Bears in Sweaters

Casey’s bear has a certain toughness in its eyes and a “Wanted” sign below it. Roxy’s bear smiles and winks like a sweet grandmother. Ben created a sweater for his bear that features Santa’s workshop, elves and even toys.

As art teacher Christine Eckler guides students in pen and line technique through an art project called Bears in Sweaters, third graders individualize their drawings in surprising ways!

It’s also the first day that the third graders are using their Art Kits—packages of markers and paper sent home to remote students and distributed in class.

Ms. Eckler shows students how to change the look of the bear’s fur by making differently spaced lines with a fine point marker. "I'll make hashmarks inside the bears ears," she said as she demonstrated the technique. "It will make that part look darker and more furry."

If students need help deciding their bears’ sweater design, it's fun to roll a die and refer to a design matrix for ideas. There’s nothing like dipping into a brand-new box of markers to color the bears’ cardigans in vibrant red, blues, yellow and green.

During the class share at the end, the students give the project two thumbs up!