Honorable Mention - Elementary
Oologah Lower Elementary, Oologah

Oologah -- After Eric Carle

Our collage models children's book author and illustrator, Eric Carle of The Very Hungry Caterpillar fame. Using his technique, we integrated children's literature, art techniques, language development; and writing skills. The beauty of his approach is it is highly forgiving -- a great benefit when working with young children. When we first thought about mixing 5 year olds and wet tissue paper, disaster seemed inevitable. Instead, the children loved it because it appeals to a child's natural desire to touch and
"mistakes" just create more interest.

We began by introducing Carle's literature with our K-2 students, talking particularly about the illustrations being collages, Next the children made several collages of their own using various materials. A parent volunteer met with the students in our art room and introduced Picasso's collages to them. Particular emphasis was placed on color and texture as the students tore out magazine strips and created pictures based on the colors, instead of whole pictures. Their homework was to find item at school or around home that would create texture on painted paper. The students brought blocks, burlap, carpet, scrub brushes, egg cartons, pot scrubbers, golf balls and more.

Next the students watched a video depicting Eric Carle in his studio creating art for one of his books. The students met a parent volunteer again in the art room "studio", this time to create the paper used in our collage. Working in groups of three, they painted a base color on white tissue paper, then applied additional paint with the found objects, thus creating highly textured papers. The children wrote to Eric Carle about their experiences and sent him pictures and samples of their finished papers.

The next step was brainstorming with the children about this year's theme. These ideas were presented to a local artist who came up with a preliminary sketch. A group of children, parents, grandparents, and teachers from our community then cut the children's painted tissue paper into pieces to fit the sketch and glued the pieces to create our collage. The artist is so enthused by the process, she plans to use it with her private art students.

Please look for many Oklahoma symbols in our coIlage: our state flag; the state tree, the Redbud; the state bird, the scissor-tailed flycatcher; the state butterfly, the Black Swallowtail; the state wildflower, the Indian Blanket; the state insect, the Honey Bee. A Native American rides across fields on his blue mustang (our school's mascot).

Many important places in Oologah are featured. PSO is our biggest and most visible industry so we included the power plant. Forty trains a day pass through Oologah carrying coal to fuel PSO's electricity generation. A child, distracted by the caterpillar and frog, has forgotten the book and gazes at the rural surroundings which we are privileged to enjoy in Oologah. Lake Oologah, the site of much recreational fishing and boating, offers area residents opportunities for Oklahoma outdoor living at its best. Do you see Will Rogers' birthplace in the centre? He is our most famous native son.

"People's minds are changed through observation and not through argument"
-- Will Rogers