Third Grade Landscapes and Accessibility

Third graders created these watercolor collage landscapes as part of their unit on texture. First, in conjunction with their geography studies of the Northeast, they brainstormed textures and land forms they might find in that region. Then, they learned how to create watercolor textures using techniques such as scratching, salting, and blotting their paintings. Finally, they used their texture papers to create collaged landscapes. 

To accompany their landscapes, they also wrote descriptive poetry as a tie-in with their classroom unit on accessibility. We observed and discussed how museums make their collections accessible to blind and low-vision audiences, for example, through descriptive tours and audio guides which incorporate senses other than sight. 

InSight Tour, Smithsonian National Museum of Art

A Warm Summer Day In The Northeast

Wavy waters, crashing against the shore,

Smooth ridged trees, swaying in the summer breeze,

Rough rocks, disappearing as the tide comes in,

Brick towers, shining in the morning sun,

Sharp mountains, behind the sea,

Juicy apples from the tree,

Fluffy clouds that look like cotton candy

The Northeast is very peaceful! 

I want to climb, and sunbathe - What? What’s that you say?! Oh sure I’ll swim - I’ll swim all day!

A Night In The City

Smooth and rough night sky shines on your face, sort of whiskery, brushing against you

Tangled trees surround you, trunks rather ribbed and scaly

Frizzy grass is dimmed, but you can tell the knotty roughness around your heels means it’s still there

Flickering and bumpy lights are shining bright, just like the woven stars above you, glowing

The moon, up there it’s spiky, rough, rocky but down here it’s lacy, smooth, feathery, the creature, The Man On The Moon, waving to you as he’s controlling all the stars

Scratch cars, some crashed and banged up, traveling one way and another, back and forth at high speed

But the rocky Washington D.C. National Monument attracts most with it’s blinking, glowing red light at the top, and it’s scaly texture!!

Loud and crashing, a rocky and gritty Washington D.C. has the night taken under control

If I were in Washington D.C., I'd move into the White House!!

A Nice View In The Northeast

I feel the sleek water between my toes

There are rocks in the bumpy in the sand

The rocks are scratching my body when I’m laying on it

I see the foamy white stuff in the ocean coming to shore

There is a beach in front of my collage.

There are trees behind it because when I go to the beach there are sometimes plants.

I put mountains in because I think it looks really good .

In the back I have my sunset  sky.

I added a moon for a little light.

If I were there, I would go swimming in the ocean.