Martin Luther King Jr. [Positive/Negative Art]

Once a year, a strange thing happens, a blog that I no longer write on starts to get a crazy amount of 'traffic'.  And that traffic is thanks to pinterest, and one art project that I'm insanely proud of, and can't wait to do with my students next Tuesday!  Some of this post is a "re-share" from my previous thoughts on this project, and I will make sure to share this year's results in their full glory sometime after the holiday, plus I've added a few new links to help you create your own Martins.

Inspiration: In my third year of teaching I walked into a teacher's classroom and she had a beautiful bulletin board celebrating MLK's life and achievements. Now at this point, five years later,  I cannot even remember what exactly her art looked like, but it inspired me to create a project of my own. I had been strangely entranced by positive/negative space art and was determined to develop a classroom project around the concept.  I have taught this lesson with both 5th and 6th grade classes, but I have seen even 2nd and 3rd grade teachers successfully create their Martins following the same lesson.

Now, I may be a tad challenged when it comes to this concept of positive/negative space art, but from reading a few other posts that have since tried the project with their own classes, they all agree - PRACTICE and make a few examples before guiding a class through the process.  Here are a few more tips and tricks I found from many years of practice.

This website was the only one that helped me understand how to create this style of art. See it here. 

Every year I like to change the written piece that corresponds to the art.  My first year they created their own "I Have a Dream" speeches, and then we aged regular old construction paper to look 'authentic'.  Here is an image of the original Martins in all their glory!

Last year I played around with personification and my students wrote a poem personifying EQUALITY.  Man, did they really run with this idea, even though I must admit, I knew they could do it, but I really hadn't mapped out exactly where their poems may go.  And, in true 'poetry teacher' fashion, they far exceeded all expectations.  Read more here about their personification poems, and find a basic lesson on how to teach it.

Here's one example (they conveniently forgot to put their name on the front of the paper, which dinged them a couple of points because that was a project expectation, but hey, it works well for blog example purposes).

This year we just completed a whole school 'booster day' on the positive behavior support system we have on campus, and part of the history lesson that day was teaching about assumptions.  They wrote a personal poem about assumptions they have experienced in their own lives, and I'm thinking that we may take these drafts and connect them to Martin Luther King Jr., because let's face it, so much of racism comes from assumption, so I think it may be the perfect fit for this group of students. 

Finally, I wanted to share a resource that Nicole from Teaching with Style created to share with fellow teachers[I'm not sure why the images on her blog no longer come up with this link - sorry!].  I am so happy that she has done this, because let's face it, I was always an 'inspiration' teacher blogger, never organized enough to be uploading google docs and such, but wow, are we lucky that there are teachers out there who do!  So thanks again Nicole for finding my project, and spreading the love.  Here is the free link to the outline you will need to create Martins of your very own, all you will need is the construction paper! 

And just one more thing, I get pretty excited this time of year when I see the enthusiasm for this project, or when I stumble on others having successes in their own rooms.
Here are a few of the images I found of other bulletin boards created from this project:
Cortez's Corner
Borrowing the Best...and Making the Rest

If you create your own Martins using inspiration from this lesson - PLEASE comment below, I would love to compile and share these projects being created across the country!

Also, you can see how this project inspired a woman from across the globe with her country's own influential figure.  See her project here!

Religion poetry anthologies - and my room turned in to a coffee shop

Yesterday my students brought to school their religion poetry anthologies. We have been working on this project for about a month as we learned about four major world religions in history. Before officially assigning this massive project, I started the kids off by writing a different type of poetry for each chapter we studied. When planning the unit I relied heavily on my notes in my masters journal from my poetry class, meticulously finding which format would work best with the content.

Here's what we did:

4 acrostic poems on the four influential founders of Judaism

1 memory map poem on Judaism

2 eraser poems, one on the origins if Hinduism and the other on the caste system

1 Hinduism Haiku

1 I Am poem on Prince Siddhartha (Buddha)

1 list poem on the Eightfold Path (Buddhism)

1 two perspective poem on Christianity (from the voice of a Christian and the voice of a Roman)

I collected each draft of their poems, assigned a small point value, and then kept all of their poems until two weeks before the project due date. At this time we went over the official project and assigned due dates for each of the finals to help my students plan and not procrastinate.

