Last time they were in here, W said that the human heart is the size of his "punch." We looked it up and hearts are about the size of a fist, so he was right. The students knew that they needed to take as much clay as they needed to make a heart the size of their fists. They quickly measured the clay by holding a ball of it in one hand and looking at the their other closed fist. Then, using images on the computer, laptop and iPad, they began to sculpt.
E- It looks like a balloon that is going to pop.
J- It looks like a rock with points.
What do you wonder about the heart?
K-I wonder if this triangle part is red.
S-It looks like a hand.
J- It looks like a small pumpkin.
K- I want to find out how the heart goes fast when you run really fast.
W- How does it bump everyday?
S- Why is that a game?
I tell them that I think we could probably guess why they made an app about the heart.
W- It's for you can know everything about the heart- how it looks.
M- I wonder what the heart looks like inside.
J- I wonder why the heart has [counts to six] six tubes.
E, gets up and grabs a clay knife from the table- We need to do lines with the knife for the lines on the heart.
They joked about decorating the atelier with "hearts" for Valentine's Day as we left them to dry on the windowsill.
I pushed into 116 to finally start our Balance provocation. I asked the class to describe balance. We created a circle map about it and then I showed them what symmetry looks like. Tomorrow, I'll pull them in groups to experiment with symmetry using mirrors and then have them draw their own symmetric drawing.
The kindergarteners are starting to really get into storytelling. They are doing their pre-drawings for a unit on animals, but while they drew, I asked them to tell me about the artwork and the stories just flowed. Here is one example:
This is a horse and a dog and a cat. They are on a ride, like a roller coaster- my favorite one. It's like a plane. They saw a ghost and the ghost made the car come off and it went in the water and they had to walk back and the person said the rides were going to be all shut off and then they go home.
The pre-k students are continuing their study of the lines that make up animals. I had them trace a photo of their favorite animal. This will allow them to see the lines (horizontal, vertical, curvy) which I'm hoping will help them improve their observational drawing techniques. After they traced the lines, they wanted to color the acetate. Next class, they will use the photograph and acetate tracing to study the lines and try to draw the animal using observational drawing.
My second graders are continuing to study balance. We experimented with symmetry and a mirror and then they worked on symmetric drawings.
As much as I enjoyed putting the art show together and working closely with my colleagues, as much as I enjoy field trips with the students, these regular days of making art with students, recording dialogue, listening to their stories, and photographing their learning are my favorite days. I'm so excited to move into the second half of the year. The progress is really starting to show now. The preschoolers, especially, are at an exciting point in the year now, where they are starting to inquire and create theories more and more. It's so enjoyable for both teachers and students.
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