Chalk Pastel Lizards for Fifth Grade

Leapin' Lizards!
One way or another, I try to fit in a lesson involving my least favorite species of all...lizards. Hate finding them in my backyard, but I admit, they're way too fun to draw.

For this lesson, I demonstrate my strategy for drawing lizards on the white board. This is the key to the success of the piece. You don't have to draw well, but it helps to draw things in order.

Step 1: With a black oil pastel, draw a circle for the eye.
Step 2: In front of the eye, draw a line curving up and over the eye and down along the neck and back. Don't stop there!Bring the all the way down curving around below the body to form a tail.
Step 3: Go back to the start of this line (up by the head) and draw a line down and around to form the belly. The belly should stop at the tail.
Step 4: Put in the legs. Go right over the belly line.
Step 5: Add branch, decorations and leaves.

Now, bring out the chalk pastels and let the kids go wild. The more colors the better. Of course, the final step is to take the black oil pastel and go over all the original black lines again. This is the key for really making the piece stand out.