Prehistory

//Boy of the Painted Cave// by Justin Denzel is the story of Tao, a young boy living in a prehistoric village who has a special gift. His one desire in life is to become a cave painter, which is a position of high honour, only for the Chosen Ones, and not a position that can just be obtained without the approval of the entire tribe. Outcast and shunned, Tao bravely decides to try and become a cave painter on his own, aided by the wise and mystical Greybeard who believes that Tao really is a Chosen One. With his wolf-bog Ram as his only other companion, Tao must learn how to survive, to develop his natural talents and to trust in himself that he really is worth of being a cave painter.

__Major Assignments:__
Study Guide: given in class as homework, to be completed in sections while reading the novel. The copy below is provided in case of student loss only. Do not read or work ahead--follow the class pace.

Novel : group project, to be completed in class. Each group will be responsible for visually retelling a few chapters of the novel in the style of cave paintings. Base your drawings on what you have learned from the book about cave painting from Graybeard's teachings of lines, shapes, scale, color and light. Imagine you are Tao practicing his art form as you choose the most important scenes from each chapter to draw in your group's murals. The project will be modeled on the writing process, from brainstorming/planning to sketching/drafting, revising, editing and final copy/drawing. Once finished, the completed cave painting class mural of The Boy of the Painted Cave will be presented by each group and hung in the classroom to admire and relive.

Day 1: group selection, chapter assignments, brainstorming Day 2: group job selection (group manager, work manager, supply manager, attitude ); sketching Day 3: sketching, revising and editing Day 4: final sketching, details, coloring Day 5: presentation

For inspiration and ideas, here are a few authentic prehistoric cave paintings discovered from the Lascaux caves in France. These drawings and paintings date base thousands of years to around the same time as when Tao's story takes place.