Drawing Ponies- Animal Stories in Art

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqrfsux0L9k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TkpafuhguU

This next horse drawing and photo is in memory of a student's family pet. You can tell the pony and family loved each other very much. When I miss my favorite people or pets, making art about them helps me feel closer to them. Throughout history, artists have made masterpieces inspired by their beautiful animal friends, like Henri Matisse's cat, and Frida Kahlo's monkey.

Students read a book based on "The Talking Eggs," a creole folk tale, while observing the beautiful illustrations used to help tell the story. We recognized that animals can also be characters in stories, and we practiced drawing the pony from the book.

This lesson was originally written to teach Colorado state standards of visual arts to kindergarten and 1st grade:

Kindergarten, Standard 1. Observe and Learn to Comprehend. Grade Level Expectation: 1. Identify how artists use visual art and design to communicate. Evidence Outcome, Students Can: a. Recognize that visual art and design can tell stories.

First Grade, Standard 1. Observe and Learn to Comprehend. Grade Level Expectation: 1. Investigate how visual art and design tell the many stories of people, places or things. Evidence Outcome, Students Can: C. Demonstrate an understanding that different communities and cultures share their own stories.

This lesson can also teach the following Colorado state standards of visual arts to the following older grade levels:

Second Grade, Standard 4. Relate and Connect to Transfer, Grade Level Expectation: 1. Observe and discuss how visual art and design are evident in the everyday life of communities. Evidence Outcome a. Recognize how visual art and design is interdisciplinary

Third Grade, Standard 1. Observe and Learn to Comprehend, Grade Level Expectation: 1. Investigate works of art and design to recognize how to create meaning with purpose and intent. Evidence Outcome a. Identify historical and cultural ideas evident in works of visual art and design.

Fourth Grade, Standard 1. Observe and Learn to Comprehend, Grade Level Expectation: 2. Respond to an artist’s point of view being mindful of historical, contemporary and cultural context. Evidence Outcome a. Recognize how the human experience is expressed in diverse ways.

Fifth Grade, Standard 3. Invent and Discover to Create, Grade Level Expectation: 2. Apply an understanding of art processes and studio skills to create works of art and design. Evidence Outcome a. Utilize traditional and contemporary media to effectively communicate intended meaning.