As the Project Approach takes hold as an engaging educational tool in the Lower School, Highland School's youngest students are learning to connect with their subjects and learn critical thinking skills through observational drawing.

What sets observational drawings apart from creative drawings done in art class? While all drawing requires students to develop specific skills and techniques, drawing from observation is not intended to be an entirely artistic process.

Led by Highland Librarian Jane Banse and Art Teacher Alice Laimbeer, Highland's Lower School students develop various skills that they will use throughout the year as they experience Project Approach endeavors. Projects are in-depth investigations that challenge students to apply those skills, knowledge, and strategies from different content areas as they do authentic research, analyze data, think deeply about topics, and draw conclusions.

WHAT IS OBSERVATIONAL DRAWING?

Observational drawing is an important component of the Project Approach. Completing observational drawings requires students to utilize an increased level of focus in order to create an accurate and detailed drawing. This improves students' observational skills and strengthens their attention to, and recognition of, detail. The observational drawing process encourages a greater level of cognitive processing than simple observation without drawing, and it promotes in-depth thinking.

Jane Banse, Highland School's Librarian, has attended several training workshops on the Project Approach and is an excellent mentor for Lower School students and teachers during their Project Approach experiences. Her in-depth understanding of this method allows her a unique perspective on the importance of the observational drawing component.

Jane says, "Observational drawing is both simple and deeply complicated. It is looking at an object and seeing it fully – its colors, shapes, size, patterns, perspective, and how all the details interact. It gives us a deeper understanding of the object in front of us."

Alice Laimbeer, Highland's Lower School art teacher, has been a valuable resource for the students as they learn about observational drawing. She presented an activity on observational drawing during the first Lower School Assembly of the school year in order to introduce our students to this component of the Project Approach.

IDENTIFY A BASIC SHAPE

Laimbeer encourages students who feel intimidated by the process of drawing to step back and observe their subject before they begin. She then helps the students identify a basic shape that encompasses the main part of the object. For example, students attempting to draw a bird might start with an oval, while students drawing a building would start with a rectangle or square. Once the main shape has been determined, students move on to adding smaller, secondary shapes and more details.

"Many children freeze when asked to draw something," Alice explains. "Breaking it up into basic shapes first gives the student a place to begin. It is really about training yourself to look intently at a subject and notice the details. Once the student has the ability to see things in basic shapes, they begin to notice proportions, lines, values, and textures."

This technique is simple and manageable for even the most anxious young artists; students who previously disliked drawing quickly warm up to this exercise. What's more, the process of observational drawing mimics the critical thinking process they need to develop for projects in all their other subjects.

The drawings students create are valuable tools throughout the Project Approach experience and are generally displayed as part of the final project culmination. In this way, the Project Approach includes and encourages creativity and promotes artistry and technique in even our youngest students.