This lesson is designed to get the students thinking about observing their subject more closely. While we are in the classroom, I tell the students we will be going outside to draw the building with colored pencils. I have the students imagine the building and imagine their drawing.
I admit to them that I can't really remember exactly what the building looks like, even though I come here every day. But maybe we can try to remember. What color is the building? If they say "brick" then I ask what color brick is. How many windows are there and what do they look like? What's the roof shaped like? What color is it? What does the sky and grass look like? This is not a test; we are simply imagining something we walk past every day but fail to notice much about.
Then we go outside and see how accurate we were. Is the building really "brick" colored? What is on the building that no one remembered? Where is the sky and grass? Where does the sky end?
At this point, the students are ready to draw, and they will automatically make choices that they wouldn't have otherwise made.
