Creating Imaginary Animals

Third graders are learning about vertebrate groups by creating imaginary animals with a collage process.

At Gause Elementary School, students are researching vertebrate groups and creating unique imaginary animals. They are building the animal in a collage, and writing a paragraph about the animal.

Guest artist in residence Peggy Ross assisted the students with the collages, which will be displayed in a gallery showcase. The students are satisfying standards in the new Core Knowledge Language Arts curriculum, by combining imagination, art, and research as they learn about the different vertebrate groups and what distinguishes them from one another.

Ross is a teaching artist with Young Audiences. She has worked in schools for 20 years and specializes in visual art, textiles and design.

“One of the things I enjoy the most about working with children is their ability to innovate and approach their art, and the world, with new perspectives,” she said. “I love experiencing, vicariously, the joy of discovery and expression when children try new mediums and ideas with their art-making. There’s nothing more gratifying than a class of my students feeling proud and successful about their creations.”