Hillview Design

Last Spring, a friend of mine emailed me a contest google ran where students all around the country visually altered the word Google to express themselves creatively.  This gave me an idea for the first project of the year for my 7th and 8th grade art students.  I had them use the word Hillview to express something about their dreams: what they wish for in the world, what they dream about, what they wish for themselves, or what they wish for the school.  We also talked about the elements of art (shape, form, texture, color, value, line) and principles of design (unity, balance, color, contrast, shape).  I had them split into groups and discuss the definition of one term in their own words.  When we shared out, they had intuitively created very accurate definitions.  They had to incorporate 3 elements of art or principles of design into their Hillview Designs.  Many incorporated color into their designs using colored pencils.