The Nature of Art
Our area has some fantastic art teachers. Some of us have joined together to meet and share ideas in a semi-formal Professional Learning Community. We have been planning a presentation for elementary art teachers in our district. When we met to plan our event we decided to use the theme of nature as inspiration for the lessons we share. I use nature as a spring board for so much of what I do in the art room. I am a habitat steward with the National Wildlife Federation and find that kids are eager to learn about the environment. I recommend reading Richard Louve's book,
The Last Child in the Woods.
This winter I spent some time discussing global warming with my 4th graders. We did some research on Discovery Education about the shrinking polar ice caps and the effect it has on the arctic habitat. We were really sad to learn how at risk the Polar Bears are in the Arctic. We found some great websites and discovered the organization Polar Bears International. The students wrote entries in their art journals to share their opinions about global warming.
I challenged my students to think about the question: Can an artist help make a difference in the environment? They viewed a glogster poster I created as we discussed this question.
http://teachcreativity.edu.glogster.com/arctic-polar-bears/
I found some popular culture items and incorporated them into the discussion. We made connections to graphic design, commercial art, and animation as career paths for artists.
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
We decided one excellent way that artists can help the environment is by creating awareness through their images. Think of the impact the Coca Cola polar bears have had!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtxJft7B2ts
We made a commitment to create work to help bring awareness of the plight of the polar bear by creating an entry in Polar Bears International's My Planet My Part challenge. I planned a lesson and we got to work.
The 4th graders had fun creating a wet on wet background using liquid watercolors. I had purchased some with my Artsonia funds and fell in love with their vivid colors. Lately I have been making my own by soaking old Crayola markers overnight in water. Works great and the kids are convinced I am the best recycler on the planet!
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
To create a feeling of the aurora borealis I showed the kids how to create salt bleaching by sprinkling salt on the wet watercolor.
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
This year we have really focused on building our drawing skills so creating polar bear sketches was a fun challenge. We used an excellent youtube video from How2DrawAnimals as a starting point for isolating shapes and constructing a side view of the bear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDgOJWs5wqc
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
Following my demonstration I allowed students to move at their own pace. Many chose to work independently while I offered less confident students an opportunity to follow along as I isolated each step. Everyone was really successful.
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
Several students created cubs to go with their adult bears. When we cut them out and collaged them on our backgrounds we were really happy with the results.
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
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| http://artendorphins.blogspot.com/ |
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| http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?exhibit=627133 |
We submitted our entry on the Polar Bears International Website and it was accepted!
http://myplanetmypart-gallery.com/entry/1724667
The kids were excited to help create awareness for these beautiful creatures. Pineville artists discovered you are never too young to make a difference for our environment!
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| http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?exhibit=627133 |
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| http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?exhibit=627133 |
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| http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?exhibit=627133 |
