International Day of Peace is Almost Here!

We have finished making all our pinwheels for Pinwheels for Peace.  Tomorrow morning the 4th graders will help "plant" the pinwheels in the ground around the school to show how we will try to be peacemakers in our school and at home.  I am very excited about this opportunity to join together as a school to celebrate our wish of being kind, peaceful people.  

 

Our hallway display with a complication of thoughts about peace

Below is a poem that a fifth grade student wrote.  Thank you so much Madison for your inspiration!

Peace (Our World)

By Madison

Peace is the quiet wind whistling through the air; the sound of happy children playing; the smell of a bunch of roses and no destruction.  Peace is the words, “I love you.”  Peace is doves sitting quietly together on a ledge, the feeling of silky clothing, the warmth of heaven.  Peace is when enemies did not exist, when no one decided to fight, when people are accepted for who they are, when you feel like nature is whispering to you.

Every morning you pick to be peaceful or mean.  Everyday you should pick to be peaceful because when you’re peaceful it’s like a contagious disease, but you want to catch it.

Flag Mosaic

It took the work of many students in 1st, 4th, and 5th grade to come together to collectively create this larger than life flag mosaic.  A mosaic is an artwork made of tiny pieces of glass, paper, or other materials that come together to create one design or object.  Our flag served as a rememberance of 9/11 and related well to our 5th grade discussion of Jasper Johns.  Also, our flag ties in with the upcoming International Day of Peace because it took the work of many people uniting together to finish the flag.  Likewise, peace can come when people are united and working together.

 

Art Explorers

Art Explorers, our after school art club, has kicked off for the year.  Tonight the students began creating silhouettes of people collaged with pieces of paper.  They had lots of fun tracing each other, and we took up the entire art room floor in the process! Stay tuned for the finished product.

Something Fishy is Happening in the Art Room

 The 2nd graders have started our Under the Sea unit.  Yesterday we made these collaged fish out of some beautifully painted paper.  Check out our fishy creations. 

Jackson Pollock with a Twist

The Kindergarteners have been making artwork filled with all sorts of lines.  This week we've been looking at the work of action painter Jackson Pollock.  His paintings are filled with drippy lines that look like giant scribbles all over the canvas.  The Kindergarteners created their own version of drippy paintings.  First they glued bright colored paper onto their white paper (and yes, we're getting better at gluing!).  Then they squirted glue all over the paper to make tangled, scribbled lines.  Next they sprinkled salt to the glue and let it dry.  Finally they added watercolor paint to the salt and watched the primary colors mix to create the secondary colors.  Check out their beautiful, abstract works of art:

The beginnings of Pinwheels for Peace

There are lots of exciting things happening in the art room.  Students in grades 1-5 are preparing a project called Pinwheels for Peace.  This is an international project whereby students around the globe create paper pinwheels.  The pinwheels are decorated on one side with images and designs of what peace means to them using markers and crayons.  On the other side students are writing ideas about ways to promote peace, diversity, and understanding amongst each other at school, home, and in their community.  Finally on September 21^st, which is International Day of Peace, we will be placing the pinwheels in the ground outside the school to form a collaborative installation artwork.  The pinwheels will then spin in the wind, which represents the idea of spreading the message of peace.  You can learn more about this project online at http://www.pinwheelsforpeace.com/ .  I am very excited about this opportunity, which ties in well with our school’s anti-bullying initiative, and our classroom rule of being kind to everyone.  Below are pictures from the start of our pinwheels.  Right now they are mostly just squares of paper, but stay tuned for pinwheels soon.  And check out these beautiful messages of peace that the students wrote:

Welcome Back!

Welcome back for the 2011-2012 school year.  I hope you had a relaxing summer break.  I was able to see many of you last night at Meet the Teacher Night and I look forward to seeing all the students tomorrow when school begins.  Even though school hasn't started, there is already some artwork up in the hallways.  Students, you might remember making your Waldo style self-portrait at the end of last school year.  Those portraits are up on the bulletin boards across from the library and outside the art room.  Make sure you take a look tomorrow when you come to school and try to find yourself and my picture in the sea of Waldos.

The Art Room



5th Grade Bulletin Board: Get ready to study Pop Art!

When students come to art class this week, we will be discussing the Art Room Guidelines, which will help us to be kind, productive workers.  The guidelines are listed below:
1. Be kind.
2. Be a good listener.
3. Help with clean up.
4. Give your best effort.
5. Take care of supplies.
Please be ready to follow these rules and be excited to come to class.  I have lots of fun activities planned for the year, and I'm looking forward to having you participate in these activities.

 This summer I was volunteering in Kenya and I had the opportunity to see some very creative artwork being made.  The pictures below are taken in Nairobi at a place called Marula Studios and UniquEco.  At this studio they are using recycled flip flops to create sculptures, jewelry, and many other things.  They take used, worn out flips flops from a slum in Nairobi.  Then they clean them, glue them together, and carve the flip flops to make new things.  This recycling project is eliminating waste, creating jobs, and helping the environment.  I hope these pictures inspire you to think about ways to use old materials and trash to create something new.

A pile of flip flops before they are washed; Notice in the background the giraffe sculpture made of flip flops

A worker carves a flip flop animal

A woman makes a flip flop bracelet

The finished flip flop bracelet

Miss Back in front of a globe sculpture filled with flip flops

 Workers sand the flip flop sculptures

Check out this flip flop roof and floor tiles