This week students were also given class time to create a mandala that represents the idea of religion as a whole. We reviewed our classroom art expectations and used many "real life" mandalas for inspiration. It seemed fitting that an art form founded in Hinduism be used as the visual art piece of the project, and after seeing their work, I think I choose wisely. These are some of the most impressive projects I've ever collected from my kids! 

See my classroom art expectations here.

My students were already familiar with the concept of mandalas because it was the very first project we did this year. However, being a first project meant it was very structured and I was "bossy" with how I wanted them done. (I use this project not only to have the kids define what history is, but really set up classroom expectations for art within our room).  The freedom I allowed with their religion anthology served me well as it allowed their individuality and creativity really shine. 

Now to celebrate their typed, revised, edited version of their eleven poems and a ridiculously striking cover I turned our classroom into a "coffee shop" and we had a poetry read celebration. Now, a few simple tricks will really set the mood for the best day ever.  And no coffee is actually served. 

#1 let the kids bring food, but keep it to the coffee shop theme - doughnuts, muffins, croissants, etc.  We also had one student bring in hot cocoa from Starbucks in their giant travel containers which was an extra special treat for them. 

#2 turn off the fluorescent lights, and bring in a lamp. The change in lighting really sets the mood, and the lamp in my guest room loves being used for once. Yesterday was even overcast, making for a perfect backdrop to our Seattle inspired celebration. 

#3 use technology to create a coffee shop scene. I found an image of the outside of a Starbucks and used airplay with my iPad to display it on the flat screen, and I found another interior Starbucks image to project from my laptop onto the pull down screen. These two little images taken from the internet made it very clear where we were. 

#4 have a special area for the students to read their poetry. I always use my two teaching stools, but you could use anything that is special or different for the kids.
#5 we snap instead of clap. This actually came from one of my students the very first time I attempted this classroom transformation, and it works. It keeps the mood calm, and feels more appropriate for the scene we are setting.


Here are the images I used this year:

source

source

Once the room has been transformed, have the kids pass out their treats, place their anthologies safety under their desk until it is their time to read, and sit back to enjoy a day they will remember from their time in middle school. I do require each student to read a poem of their choosing, and they can read it with another person if so desired. In one class we heard many two perspective poems because those we co-authored, and were understandably easier to present. However, as the readings continued, the comfort level began to rise,  and many who were hesitant to initially read ended up sharing multiple pieces of the poetry they had written. 

We did take a couple mini breaks to clear the trash and get rid of the empty cups, because thanks to Anna Kendrick, empty cups are no longer safe in the classroom. 

See what I'm referring to here. And yes, I love this song, but just not in the classroom, unless we have a reason for it. 

Some kids will get very into this whole experience, and others will read their Haiku poem and quickly return to their seats, but no matter what, we celebrated their hard work, dedication, and pretty amazing poetry with a day. And because my planning was either insane or ingenious, this poetry read just so happened to fall on Valentine's day, which is also the last day of school before our week long break, and apparently was one crazy day on campus. But in our little corner of the school, it was calm, peaceful, and a pretty magical day. 

See my first attempt at this type of celebration here and here.

Poetry anthologies can be great for any concept, especially in history. When I taught 8th grade, we did one for Andrew Jackson, and instead of having a project span 5 chapters, we did it for just one. 

Martin Luther King Jr. - celebration project

It seemed like when I was an elementary teacher there was always time to break away from pacing for a bit to study events that may be tied more to the calendar than state standards. However, in middle school because of the brief time that I see my kids each day, I often struggle to veer from my pacing. But sometimes, you just have to do it. In my third year of teaching I walked into a teacher's classroom and she had a beautiful bulletin board celebrating MLK's life and achievements. Now at this point I can't even remember what exactly her art looked like, but it inspired me to create a project of my own. I had been strangely entranced by positive/negative space art and was determined to develop a classroom project around the concept.

This website was the only one that helped me understand how to create this style of art. See it here. 

I'm blaming being left handed on my slow to get process here. I also learned that making a few examples before teaching the project is also a really good idea. 

So bringing it back to the current school year I decided the morning of to make it a "Martin day" and enjoyed this project with my sixth graders. I still do this project with very guided instruction using my document camera and projector to show each step. This project really tests their listening and spatial reasoning skills, and man do they look impressive hanging around the room. 

