My 6th graders have become experts on color mixing and color theory this year (mostly because I love all things related to color!!!).  This spring I asked them to use their knowledge to create an acrylic painting on canvas.  They had three different choices for the painting assignment:
1. A silhouette over a gradation of colors.
2. A tonal layering project to show depth in a landscape scene.
3. A warm/cool color painting to show foreground and background.I’m working more choice into my teaching and I felt like this system worked well for allowing the students to pick an option that interested them the most, while still ensuring that everyone was practicing their color mixing and color theory skills.  That being said, the vast majority of students chose the silhouette gradation option!  They really enjoyed choosing their own subject matter and blending the colors in the background.  In fact, some of them were so happy with their paintings, that they requested additional canvases so that they could paint another scene as part of the choice project that followed this one!