Second graders worked hard on drawing portraits of their favorite dog. We first looked at George Rodrigue and his paintings of Blue Dog and were inspired to imagine dogs of many colors in our own artwork.
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We are studying the art and activities that happen during Dia de los Muertos in 5th grade creative arts. Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a two-day festival that takes place every November 1 and 2. Although most strongly identified with Mexico, Dia de los Muertos is celebrated throughout Latin America and everywhere with a Latino population, including the US. On Dia de los Muertos, the dead are awakened from their eternal slumber to become a vibrant part of the community. They are celebrated with objects and activities they enjoyed in life, such as food, drink, and music. Although the celebration is bittersweet and its symbols macabre, Dia de los Muertos honors the dead with festivals and lively celebrations, a typically Latin American custom that combines indigenous Aztec ritual with Catholicism, brought to the region by Spanish conquistadores. Assured that the dead would be insulted by mourning or sadness, Dia de los Muertos celebrates the lives of the deceased with food, drink, parties, and activities the dead enjoyed in life. Dia de los Muertos recognizes death as a natural part of the human experience, a continuum with birth, childhood, and growing up to become a contributing member of the community. On Dia de los Muertos, the dead are also a part of the community, awakened from their eternal sleep to share celebrations with their loved ones. The most familiar symbol of Dia de los Muertos may be the calacas and calaveras(skeletons and skulls), which appear everywhere during the holiday: in candied sweets, as parade masks, as dolls. Calacas and calaveras are almost always portrayed as enjoying life, often in fancy clothes and entertaining situations. The following video is a nice visual explanation of Day of the Dead Fourth grade has been hard at work drawing famous architecture from photographs on a large scale. We have been learning about value while experimenting with different drawing pencils and charcoals. Students are encouraged to sketch simple shapes first and slowly build details as they take into account proportion and scale in their drawings.
Third graders learned all about eye-bombing, made popular by two Danish artists. Students went aroundThird the school to add humor and smiles by attaching temporary goggly eyes to common objects. We had a lot of fun finding faces in unexpected places. With our money earned from artsonia sales we will be purchasing a piece of art to add to our modern art collection. We will be voting as a school in the beginning of the year. Below are some of the options that will be given to staff and students. Look back to see if more options are added!
I've been busy, busy this summer working on our 2014/2015 curriculum map. Below you will find what students will be working on the first few months of school. I'm excited to get started!
Le Gran Cirque Ames -HD from Heather Klausa on Vimeo. |