PAPER MOSAIC

GRADES: 2-12

I have done this lesson with my students and the projects came out better than I ever expected. We had just read a story about Pompeii the ancient city buried by Vesuvius. The students marveled at how everything was left intact for the archaeologists to find. This led to a discussion of mosaics, since the floors with their intricate designs were found as if they were done yesterday. Show pictures of mosaic work, and tell them that the original mosaics were made with small colored tiles. We decided to make our own mosaic pictures using paper.

MATERIALS:

• Construction paper of varied colors cut into strips about 1/2 inch wide. A paper cutter helps make the strips straight, and takes less time than cutting them with scissors.
• Glue sticks
• White drawing paper--9x12
• Pencils
• Scissors

METHOD:

1. For this project students should be encouraged to make a small sketch on a piece of scrap paper first, so they can see the layout of the page. Tell them to draw something that will fill up the page. (Flowers, colorful birds, tropical fish, heads, a still life, and fruit are things that work well with this project).
2. When they have completed their sketch, have them draw it on the drawing paper. Have the students pick out strips of different colors. (We used a lot of construction paper). They will cut them into squares themselves.
3. The students will then paste down the various colors on the various objects. An orange for example can have light orange, dark orange, and even red/brown as a shadow on the orange.
4. They should place the squares down as close as possible, leaving white paper showing through to look as though the mosaics are embedded in plaster.
5. When done, mount the finished work on a larger sheet of construction paper and display.

If filling a whole sheet with the mosaic is hard for some students, have them do the main objects with the paper mosaic, and then do the background with crayon. Some of my students did it that way, and it was just as nice!

Lesson plan courtesy of Barabara Sonek
Homepage: Barbara's World Tour