I apologize for not posting recently! We have been keeping busy in the art room and I often find myself so involved and engaged with the students that I forget to (or don't have time to) pick up my iPad and take some pictures. In the upper grades, my hands eventually get covered with paper mache paste, so I can't take pictures.
Here is a rundown of what we have been doing since the beginning of the new year.
In Kindergarten through Second Grade, we started the year by learning about the artist Jacob Lawrence and "The Migration Series." We first viewed some of the paintings in the series and the students gave their ideas of what was happening in each picture. Then we viewed each image a second time and read the caption that went with the painting. After they learned what each picture was about, we discussed what in each painting helps to narrate each caption. We have been discussing the meaning of the words, "narrative" and "narrator," and how they are used in writing, movies/shows, plays, comic books, and art. We also viewed his painting titled, "Ironers," and we observed how he uses bold colors, shapes, and lines in his artwork. After Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we discussed the connections between Jacob Lawrence, "The Migration Series," and Martin Luther King, and the K - 1 students created colorful artwork that showed multicolored hands coming together to symbolize the following ideas that they came up with: friendship, peace, unity, equality, love, togetherness, differences, and culture. The second graders created colorful images to narrate one of the paintings in the series in their own way. We discussed how the same story could be narrated in countless ways.
http://www.phillipscollection.org/migration_series/flash/experience.html
The Third Graders began with the question, "What is the relationship between pattern and music?" Through discussion, questions, and a little bit of a drum session on the tables, they were able to find the connection in rhythm and pattern. We then listened to a video entitled, "There is no Rhythm without Movement," and as we listened to the African beats and music, they used the principle of pattern to paint their visual interpretation of the rhythms. We then watched what we just listened to, and the students eyes were glued to the screen when they realized that the music they heard was coming from everyday activities in Africa.
The students are currently finishing up their original patterns projects, and they are being hung across the foreign languages room.
Fourth through Middle School began with observing the symbolism, meaning, materials, and design of African tribal art. The fourth graders observed various African tribal masks and we discussed how the masks used symbolism to have deeper meaning and a connection to those who would wear them. The students then had to choose an animal that they thought best represented themselves through it's characteristics and traits, and they began the first steps of their paper mache masks. They are coming along nicely and I can hardly wait to see their end results.
The Fifth Graders viewed symbolism and meaning in traditional African sculptures. They observed and discussed how the figures' bodies were exaggerated in order to represent certain ideas or values. They then had to sketch a sculpture that represented any or all of the following: a characteristic or trait about themselves, an idea that they value, a question that they might have, or something that they appreciate or fear. They used pipe cleaners to design the structure of their sculpture, then wrapped it in yarn, and added layers of paper mache. The will begin painting this Friday.
The Middle School students are finishing up their Assemblage Sculptures and we will present them this Friday.
Pictures to come soon!
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