Connected in the Classroom: Think Outside the Box Drawing Part 2

I posted a blog very similar to this one over a year ago, you can find that post HERE. I have seen this idea all over social media and just made my own prompts to use in my classroom. Essentially I take a piece of a drawing that may look obvious but tell the kids it isn't obviously what it looks like. So for instance, you can use half of a heart but say this is not a heart and encourage your students to search for alternative, creative drawings. I always try to attach a writing or oral component to this activity just to spruce up the educational content. In my experience, students get super involved in this kind of activity so the written or spoken part is a little easier for them to stomach.

I did this second Think Outside the Box drawing activity with that same group of kids that I posted about last year. I went back to sub for my fifth graders later in the year and I brought this lesson as a treat for them. When I first used these drawing prompts with them there was all kinds of ambivalence about doing work with 'no right answer,' But the second time they just got it. They knew what they had to do and there was zero hesitation. This is the drawing prompt that I brought for them:

As usual, I printed out hard copies for the kids and had an electronic version to display on the SmartBoard. I have tried doing this activity where I draw the shape on the board, give out blank pages and just ask them to copy. In my experience that does not work. The kids benefit so much from having that preliminary shape pre-drawn by me, it eliminates so much fussing and me having to go around the room and re-create a strange shape on 20+ pieces of paper. Let's look at some artwork!

Oh my word! This one cracks me up even though it is so beyond aggressive! A lot of my boys give a lot of push back when it comes to art so especially when it came to this drawing activity, I said they could draw *anything* they wanted. Yes, anything. And, yup that means I got some violence but hey, they drew, they wrote and they were darn proud of their work so we are going to let it slide. But don't fret, I had a little conversation with them about appropriate expressions of aggression :)

Again, this one is kind of spooky but it is by one of my kids who protests everything so I called this a big win! I really appreciated the detail that was put into this drawing!

That growth mindset attitude made me all kinds of proud! I love when kids can illustrate their personal goals in their art work!

A mad scientist!? Just the best!

I smell snow! I love a good snow globe!

A fish bowl! My favorite part is the little annotations!

Is this a one eyed monster? I don't even know but it sure is creative!

This is one of my favorites! I thought this octopus was such a great idea! I aksed if she wanted to color it in and she looked at me like I had two heads so this is meant to be a not colored octopus apparently.

Y'all my kids could not recover from this. They thought this was just so funny and the whole room was in stitches. Fifth grade is magical.

A teacup! This girl knows Miss Mackenzie loves a good tea party. I love to see how our personal  conversations come through in their work.

How cute! I may or may not have promised iPad time if this little colored her work! Ha! I am not above bribing.

I asked this student if it was a lizard and he was really insulted so he wrote 'dragon' in huge letters. Got it kiddo :)

I would have never thought of this! I am so blown away by kids' inherent creativity.

Is this a clown or a pirate? I don't know but I love it!

And the highlight of this activity for me - this darling elephant! So cute, right!?

I went back to look through their drawings and I have to say, I've never been so proud to see how many kids forgot to write their names on their work! I always make sure to crop out their names to protect their security but some of them did that for me :)

Happy Thursday!