What makes a community unique? How is a community shaped by its surroundings? These are questions that have been on the minds of the Third Graders at Alta Vista School. As an alignment to their study of the Bay Area, 3rd grade students were asked to investigate Alta Vista's own neighborhood in the Bay Area: the Portola! During an art class, 3rd grade students discussed the idea of community, and were asked to share their knowledge about the Portola neighborhood. They then went on a mini trip to San Bruno Ave., where they used their artistic eyes to look for everyday items that make the Portola unique. Students selected a scene or object to take a picture of, used the image as a reference for a large-scale drawing. Students used the grid method to map out their drawing and pay attention achieving the correct scale and proportion. They added value with pencil and Sharpie marker before going on to coloring their drawing with chalk pastels.
