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! |