Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Collaborative Mural

Each year the 4th grade students perform a Martin Luther King Jr. program for the entire school. They sing songs, speak poetry, and recite spoken word about our nation's civil rights history and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It is a really powerful performance that moves me to tears.

Last year, I had my 4th grade students create a painted paper mural to display during their performance. But not just a single class before. They were inspired by Faith Ringgold's "Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky".  The mural received a very positive response from the kids, the staff, and the parents. I decided to do something similar this year.

I began by introducing my students to Faith Ringgold's book, "My Dream of Martin Luther King".

We closely examined the artwork and the students created sketches inspired by the book's illustrations. I also shared a short clip of Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech.

The next class, we worked together in choosing from their sketches and the book's illustrations in creating the composition for the painted mural. We worked in small teams to create the various sections of the mural. The kids were really excited to create!

We decided to have teams for:
Martin Luther King Jr.
The Dream Speech crowd
and Text quote
another class created doves for peace signs

Each small team was responsible for these sections of the mural. I provided printed resources and laid out their supplies. It was amazing how they set out to accomplish these goals. Each student was engaged in their role and we achieved the completed mural in 2, 45 minute classes.

Upon reflection, I believe my students were engaging in most of these 21st Century skills. 



I will continue to find ways for my students to hone these skills and create authentic art that is meaningful to them.

Thanks for stopping by!

Winter Wonderland Collaborative Mural

Wonderland mural assembled

As winter break comes to a close I am excited to get back into the art room with the North Star students. Just before break we created a giant winter mural for the hallway outside the art room. The glue and paint was still drying as I hung it in the last minutes before we all left for a much needed holiday. I'm looking forward to seeing the reactions of the school when they come back tomorrow and see their hard work hung in all its wintery glory.

Ready for viewing in the hallway

I must give credit to phenomenal art educator Cassie Stephens, with her version of this mural. I took inspiration from what her students created and felt my classes could produce something similar.

Pieced together the patterned paper

I tasked Kindergarten classes with painting the snowflake sky, Ms. Davis' class with painting the patterned hills and chalk clouds, Ms. Homestead's 4th grade with painting the evergreen trees,  Ms. Attaway's class with producing the houses (big and small/near and far), and Ms. Jump's class plus a couple of my 4th grade helpers with assembly.

Kindergarten painted snowflakes and practiced their brushwork.

4th grade students painted the evergreen trees with 2 values of green.

2nd grade constructed a big and small house for the mural. The made 2 different sizes to show distance with scale.

I'm so proud of their hard work. They were all delighted to be a part of it's creation, I feel like this type of collaborative work gives the students a sense of accomplishment as well as stronger sense of community.

I look forward to more art collaborations! Thanks for stopping by!

"How to Build a Monster", by 2nd grade

It is really wonderful when a grade level team wants to collaborate with me.  Ms. Herman, one of our amazing 2nd grade teachers, was talking with me at lunch one day about how she noticed her students really struggle with writing out operational math sequences.  I shared with her how I teach the kids to think in steps when creating an artwork, and it inspired a collaboration! The team consists of Ms. Stokke, Ms. Drorbaugh, Ms. Attaway, and Ms. Herman. Rock Stars, I tell ya.

The 2nd grade team emailed me asking if I could create a project their kids could use in a sequence writing exercise. Since we've been studying the big idea of "fear" in October I thought of asking the students to collage a mixed media monster.

 These projects had to be finished in time for parent conferences in a couple weeks. Since I only see them once a week and they needed to complete the writing exercise,  they created these monsters in one class. I gotta tell ya, the 2nd graders sure did deliver.

2nd graders are no strangers to collage, they practiced this medium a lot in 1st grade. They were, however, new to the idea of mixed media materials. I explained they needed to show a variety of implied and actual textures in their collages. They were shown different materials such as raffia, yarn, twist ties, metallic wrapping paper, fabric, felt, photos of animals from magazines, and painted paper.

To reinforce the sequencing of steps, I listed for them an order of operations.
1. Imagine your monster in your mind
2. Collect your materials
3. Begin with the head
4. Add the body and details (tail, tongue, teeth, claws, tentacles, horns, etc.)

My room was in full workshop mode, I've never seen these kids work so hard! It was a incredible sight to behold. I shared some images of these kids at work in my last post about wips. Mixed media collage is a great medium for 2nd grade because it requires envisioning AND exploring. Two very important artistic behaviors they are ready to develop.

Here are some photographs of their results as well as the 2nd grade displays for conferences.

Great contrasts in texture!

I love the use of spike tail found photo.

They are all so unique and expressive.

I like how some students chose to orient their monsters horizontally.

She really nailed the process sequence in her writing.

This one has really nice purple tentacles.

Check out that Alligator head monster on the far right!

Monsters have taken over the halls! It just so happens that the Book Fair that is going on during conferences this week has a Monster theme! Yay for happy coincidences!

I look forward to more grade level collaborations and more ways to demonstrate how art is a subject that lends itself to all types of learning.

"The Dot"

The North Star staff attended a retreat before school began in September. During this retreat I had prompted each teacher and administrator to create a dot that expressed a positive message for the students to read. These dots hang from the "dot tree" outside of our library where passing students can get a positive affirmation. The tree was left over from last year's teacher appreciation installation, I'm happy it could be re-purposed.

This whole idea was inspired by the book "The Dot", by Peter H. Reynolds.  If you haven't read it, it is a sweet book about a young student artist who finds the courage to make her mark. She overcomes negativity and fear as her teacher champions even her smallest step towards growth. What a great message to send to our kids...

My goal was to spread this message about being brave, expressing oneself, and dreaming big all over the building through visual displays.

 

North Star's "Dot Tree"

Staff created dots with positive messages for the students.

Installed above the doorway near the lunchroom.

Installed in the primary wing as a motif throughout the building.

I've since read this book to all of the students at North Star and have taught lessons based on the idea of creating artworks with just a dot.  I drew most of my inspiration from my favorite art ed blogger from Nashville, Tennessee, Cassie Stephens. She celebrated National Dot Day in her school last year and displayed school wide collaborative artworks. I'm so thankful to her and her school's example.

Our dot projects were as follows:
Kinders made circle dot tracings, first graders created painted dot murals, 2nd graders created community dot quilts (I'll post about that separately as Veteran's Day approaches), 3rd graders created metal foil relief dots, 4th graders created abstract expressionism dots, and 5th graders created string art dots.

5th grade stitched dot

5th grade stitched art with textured paint background.

Stitched dot's displayed in the 5th grade wing.

Metal foil relief dots on display near the 3rd grade classrooms.

Blurry camera photo of abstract expressionism dots...I have to bring my Nikon to school!

These artworks will remain on display in our school for as long as the kids allow it. A lot of students really want to take them home but I know it gives them pride to see them hanging up in the hallways for all to see and appreciate.

This is my first time creating a school wide collaborative art display. I think it has turned out rather well.  I really like how it ties the building together visually. Each student and staff played a part in the making of it all and I'm so pleased with the results.

I look forward to doing something like this again in the future!