Today was another bright and early starter, not because I didn't have my ducks in a row, but because one of my extra lessons was scheduled for first period. It was also one of the classes I taught yesterday, so it took me a little more time even than if it had been one of the year one classes that haven't been introduced to the unit. I chose to have them try some sponge printing with different shapes and colors to express feelings, and talked about how different shapes might mean different things, what they might remind us of - one student said a triangle was scary, and since he couldn't explain why, I used the example of shark's teeth, which are triangular. The biggest bump I came up against was getting new paint in the trays...I mixed up some in each plate, thinking it was a lot, but then when the kids started printing, the "ink" ran out pretty fast, and I had to scramble to add more to each table. I also bent to advice and changed my hand-washing method, bought a bucket at Carrefour for each table, and have them rinse and dry their hands at their own tables. Not my favorite solution, but it works.
Year two's unit began today with a discussion of sculpture, watching a moving story on nga.gov, and a very simple pipe-cleaner sculpture. Overall, I was really pleased with it - the kids liked the break in the routine and hearing about the sculptures in the National Gallery's garden, and LOVED making the pipe-cleaner men. I did have to cut parts of the story to keep it from getting too long, and it was already REALLY long, but every once in a while, I think this is okay - they still got to produce some art, and it really drove home how many different subjects and materials for sculpture there can be.
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