4th Grade Day of the Dead Skull Prints

4^th Grade Day of the Dead Skull Prints

One of my favorite lessons to teach is about the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead, or Dias de los Muertos. Dias de los Muertos focuses on the gathering of family and friends to pray for and remember their loved ones that have passed away. The celebration takes place on November 1^stand 2^nd in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints Day and All Soul’s Day. Traditions for Dias de los Muertos includes sugar skulls, remembrance alters, parades, marigolds, and many festivals.

Fourth grade students researched and discussed the artist Jose Posada and his artwork. We analyzed the use of line in his prints, as well as, the purpose behind his subject matter. Once we were inspired, fourth grade students created two of their own Dias de los Muertos skulls, focusing on representing designs that are symbolic verses designing skulls that we typically see during Halloween. Fourth grade students used sheets of Styrofoam to etch their skull designs with pencils. From there, students rolled ink onto the plates using brayers. This allowed the ink to sit on top of the plates and leave the line designs that were etched.

Once prints were complete, students wrote a story about each of their skull designs in their sketchbooks. The students did an amazing job of incorporating commonly seen symbols in Day of the Dead skulls with their own design styles. I was very impressed with each student’s focus and craftsmanship while creating and printing their two skulls, as well as, the stories they created in their sketchbooks.