Editing and adding to our prints.....and becoming a "curator"

 

 

Some pics of the kids adding final details to finish off their prints. We talked a lot about editing and what a curator is ;). SO beautiful!!!!!

 

Inventing and printmaking our Beasts!!

In this printmaking project we are still learning about each grade level's International Studies focus. I started by reading a folk tale from each grade's specific focus. Fourth grade is Medieval Times, second grade is Greek Mythology and the Renaissance, first grade is Asia, etc.

 

After we read the folk tales and practiced visualizing, we talked about what real life trials people in our International Studies culture may have faced. For Medieval Times we talked about how they were constantly engaged in warfare, how medicine was still developing and how the Plague affected their lives. For Greek Mythology we discussed how hard it was to communicate in such a mountainous region. We began to see that the folk tales we read sometimes reflected the real trials that their cultures faced.

 

I gave each child a brainstorming sheet and a real trial their International Studies culture faced.

 

They had to invent a Beast (mythological creature) that lived in their
International Studies culture's time. The Beast needed to have some power or ability to help their culture survive one of the trials or hardships they faced. I allowed it to be completely fantastical. I didn't care how unrealistic or magical it was.....but I wanted them to use fantasy to "fix" a real problem. Loved, loved, loved their solutions!!!

 

We sketched and then transferred our Beasts to Styrofoam printing blocks. The kids made several prints of their Beasts. They should be very proficient in pulling a perfect print after all of our printmaking sessions!!

 

 

Visualizing!

 

 

After we ended our International Studies banner we continued with that focus and entered into a printmaking project.

I wanted to practice the reading strategy, visualizing. It's my favorite because visualizing is so important for problem solving in art (and really other area's of our lives as well).

I realized when I started reading to the kids how little of that I've done this year- I missed it!!! Apparently so did they ;). Even the fifth graders seemed riveted.

I found a folk tale from each of the grade specific International Studies focuses. I read the folk tale, not letting the kids see the pictures in the book. Every few pages I would stop and they would draw what they pictured in their minds. Easy peasy.

Seriously. Cute. Stuff.

I'll explain in the next post how this connects to my lesson plan ;).

 

 

a third grader visualizing a Norse myth about Loki

a second grader visualizing a Greek myth