5th Grade- Blind Contour Self-Portraits!

5th grade focused on blind contour lines for their line project. We talked about contour lines first then I introduced them to blind contour lines and the difference between a portrait and a self-portrait. They were really worried at first when I told them they had to draw their faces without looking at their papers or lifting up their markers! I told them that they all turn out really goofy and funny looking... mine even did! The point was to practice their looking skills and drawing with a long continuous line. Like riding a bike, this was a skill to be practiced. The first step was to do the blind contour face with marker. I caught some students looking or lifting up their markers, but most did it correctly! They all thought their drawing looked wierd, but they are suppost to!

After they drew their faces I asked them to cut them out, leaving a space around the outline. Next, we worked on the background to glue the faces on. A similar project I had seen online used just black and white for the background, but I wanted ours to be colorful! I had the students divide their paper by making an X from corner to corner. Then they divided the X with a vertical line down the center and a horizontal line going across. Last, they divided each section they created in half one more time. Then I had them color every other space in with a solid color. 

We had previously talked about different types of lines as a review, so I had them fill in the remaining blank sections with those different types of lines.

The last step was to glue their faces down in the center. They turned out really great and colorful!