The Wise Old Owl: Poetry and Painted Paper

This fabulous project was inspired by a dear friend of mine, Ginger, over here. I have done them before and loved them so much! Her project was done in 2009 and just like a fine wine, gets better with age!

We added this project to our Fairy Tales and Fables Unit

I read this delightful poem to my 2nd graders

A wise old owl sat in an oak.

The more he heard, the less he spoke;

The less he spoke, the more he heard.

Why aren’t we all like that wise old bird?

 Class One: Tree

2nd grade students first used pre-painted paper to create the tree trunk and branches. We discussed how branches are formed on a tree.

Class Two: Creating the Owl

Next, students cut the shapes of the owl. (Students did use a circle tracer for the head and wing.)  After the body, head and wing were created the details were then added. (Eyes, beaks, claws, etc.)  

Class Three: Leaves

The last step was to add painted paper leaves with veins drawn with oil pastels.