanted to do a shared art project to highlight the attribute of caring. After a brain storming, sleepless night, I came up with this Rainbow Fish shared art project. The shared part of this project is the scales which is a perfect connection to the text. After reading the story and discussing it, we began working on the project. On the first day the students created the paintings that would become the shared scales. I did not tell them they would be sharing the paintings at this time. I gave them large (tabloid) pieces of white paper and three colors of tempera paint (red, yellow, and blue).  They used these materials to create paint rubbings (smooshing). They painted on one side of the paper and then folded it over and smooshed the paint all around. They LOVE this part.

After the paintings dried, I spent about 1 hour cutting them into scales. It was simple to fold them several times and cut them out several at a time. I could've had the students cut them, but it would've taken an eternity. Additionally, the purpose of the project was sharing, so that was what I wanted them to focus on.  I put each student's scales in a ziplock. I also cut out scales from glitter paper that I would be sharing with them. The students were each given their bag of scales and then I told them about the sharing part of the project. I really expected a few of my littles to cry about having to share their masterpieces with their classmates, but they were are very excited about the sharing piece. The students then went around the room and traded scales with their friends. 

 Next, in small groups, the students chose a fish body color and face color and began attaching their scales. Before they finished putting the scales on, I gave them a glittery scale to add to their fish. The last step was embellishing with glitter, eyes (they used a paper punch to make their eye), and oil pastels. As always, the glitter was a hit!

 I hope that this is a project that you can use in your classroom! Below are the templates so that you can make your own! Just click on the picture.

 I would love to hear about shared art projects that you have done!