Third Grade Texture Scavenger Hunt (Rashi School Online Lesson)

Hello third graders! This is a lesson for my students at The Rashi School. I hope you'll join in!

It's time for a texture scavenger hunt. This activity will have you moving, collecting, sketching, and writing.

There are three activities in this unit.
1. A scavenger hunt and list
2. A poem
3. Sketching from observation

Materials: pencil, papers, clipboard or book to lean on, colored pencils or markers (if you have them)
Time needed: Two or three sessions, about 30 minutes each

Visual Texture

Visual texture is texture that you can see, but cannot feel. It's created on a flat surface, with drawing materials. It's sort of like an illusion. Artists use visual texture to add realistic detail to their work. German artist Albrecht Durer was very, very good at it!

Rhinocerus, 1515

Rabbit, 1503

Surface Texture

Surface texture is a texture you can feel as well as see. It is three-dimensional, which means it is not flat. Thornton Dial was an artist who used found objects such as metal, wire, and wood to create surface texture in his paintings.

Out of Darkness, the Lord Gave us Light, 2003

Louise Nevelson created sculptures with wood and cardboard to create surface texture.

Untitled

So, here's what you need to do:

Part 1:

1. Go around your house (you can go outdoors too!) and find at least ten things that have surface texture. 
2. Make a list of the things, using one texture adjective and one texture noun. If you can't think of the texture words on your own, you can use the texture word list below.
3. You can't use the same object twice, and you can't use the same texture adjective more than twice.
4. Write a texture poem with all of your texture words and nouns: For each pairing, add some words that tell us more about the thing and how you feel about it. 
5. The last line of your poem is up to you and your imagination, but it should sum up some of your thoughts and feelings about the things you found in your house, or how you feel about your house.

Here is my example of a texture poem:

My Comfy Home

Fuzzy yarn I love to knit with

Furry dog who likes being scritched behind the ears

Soft slippers that feel great on my feet

Woven basket of tasty fruit to snack on
Bumpy lamp that spreads light around the room
Shaggy carpet that I'll vacuum... later
Curly flower petals in a vase
Smooth kitchen table that is my favorite shade of green
Wet stairs on this rainy day
Lacy curtains that look pretty in the window
Bumpy Duplos that I keep stepping on
I love being in my comfy home with my family.

Here's the list of texture adjectives. 

(You can use others that you think of too)

• Woven 
• Scratchy 
• Tangled 
• Hairy
• Blistered
• Scaly
• Ribbed
• Curly
• Frizzy
• Lumpy
• Grainy

• Sharp
• Fluffy
• Bubbly
• Prickly
• Fuzzy
• Slimy
• Pocked
• Gritty
• Bristly
• Doughy
• Knotty

• Jagged
• Scratchy
• Rocky
• Stubbly
• Lacy
• Feathery
• Whiskered
• Bumpy
• Spiky
• Smooth
• Rough

Part 2: Texture Drawings

1. Pick at least four of the things you found in your house and create four drawings of them with pencil. Make sure to use lines and/or shapes to show the texture of the object! If you're confused, please see some examples from the chart below. You can use a realistic or a cartoon style. Make sure you're observing them while you draw them, so you can see lots of detail.

Here are some ideas about how to include texture in your sketches, using lines and shapes: