Past projects 3
Exploration Art Centers! Plants, Blocks and Clay, Oh My!
Funded Oct 28, 2015Thank you for contributing to the pre-k center resources in our art classroom! Because of you we have been able to do some pretty amazing things this year. We have developed basic art skills (like learning not to eat the paint), created stunning murals for our hallways, paraded homemade Mardi Gras masks, learned about famous artists, studied nature through art, increased our fine motor skills, mixed colors, learned to sculpt and build, incorporated recycling into our work, become avid weavers, made story collages, freely created thanks to ours centers, and above all fostered an identity as artists with important things to share with the world! We love art.
These centers have been incredible because they have exposed my four year olds to so many different mediums and techniques right at the beginning of their artistic careers. They will be able to build on this foundation and express their artistic preferences at a sophisticated level no matter where they go--you have given them the gift of awareness! While I believe that artistic expression is extremely important for children, I am even more dedicated to the notion that creativity, flexibility of the mind and the ability to generate ideas equate with lifelong success. At the beginning of each class I mistakenly refer to my students as "pre-k" and they laugh and tell me, "Nooo! We're artists!" I correct myself and say, "That's right! Artists are the smartest and they show their ideas in lots of ways. How do we do this in the art room?" Because of your generosity, they are able to instantly rattle off all of the different things that we do: painting, coloring, cutting, "sticking things together" (collage), building (with blocks or clay), going outside to use nature, weaving, drawing, being smart, and even reading--yes! They consider this an important part of being an artist! I am so grateful to all of you for making this possible for these kids.
Our most recent project is an "I Love Me" tree inspired by Wangari Mathaai and her effort to bring trees back to Africa. We learned about her life as an activist with a great idea, and then went outside and found sticks to turn into art. Each student painted a stick and then one weekend they magically turned into a tree that is now standing in the middle of the art room. Everyone reflected on something that they loved about themselves and now this tree is a symbol of the awesomeness of our youngest artists. All of the older students are jealous and want to add to the tree (we might let them). This tree is one of many projects that have have helped these students develop skills, their understanding of the world, their concept of self, and most importantly the interrelationship between the three. Because of you, these students are able to sculpt their place in the world. Thank you.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Berliner
Artsy with Art Books! (By, About, and For Inspiring Artists)
Funded Jun 24, 2014Thank you so much for your generous contributions to RCAA's art resources! All of these books have been tremendously useful so far this year. Depicted are several projects that have utilized these books: "Crowns of Courage," "Blue Dog's Friends," "Imagination Po' Boys," and "Our Dream Street." In order to highlight how we have used these books I would like to tell you a bit more about our projects.
"Crowns of Courage" - Easily my favorite of all of the projects, "Crowns of Courage" was inspired by "Nothing Frightens Me" (written by Maya Angelou and Illustrated by Jean-Michel Basquiat). After reading this story and thinking about fears that we had overcome, we dove into a multi week study of Jean-Michel Basquiat, his various techniques, his life and the lasting impact of his artwork. Students then partnered up, used tableau to study facial expressions (focusing on eyebrows, eyes and mouth), and created self-portraits in the style of Basquiat. Next, they developed stories of courage in their ELA class, illustrated them in art, and then got to meet an audio technician who recorded them reading these stories. Their self-portraits and the audio recording of their stories are currently on display at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art (in conjunction with a visiting exhibit from Jean-Michel Basquiat) and their narratives and illustrations are on display at school (pictured). Finally, we took the students on a field trip to the art museum to see their work on display and experience Jean-Michel's work in person.
"Blue Dog's Friends" - With the help of George Rodrigue's book 1st and 2nd graders were able to study character and setting and create their own depiction of Blue Dog. This required them to go through many of the same steps that students use when writing. They practiced drawing Blue Dog, brainstormed their setting and character, planned out their project, and then created their product. These works are now on display at a local coffee shop and students are set to visit their art opening this month (which is the 1 year anniversary of George Rodrigue's death).
"Imagination Po' Boys" - Kindergarten read about all the steps required to make Louisiana's signature sandwich and then set about making their own! During this project they learned about collage and got to decide what they wanted to pretend all of the materials represented. Needless to say we had all sorts of fun things in our sandwiches ranging from snakes, to candy, to flowers to actual food ingredients!
"Our Dream Street" - This project is currently in the works. 1st and 2nd grade read Daniel Pinkwater's "The Big Orange Splot" and once again set about completing a complex process. First they brainstormed four ideas for their own dream house, because artists always have lots of options! Then they learned all about being an architect from "Iggy Peck, Architect." Next they selected their best idea, scaled up the drawing, "edited" their work by adding details, inked their works, and painted them. When complete, their dream houses will line the halls of our school, showing everyone what their dream street would like like!
These books have both inspired students, inspired large scale projects, provided examples, and invested students in developing their artistic skills. These projects have all given the students an opportunity to think critically, creatively and integrate regular academics into their artistic schema. I am very proud of what they have done so far and excited to anchor their learning for the rest of the year in the rest of the books!
Thank you so much for enabling all of this excitement and deep thinking!
P.S. we kicked off the year with "The Day the Crayons Quit," and Kindergarten related their study of the color wheel back to this book.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Berliner
Morph into 2nd Graders... with BUTTERFLIES!
Funded Mar 17, 2014Wow. My students LOVED our butterfly experience (which lasted over a month and became our first grade mantra). The giant inflatables appeared one by one in our classroom as we learned about each phase of the butterfly life-cycle. Once all 4 stages were hanging from our ceiling (egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly) we learned two songs that helped to reinforce all of the butterfly vocabulary. Then we spent several classes breaking into groups and acting out the various stages.
Once we had learned all of the basics our butterflies arrived! It was very exciting and provided an excellent opportunity to talk about respecting other living creatures. We used our new magnifying glasses and careful observation to document the caterpillars' growth and behavior. Meanwhile, the art teacher created origami butterflies with the class and we stapled them to the ceilings so that our butterflies would feel at home when they arrived.
Once the butterflies hatched we wrote them poems and songs and continued to take care of them for 10 days. Then we brought the butterfly habitat outside with us during checkout every day and let them fly away when they felt ready. The first day three flew away and the students cheered for each one. The following day one more flew away and then 4 days later the last one was finally ready to leave. We talked a lot about what it means to change and to move on in life.
In preparation for our end of the year ceremony the students made their butterfly masks and I rewrote the lyrics to "I'm Like a Bird" for them to sing for their parents:
Chorus:
I'm a butterfly, I only fly away
I know where I'm going
And I know where my home is
I'm a butterfly, I only fly away
I know where I'm going
And I know where my home is
Verse:
We're brilliant, that's for sure.
We'll never, ever fade.
We're curious, we wanna know more,
That won't ever change
And though our brains are rare,
Though our brains are true...
Verse :
It's not that... we wanna say goodbye
It's just that as time goes by
We're becoming... 2nd graders
Each and every day
And though our brains are rare,
Though our brains are true...
It was incredibly sweet and they loved their beautiful masks. Whenever they see butterflies on the playground they are 100% convinced that their butterflies are coming back to visit (I chose not to correct this). Overall, it was an incredible addition to our last few months of schools and the students really enjoyed this project. They learned about the butterfly life-cycle, but also generalized this model to other life-cycles (humans, a year, recycling, plants growing). They also bonded as a group over raising their "baby" butterflies and learned an important lesson about letting things go and moving on. Every time they tell me that they do not want to go to 2nd grade I tell them that I want to keep them too, but I have to let them go like we let the butterflies go! It has been great. Thank you all so much for making this project possible.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Berliner