Third graders began this lesson by viewing several selections of reproductions taken from Pablo Picasso's blue period and were asked if they noticed anything similar about the pictures depicted. Students were quick to notice that the dominant color in each of the pictures was the color blue, although students also noticed that the people in each image appeared very sad, lonely and poor. As students were led through a discussion of these observations, they were informed of that fact that all these pictures were also painted by the same artist, and were given a brief background on how Picasso came to enter a "blue period" in his work due to a personal tragedy and difficult turning point in the artist's life. Students were led to notice how Picasso used a
monochromatic color scheme to capture the feeling of these subjects.
Students were then asked about events or memories which made them feel a particular way: "What makes you feel excited? happy? angry? afraid?" Students were told to choose something which generated a strong feeling for them and depict it in a monochromatic painting in the color which would best communicate the feeling of their idea. Students were instructed to use and mix different values of the same color in order to depict their image most effectively.
