It has been almost 6 months since the kindergarteners began traveling around the world and they are finally back home in North America! They learned about the symbols in Aboriginal dot painting in Australia, Pablo Picasso and Spanish culture in Europe, folktales, symbolism, a variety of art forms and weaving kente cloth in Africa, Chinese ink paintings and Indian Mandalas in Asia, Emperor Penguins in Antartica and Peruvian Worry dolls in South America. What a trip!
Last Friday, I talked to the kindergarteners about Native Americans, and read them a Native American Folktale form the Pacific Northwest, about how the Raven brought light to the world. The kindergarteners are now folktale experts and were able to make accurate predictions throughout the story. I pointed out totem poles that were featured in some of the illustrations and some students were able to guess that totem poles can tell a story, with pictures better known as symbolism. I asked students to think of 3 main parts of the Raven story, and a picture that could represent the beginning the middle and the end of the folktale. The kindergarteners drew, colored and cut their symbols and pasted them onto their mini totem poles. There will not be class next week due to a kindergarten trip, but after that, please look for your child's peach colored art portfolio with all of their worldly artifacts inside!
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Last week, the first graders learned about Keith Haring and his artwork. They made great observations, such as "he uses bright colors, he outlines his figures, he uses lines to show movement, or energy, his figures are usually moving, and there are hardly any details." I showed them some tricks to recreate his style and they set out to copy and create their own Keith Haring inspired figures. This coming week they will work together in small groups to paint a small collaborative mural inspired by Keith Haring.
They mastered this style fairy quickly and had a great time posing for their classmate's drawings! The kindergarteners did a great job recalling the legend of the worry dolls, and were excited to hear that they were to sew pouches to keep their dolls in. We sat in a sewing circle on the rug for the entire class, and some students with experience were great helpers to their peers. They were to sew the two sides of their pouches closed, which required them to thread and rethread their needles- not an easy task. They were all excellent, patient artists and gave it their best. My hands were very busy helping students so I don't have many photos, but some great examples are below. They used large plastic needles and burlap to make it easier. I will definitely start next year doing some more sewing exercises to build these skills!
Last week the first graders completed their 3 D desserts inspired by artist Wayne Thiebaud. They did an excellent job getting their work to stand up, and emphasize the hard work they put into drawing their sweets in perspective. When they finished this, they created more three dimensional desserts using clay. I saw many cupcakes, a few gum ball machines, cookies and pies!
The second graders made a lot of progress last week on their layered scenes. The goals of the project is for students to design a scene and create an illusion of space. To do so, they are creating three layers, the foreground, middleground and background. I've asked them to pay attention to the relative size of their objects in each layer, since things up close in the foreground appear much larger than things far away in the background. I've asked them to include one subject that will repeat on more than one layer to show a change in size. Last week, they set to work drawing, designing and collaging their backgrounds, and some students moved onto their second layer. Stay tuned for the complete works!
On Friday, the kindergarteners left Antartica and headed up to South America. They learned about South American climate, geography as well as animals there and I told them the legend of the worry doll. While the tradition started originally in Guatemala, Worry dolls are made used in Peru. The tiny dolls, made of wire and fabric tend to come in a couple or bunch, and are kept in a pouch. The dolls are intended for children to tell their worries to before they go to bed. Kids then put the pouch under their pillow at night and sleep on it. The goal is for the child to release their worries onto their dolls, giving themselves a clear mind while they sleep. The kindergarteners are also working on poetry and learning about emotions with their classroom teacher, so it's a perfect time to have another outlet for their emotions and thoughts.
To create these dolls, students used a wooden bead as a head, a pipe cleaner structure for a body and they did a really great job (not an easy task) wrapping string around the pipe cleaner to add a woven effect for the clothes. It was great to see them create something 3-D using new materials. On Friday, the first graders observed the work of American Artist Wayne Thiebaud. They noted the bright colors he used, the texture he captured with his paint, and more importantly his subject matter - delicious looking desserts. Because so much of his work consisted of repetition, I had the first graders design and decorate their own cupcakes or cake slices. Next week, they will cut them out and create a plate full of pop up desserts. They did a great job trying new styles of drawing.
The week before last, the kindergarteners made a big trip from Asia to Antartica. Leaving the warm weather and their mandalas behind, they learned about the climate and animals in Antartica. They learned that Antartica is open for anyone to visit or do research. They had a great time creating their own Emperor penguins, native to Antartica. Some students were able to write a post card home about their visit.
Now that Mother's Day has passed, I'd love to explain the projects my first graders brought home as a surprise gift to their mother or family member. I began class reading a bit about the life and style of Diego Rivera's murals and our artwork was inspired by his painting, "Mother's Helper." Students then drew a picture of them helping their mother or family member, blending their colors together with chalk and oil pastels to recreate the vibrancy found in Rivera's paintings. These turned out great- some students said that they help their mother fold clothes, crack the eggs when baking, and also finish all the dessert.
For the past two weeks the second graders have done a great job juggling multiple projects. They used the stamps they designed and created, using a new technique for me. Instead of inking the stamps with a brayer and ink, they dampened their paper with a sponge and water. They then used washable markers to apply color to their stamps. The result was amazing! It is a mess free way to have students create prints, and also allows them to include as many colors as they'd like. They then used their stamps to help decorate fabric for costumes for their school's production of the Lion King Jr. Additionally, they helped to create bracelets by using Mod Podge to glue fabric to toilet paper rolls.
This past week, they began designing a concpet for our final project of the year. More info to come! |