Second Grade Pattern Alphabets

In this project, second graders took inspiration from Jasper Johns and created work using familiar characters. If you look closely at this painting, you can see Johns used numbers. In their own work, second grade artists explored creating a painting with the alphabet.

Second grade artists have been experimenting with watercolor resist, as you saw in their monster portraits. Students began by folding their paper into 32 boxes. Next, they used oil pastel to add one letter to each box. They were encouraged to experiment with the size of their letter and the style they wrote it in. Next, the artists used a different color to create a pattern behind each letter. We remembered that a pattern is made when a color, line or shape is repeated again and again.


After they had completed all of their boxes, including the six "bonus boxes" at the end, students added watercolor over their drawings. We discussed how certain colors contrast and make others stand out. Students noticed that this was especially true when they used a very dark paint over light drawing.

The result is really interesting. In some pieces, the alphabet is very clear. In others, it takes a minute to recognize the letters. Either way, they came out great!