TIME REQUIRED: Two sessions @ 40 minutes · paper turned vertically. To ensure that their otter will fill the page, I’ve included a template for the otter’s head on page 10. Trace

TIME REQUIRED: Two sessions @ 40 minutes

Sea OtterLINE, TEXTURE & VALUE

WatercolorResist

D E E P S P A C E S P A R K L E & T H E S P A R K L E R S C L U B !2

This adorable little floating sea otter is

guaranteed to be a hit with your first graders. In

addition to featuring one of the cutest sea

mammals, this lesson also allows students a

chance to experiment with several fun ways to

create texture. Students will learn about line

direction, drawing both horizontal and vertical

lines for texture and they will create different

values of colors as they paint their background.

ABOUT THE BOOK Reading Together by Emma Dodd is a great way

to introduce the lesson to your students. The text

in the book is simple, which allows the beautiful

illustrations to shine. Most notably, there are many

different textures represented in the book, from

the fuzzy otter fur to the reflective surface of the

water, which offers many opportunities for

students to reflect on the textures found in nature.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

12” x 18” white sulphite paper

Pencil and eraser

Otter head template

Oil pastels (black, brown, white)

Watercolors

Large paintbrush

Tempera paint (blue, green,

white)

Bubble wrap, cut into pieces

Scissors and glue

Sea Otter Watercolor Resist


After reading the book to

students, choose a page

containing several different

textures to focus on. Discuss

with the students the meaning

of the word TEXTURE: the

way something feels or looks

like it feels.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS TO HELP MAKE CONNECTIONS: Ask students to choose one object/image from the selected page and

DESCRIBE the texture. Some sample questions could include:

• What is the texture of the otter?

• How do you know it feels that way?

• Have you ever touched one before?

• Did the artist do something to help you figure out the texture?

You can model the process beforehand so students understand that they not only need to give a

texture example, but also justify their answer with a reason why.

Example: I think the seaweed would feel slimy because I swam in the ocean and had seaweed touch

my foot before and it felt slimy and gooey.

You can either have a class discussion in which you choose one object and students brainstorm

texture words collectively, or students could choose their own object and work in pairs, taking turns

to describe their chosen texture with a partner.

Book discussion


Students will begin the project with their 12” x 18”

paper turned vertically. To ensure that their otter will fill

the page, I’ve included a template for the otter’s head

on page 10. Trace the head template near the top of

the paper.

Starting the drawing off with an appropriately sized

head will allow the rest of their drawing to be in

proportion.

Inside the head, draw a curved line that goes from left

to right. Make sure to leave some space both above

and below the curved line for facial features.

For the nose, draw an upside-down triangle. Draw a

“W” under the nose for the mouth. For the eyes,

draw two circles that touch the top of the curved line.

Draw a “C” and a backward “C” on both sides of

the mouth for the otter’s chubby cheeks. Draw three

or four whiskers on each side. On the top of the

head, draw ears.

For the body, draw a long “U” shape that starts at

one corner of the head, approaches the bottom of

the page, then comes back up to the other corner

of the head. I told students at this point that if

their drawing looked like a potato with a

head, they were on the right track.

Add arms, a tummy and a tail.

Drawing the Otter

Drawing Guide on page 9


Watercolor ResistDRAWING WITH OIL PASTEL: Otters have the densest fur of any water mammal. To give the

illusion of dense fur, students will add LINES with oil pastels to

give their otter an IMPLIED TEXTURE, or a texture that can be

seen and not necessarily felt.

Using a white oil pastel, add VERTICAL lines inside the belly

area. You can’t see them very well now, but you will later!

Use the brown oil pastel to add texture lines to the head, body,

paws, ears and tail. You can talk to students about changing the

direction of their lines to add variety in their otter.

ADDING THE WATERCOLOR Begin with a layer of yellow watercolor on the belly. Expect

students to be amazed when they see their white oil pastel

texture lines show up as they paint on top of them.

Use brown watercolor to paint everything else on the otter

except for the space including the nose and the mouth. If a

student accidentally paints this area, assure them that it’s okay,

but aim to have students leave this area

white.

The last step is to add a brown wash on

top of the yellow belly. This will give a

rich golden color to the belly and make

it different than the rest of the body.

Set aside paintings to dry.


Creating valuePainting the background is a fun experiment with color, involving

the DOUBLE-LOADING method, in which you dip into several

colors without washing your paintbrush and mix the colors

directly on your paper.

This background is all about exploration with color, so let

students be creative. However, you can demonstrate over-

mixing, where everything becomes the same color as a non-

example.

Discuss with students how to make TINTS, or lighter versions of

a color, by adding white. Demonstrate how to make different

tints of blue, green, and a combination of the two by adding

different amounts of white on the paintbrush.

Prepare a palette with blue, green and white tempera paint.

