Koi in the Pond

One of the famous fishes from Japan is koi. The koi has unique colours. It may have a single colour or two to three colours. The pattern on the koi fish itself makes it more beautiful. The beauty of koi fish provided me an idea to create a class project. I decided to make this project for grade 5 and it was a stand-alone unit of inquiry.

Since this is a class project, the pond had to be big enough to accommodate all the koi fishes. I used three pieces of white Manila paper. I divided the students into three groups. Each group needed to paint one Manila paper using water colour with blue colour. Students enjoyed this activity when they painted the Manila paper. When the paint already dried, we connected the three pieces of Manila paper together.

The next activity that the students had to do was to trace the koi templates which teacher already provided for them. Students need to trace two small and 1 big koi fish template. Students also had to create a lily pond and water lily. They colored and cut all of them. Students had to color back to back the koi tails and water lily.

Students felt excited when they saw the result of their fishes. They showed each other their koi final product to their friends. The most enjoyable part was when the students started to put their koi fishes on the Manila paper that they had painted. I saw how proud they were with their project.

From this learning engagement, the students learnt the following:
• The element of art: form
• The principle of art: pattern
• Problem-solving skills
• Being a thinker
• Collaboration skills

 

By: Irma Dwi Savitri
Visual Art teacher
BINUS SCHOOL Simprug
irma@binus.edu