See you soon . . .

My family and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new baby girl later this month. Until we are settled, I have decided to take "maternity leave" from my volunteer activities. I have had an amazing time working with all of your wonderfully creative and inspiring children. Have a fantastic spring!

Second Grade Michaelangelos

This lesson incorporated key tools of art education. First, the children and I discussed the varied uses of art. We talked about how art is used as decoration, as a tool of communication, and a personal release. Following the discussion, we began an artist study on Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. I brought several books on Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel to class and we talked about his life and work as well as the circumstances under which Michelangelo came to paint the chapel.

The goal was to understand that Michelangelo worked for years to complete his famous frescoes on a very nontraditional canvas (a very high ceiling and wall). The children were amazed to learn that Michelangelo labored for four years (1508-1512) to complete the Sistine Chapel despite not wanting to take on the task. In learning about Michelangelo and his work, the focus was on color, use of space, story telling or communicating a scene, and technique. This lesson on frescoes came as a shock when students found their “canvas” on the underside of a table. They lay on their backs as Michelangelo once did, to paint a Biblical fresco.

Squiggles

As a third grader at Bickerdyke Elementary School, I had the best teacher. His name was Art Purdy. He taught art. I can only remember two art projects from elementary school and in a family of artists, I grew up to be a Political Scientist. This is one of the two that stuck with me. Mr. Purdy made a "squiggle" on a piece of paper and we had to make something grand incorporating that squiggle.

For my last third grade lesson as Corpus Christi's Volunteer Art Teacher before I welcome my new bundle (Two more weeks!), I recreated Mr. Purdy's "squiggle lesson." Below you will find some examples of the "squiggles," followed by student artists reinventing them. (Click on any photo to view it larger)

Topographers

For this lesson, the third graders learned a bit about the art of Topography. While perhaps not to scale, or geographically correct, they put together a wonderful "map of Lawrence" marked by Third Graders' points-of-view.

Some of the more important landmarks included Target, Intrust Bank, The Natural History Museum (above), and Memorial Stadium (Below). Swing by the art room to see the map.