Week of December 15-19

The pre-k students explored how their bodies change with the seasons by creating dolls of themselves using fabric scraps, popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners. The studnets reflected on how we change by wearing layers of clothing in the winter and they experimented with making the wire wrap around the fabric to create winter attire. This exploration was captivating to them!

The kindergarten students continued their study of bridges and ramps in the classroom by heading into the atelier to draw bridges we see in the community.

The first grade students tried paper collage to see how the results differed from the natural material collages. Both materials created beautiful products, but the paper proved to be easier to control at this age.

The second graders continued to explore how fear feels, relating it to scary weather conditions and scary stories.

Week of December 1st- 5th, 2014

This week, the pre-k students have been exceeding my expectations in the observational drawing and watercolor painting game.

Some leaves: 

A pinecone:

Miss Bennett's class has been sculpting pine cones in addition to doing the observational watercolors:

101 and 106 have been creating loose part self-portraits.  The provocation is, "How do we change with the seasons?" to get them thinking about how we are a part of nature. The students will have to create clothes to represent the dolls in summer and in winter. 

 And these watercolor paintings from 106 are pretty amazing!  These are pre-k students, so these beautiful pieces were painted by four-year-old children!

The kindergarten students have been studying community, with a specific focus on their own houses, as they need to understand that they are a part of a larger community than their own home. In the atelier, they are working on painting their homes with watercolors, after creating observational drawings with close attention to detail. The students were expected to count the windows and doors and look closely at colors for realism.

The first grade students wanted to create collages of the photos we took at the Burchfield Nature Center using natural materials as a way to share what we experienced with the rest of our school community.  They have been working meticulously on this endeavor. 

The second graders continued their exploration of What Fear Looks Like by creating drawings about fear (most of them used scary weather conditions, as they are studying weather.) They chose a medium based on their drawing and their skill level with that particular medium.  I thought they would all rush to tempera paint, as we haven't used it yet this year, but they were thoughtful about their choices. They dictated a description of their work to me and wrote it out. Next, they will write their own reflections on their work, in their own words.  I wanted them to communicate an idea through visual language, spoken language and written language.