4th Grade Colonial Trade Signs

In preparation for the annual fourth grade colonial trade fair, the fourth graders have begun creating their own signs to advertise their trades. The fourth grade artists began by looking at images of traditional colonial trade signs. They observed that many of the signs relied heavily on imagery to communicate information. After some discussion, the students concluded that the images must have been important because many people at the time did not know how to read.

With this important information in mind, they began their projects by drawing a design on paper. Equipped with knowledge about their trades from their classroom research, the fourth grade artists decided how to visually communicate their trade.

After finalizing their drawings, the students traced their outline shapes on pine wood and cut them out using a coping saw. The fourth graders were able to build on the sawing skills that they have developed in woodworking projects using the straight saw and the coping saw in previous grades. and are now nearly experts!


Once their sawing was complete, they transferred their drawings onto their wood pieces and began to draw and paint the signs to finish them. To see the final results come check them out at the Colonial Trade Fair!