Encourage them to paint their entire paper, all the way to the

edges. Use large paintbrushes so it doesn’t take too long to

paint the entire 12” x 18” piece of paper.

TIP: When using the double-loading method, I like to tell

students to dip their paintbrush into the paint like they would

dip a chicken nugget into ketchup, straight up and down. I use

scooping ice cream as the non-example, swiping their

paintbrush across the color.

Set aside to dry completely before adding texture.

+ =


Once the background is completely dry, use white

oil pastel to add the water drop texture on top.

Start with a small circle, then draw larger circles

around it, some with broken lines. Draw 4-5 water

drops spaced out around their background.

BUBBLE TEXTURE: Start with a palm-sized piece of

bubble wrap. While holding the bubble wrap in

your palm with the bumpy side facing up, use

white tempera paint to paint the bubbles.

TIP: To avoid getting your hands too messy, leave

an un-painted edge around the outside of the

bubble wrap, so you have a clean place to grab

when you flip it over.

Adding Water Texture

Once the bubbles are painted, flip over the bubble wrap

onto the paper and rub lightly.

Peel the bubble wrap up to reveal the bubble texture, then

place the bubble wrap back in your palm and repeat the

process several times, spacing the bubbles out.

Cut out the otter and glue to the background.

If the otter will fit on the paper tilted (with its head toward

the top corner of the paper instead of directly facing the

top), it will help to add to the composition and gives the

look of the otter floating by on the paper.


1st Grade Sea Otter Gallery


Sea Otter

Begin by drawing a large,

upside-down “U” with a

curved line on the bottom

OR trace the head template.

Draw a curved line across the

head. Above the line, draw

two eyes. Under the line,

draw a “U” shaped nose and

a “W” for the mouth.

Add short, curved lines and

whiskers on each side of the

mouth. Add small ears.

For the body of the sea otter,

draw a big “U” shape that

connects to the head and

almost touches the bottom

of the paper.

Draw “U” shaped arms and

legs that are resting on the

tummy of the sea otter.

Finish the sea otter by

drawing a “U” on the tummy,

remembering to skip over

the arms when you are

drawing. Add a tail.

1

D R A W I N G G U I D E

2 3

4 5 6

ANIMAL ART B U N D L E


HOW TO USE: Print template on cardstock and cut out.

T E M P L A T ESea Otter

SEA

OTT

ER

HEA

D

ANIMAL ART B U N D L E


CREATING Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work — Collaboratively explore and use

imaginative play with materials—Use observations to prepare for artwork

Organize and develop artistic ideas and work — Explore materials to create artwork—

demonstrate safe & proper procedures

Refine and complete artistic work—Use art vocabulary to describe choices in art-making

Presenting/producing Analyze, interpret and select artistic work for presentation— Explain why some objects,

artifacts and artwork are valued over others

Develop and refine artistic work for presentation — Ask and answer questions of where,

when, why and how artwork should be prepared for presentation/preservation.

Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work — Identify the roles and

responsibilities of people who work in museums and art settings

Responding Perceive and analyze artistic work- Select and describe art that illustrates daily life

experiences to one’s self and others—Compare images that represent the same object. Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work — Interpret art by categorizing subject matter

and identifying the characteristics of form

Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work— Classify artwork based on different reasons for

preferences

Connecting Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art- Identify times,

places and reasons by which students make art outside school Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding —Understand that people from different places and times have made art for

a variety of reasons

NATIONAL CORE ARTS STANDARDS-FIRST GRADE

X

X

X

X

X


CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

As you read Together with students, following the book discussion portion of the lesson plan will

allow students a chance to refer to specific illustrations and dive deeply into describing the objects/

images depicted and their textures.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.2 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or

through other media.

As you guide students through the book discussion included in the lesson plan, you can initially

have students identify key details in the illustrations as a beginning brainstorming step, then have

them zero in on one or two elements to discuss their textures. Asking them the included questions

can help them to analyze the key details further.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about,

state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.

Students address this standard when completing the artist statement worksheet (located in Teacher

Aids). They are writing their opinion about the artwork they made based on how it was created and

how they were inspired.

Common core standards for SEA OTTER

I CAN STATEMENTS FOR SEA OTTER

• Today I will learn about LINE so that I CAN create an IMPLIED TEXTURE of fur on my otter with oil

pastel lines.

• Today I will learn about COLOR and VALUE so that I CAN experiment with color mixing and

create TINTS of colors in my background.

• Today I will learn about LINE and STAMPING so that I CAN create the TEXTURE of water on my

background.


ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST

Student Name:

Did the student draw repeated lines to create the oil pastel texture on their otter?

Did the student create several different tints of blue and green in their background?

Did the student create both the water drop and the bubble texture on their background?

Main Ideas from:

SEA OTTER

Documents

TIME REQUIRED: Two sessions @ 40 minutes · paper turned vertically. To ensure that their otter will fill the page, I’ve included a template for the otter’s head on page 10. Trace