Sketching Sculptures

We started the day by talking about sculptures and reading our art book “An Art Alphabet: M is for Masterpiece” by David Domeniconi. In his book he describes sculptures as “art that’s not flat.” We discussed the sculptures we had created. Four sculptures were chosen and placed at tables around the classroom. The children were told they would sketch the sculptures. We demonstrated some simple sketching techniques such as, how we use our eyes to look for movement and shapes in the stick and wire sculptures. We talked about being artists in our classroom.

The children chose which sculpture they wanted to sketch and went to the table. It was amazing to watch the children concentrate so intently on their sketching process. You could hear a pin drop in our room, they were so focused.

After they sketched what they saw, they were asked what they thought their friend was trying to create with their sculpture. It was interesting to hear different interpretations of the sculptures.

Working with Wire and Twigs

We went on a trip to our local valley and returned with a large bag full of twigs. I didn't know what to do with them right away and they rested on top of our shelf for a few days.

I decided to introduce the twigs and wire by placing the materials at the Art Studio. I sat down and watched as the students began to explore the twigs and twisting the wire.

It was the first time the children had explored wire and introducing twigs gave them a different dimension to work with. Many of the children created wire sculptures that grew upwards. As they explored over the next few days, their creations began to differ in size, shape and direction.

Wire is an amazing medium to work with. Part of what I noticed is that I am at the same level as my children, not having worked with wire often, discovering together the properties and creations that could come out of imagination and experimentation.

Stephanie Hammond

Swirls

We have found that our earliest inquiries in the year keep poping up in the language that the children use. One such example is how they use what they learn to express their thinking with new experiences. During our snail inquiry we had also been exploring patterns and sorting. When we read a non-fiction book on snails, one child noticed that the snails had designs on their shells. She called it a swirl. Another child questioned what she meant by swirl and she came up to the board and drew what she meant.

Other children came up and drew their own swirls on the whiteboard. We asked the children if they would like to create their own swirls at the Art Studio. They said yes!

Together we looked through our Art Studio materials and decided on what we could use.
1. Paint
2. Feathers
3. String..."because string is curly like."

The children were engrossed in their experimentation and dialogue as they encouraged others and explained what they were seeing.

Using String

Using Feathers

Experimenting with pressing papers together!

Wow! And the best part was that it was completely unplanned!! (Or as one student said, "Best art ever!")

Pezzettino

We read a story called Pezzettino by Leo Lionni.  Pezzettino in Italian means "little piece.”  In the story the characters are constructed out of coloured squares. At the light table, the students used their own tissue paper squares, coloured cubes and imagination to create their own pezzettino characters. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunflower Inquiry

A few weeks ago, a parent brought us a sunflower from the community garden.  She asked us if we wanted it to observe it in our classroom.  We said yes!

 

 

We put the sunflower at our Discovery Centre. Students spent time observing it and many “I wonder” questions emerged and theories about what was happening to the sunflower.  A reoccurring question was “Will the sunflower grow?”  We had a Knowledge Building Circle and students shared their theories.  Many students thought that if we take a sunflower seed and put it in water it will grow.

A few experiments emerged to test out students’ theories.

Experiment #1 – Put a sunflower seed in a box and give   it water.

 

Experiment #2 – Put a sunflower seed in a clear jar with water.

We waited and waited but did not see any changes in the sunflower seeds.  A plant was not growing.

We looked at other plants in the classroom and students noticed that what was missing from our seed was soil.

We then read books about how plants grow and learned that plants need soil, air, water and sunlight to grow.  We then planted a sunflower seed.

 

 

Our sunflower head is continuing to change.  The students are now coming up with other theories of what is happening to the sunflower and why it is changing.

 

 

 

 

 

Classroom Entrance Way

We wanted to create an entrance way that was inviting to the parents where they could sit and look at the inquiry projects that we have been working on with our students. We also wanted to share any books we, as teachers, have been reading that inspire us every day.   Below is a picture of what our entrance way looks like.  Our two inquiry binders on snails are on display.  We have also put up on the cork board our monthly calendar for parents to refer to. 

 

 

Our New Light Table!

We introduced our new light table to the students today and were amazed by their enthusiasm and what they created.  Below are some images of their creative expression and discoveries at the light table.

O: "I make a people and I put two hands."

  

A: "We made different kind of colours. 
We put all of the stones on the different colours and
we saw the stones were changing colours."

F: "I can make green!  Yellow and blue make green." 

 

Z: "I made the sky, the stars in the night time."

We cannot wait to see what else the students create at our new light table!