Fourth and fifth grade students used paper strips to weave Native American shields. Next they "wrote" a story using pictographs. The following week they decided on an animal totem to add to their shield. Finally, they added pony beads and feathers.
0 Comments
Kindergarten students at Oxbow learned about caring for Mother Earth based on the story Brother Eagle Sister Sky. We talked about throwing our trash into the garbage can and taking good care of animals. Next students painted line designs using different kinds of lines and then a pattern around their paper plate using q-tips dipped in tempera paint. Week two, students folded strips of paper for the rays of the sun and stapled them in a pattern around their mask.
We have just started our unit on Egypt which has been especially exciting for my art students. All grades enjoyed a chance to learn about mummies, the mummification process, Egyptian tombs and artifacts and writing using hieroglyphics. I kicked off the unit by popping out of a full size sarcophagus (mummy coffin) as each class entered the room. Of course, this led to students taking turns for a quick visit for themselves inside the case. Lower elementary then made miniature mummies complete with hieroglyphics. Third through fifth graders worked with table teams to trace around a student who lay arms crossed on top of two huge sheets of butcher paper. Each team then eagerly drew and designed their pharaoh's mummy case including headdress, jewels, and intricate Egyptian designs on the front and back. They also wrote a secret message using Egyptian pictographs (hieroglyphics) on the front and back. We will then stuff them with newspaper and staple the mummies closed. I am enjoying watching the students encourage and support each other, sharing their ideas and working together with their teammates.
Kindergarten students heard a story called Little Elk Hunts Buffalo. This unusual story is "written" using authentic American Indian pictures such as were used traditionally in winter counts, or to record events. Most children immediately grasped the concept of telling a story with pictures and began their own story drawn on the front and back of a "deer skin" shirt. After coloring them, they fringed the bottom and sleeves, then eagerly rushed up to other classmates to tell their stories.
Each year in art I focus on a country or culture for a full unit of social studies art integration. This year students studied the art, music and cultural traditions of Japan. I kicked off the unit by bringing in some of Japanese instruments from my extensive collection including a Chinese sheng and a beautiful stringed instrument called a koto. We talked about the pentatonic scale and I played the koto so they could experience its relaxing, unusual sound. Next, we watched a Powerpoint showing some of the art styles and techniques of Asian art including silk screen and scroll painting, woodblock carving and types of traditional clothing such as kimonos. The following week students learned about ancient Japanese kabuki theater and watched a Youtube video showing the elaborate costumes and amazing masks used by the actors. In this unit, students painted kimonos using watercolors and adding wallpaper sashes and details. We also made pop out masks adding cording, streamers, curtain fabric and other odds and ends to finish them off. The slideshow below shows some of the traditional Japanese costumes and masks we studied before students created their own kabuki masks and kimonos.Our unit on Egypt was especially exciting for my art students. All grades enjoyed a chance to learn about mummies, the mummification process, Egyptian tombs and artifacts and writing using pictographs. I kicked off the unit by popping out of a full size sarcophagus (mummy case) as each class entered the room. Of course, this led to students taking turns for a quick visit for themselves inside the case. Then table teams traced around a student who lay arms crossed on top of two huge sheets of butcher paper. Each team then eagerly drew and designed their pharoah's mummy case including headdress, jewels, and intricate Egyptian designs on the front and back. They also wrote a secret message using Egyptian pictograhs on the front and back. Finally we stuffed them with newspaper and stapled the mummies closed. This lesson was so successful that students insisted on taking turns taking their finished mummy home to share with their families.
|
Archives
March 2024
AuthorMy name is Mrs. Krupa and I'm an elementary art teacher at Oxbow Elementary. I'm a professional harpist turned art teacher of 20 years. I'll share art lessons and ideas on these pages, what works and doesn't. Enjoy! Categories
All
|