Colored Value Lights (4th & 5th)


Once my 5th graders were finishing up their oil pastel space art, I had them begin this beauty!

My school has a die-cut machine and one day as I was using it, I noticed this Christmas light die-cut and knew I had to find a way to use it! :)

So how we did it -
I had my 5th graders begin by coloring their die-cut light bulb one solid color with oil pastel. Then they used a white oil pastel and drew in the filament and highlight on the tip of the bulb (some did this step - others chose not to), then smudged it with their finger. Then the filament was drawn again (again in white pastel) to refine the line a bit.
Once they were finished with their lights, they were given a piece of 12"x18" black construction paper and glued a piece of green yarn to it anyway they wanted to (this is the "cord"). After their yarn was glued, they arranged their bulbs on the paper and used a pencil to outline the shape. They then removed the bulbs from the paper and used white chalk pastel to go over their outline, and then went over the white outline with a colored piece of chalk pastel. This line was then smudged outwards to create the illusion of a glowing light. The bulb was then glued into place.
Voila! I LOVEEEEEEEEE THESE!!  

If you are interested in a more descriptive lesson plan with step-by-step visuals and light bulb templates, check out my store.
Also available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

8 comments

  1. These are beautiful! Nice job teaching value :).

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  2. Great effects! Thanks :) Elizabeth

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  3. found this on Pinterest- so fantastic! What a great idea! :)

    Amber
    SSSTeaching

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  4. These are great! What colour was the lightbulb die? White? Black?

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  5. I absolutely love these! My second year making them, and they've been a hit both times. Thanks so much for putting this together...and sharing!

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  6. This is one of my favorite, go-to blogs for awesome art ideas for my elementary school kids. I'm not an art teacher, but I co-run a monthly art program and I just finished using your winter values landscape lesson plan, which turned out GREAT. Thank you so much for posting your beautiful creations, awesome ideas, and very detailed instructions!

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