This year I decided to change the written piece that I have accompany the project to a personification poem on equality. This last minute project change was a blessing since I had forgotten that I shared this project with a friend of mine, only for me to move into a position that made me those kid's teacher the next year. See more on that here.

I used a personification poem format I learned in a masters class that made the writing manageable for my kids. They have to assign the following information/details to whatever they are personifying, and for us, we used equality as our prompt. Here's a sample outline:

Gender:

Appearance:

Clothing:

Occupation:

Friends:

Family:

Hobbies:

Now you can modify it however you like, and I was very flexible on format and order, as long as they were able to "paint me the picture" clearly, then they were good. (Week 3/4 on our poetry anthology projects and I think I can finally use this saying without the kids freaking out that they are also having to paint a picture for each poem!)

Here's one example (they conveniently forgot to put their name on the front of the paper, which dinged them a couple of points because that was a project expectation, but hey, it works well for blog example purposes).

Because I did this project with my 100+ students we have Martin everywhere, hanging all over our room from baker's twine, and even out in the hallway on a bulletin board. I loved the discussion we had this year about the symbolism behind this project. They talked a lot about how the project doesn't work unless you have equal parts of black and white. Others noticed how to two colors had to work together in order to create his face.  Love the process, the final product, love the discussion we had while creating!

See my first attempt at this project with my 5th graders here.

And see this project inspiring others around the world here.

If you are interested in making the project for yourself, Nicole from Teaching with Style loved the project so much, she has shared her template for her Martin online.  Go check out her blog for the freebie!  FYI, she did this project with 2nd graders, so it really can be done at so many levels!

why I know I will be a teacher blogger again...one day

Teachers are busy people.  I will argue until the end of time that we are some of the hardest working people on the planet.  I can't tell you how many dedicated teachers I am lucky enough to know that understand that your "teacher brain" never stops.  Waking up in the middle of the night with a new idea for the classroom is something that really does happen.  However, being so busy also means we don't always have time to get out into other classrooms.  Wouldn't it be awesome to have time to really see into other classrooms?  Well, teacher blogging is one way that us busy teachers do just this.  And even though I do not have the time it takes to be a dedicated teacher, mom, and teacher blogger, I do need to share one thing, something that made me realize that it will be my goal to get back on this space more in the near future. 

I was looking through the stats on this blog and realized I was getting insane traffic from a site I did not recognize.  So I decided to click on over to see what it was, and to my surprise, I got to see this...

Yep, that is my Martin Luther King Jr. project from my 5th grade classroom three years ago.  This continues to be my biggest "pinned" classroom art project, and getting to see it as the inspiration for a Bulgarian teacher was awesome.  The blog is Moments in the Classroom by Antoinette Milanova and she used my project as the inspiration to create a similar project for a Bulgarian revolutionist, Levski.

I love knowing that something that I created with my students and enjoyed inside the walls of my little classroom have now spread to students across the planet.  On a funny side note, I decided to take a break from my history pacing this year and enjoy this project with my current 6th grade students.  The only problem was I forgot that I shared this project with my great friend who I co-wrote my thesis with.  That wouldn't normally be an issue, except I moved into a position this year where her 5th grade students from a different school fed into the IBMY programme at the middle school I work at.  So I was all excited to share this project with my students, only for many of them to kindly raise their hand with the phrase no teacher wants to hear, "um, Mrs. Lewis, we did this project last year".  At first, I'm thinking "HOW?", this was something I created out of thin air, it isn't from any teaching manual.  And then it hit me, oh geez, I shared it with my friends, never thinking I would get their students the next year.  Oh well, my kids were great sports about it and made their Martin again, and thankfully I had decided to change the written piece, or we would have really been in trouble.  

With that being said, my goal this week will be to take some pictures of our Martins this year, and share the updated written piece [that really knocked my socks off].  

See Antoinette's blog in it's untranslated version here - and thank you Antoinette for loving my project enough to bring it into your own classroom!

celebrating Dr. King with positive/negative art [out of the files]

it is no surprise that I do A LOT of art with my classrooms, and many times I re-use and tweak art lessons to fit any of my classrooms.  However, one of my favorite art projects of all time is one that I have only had the opportunity to do ONCE with my own students.  So, seeing as how it is that time of the year again [happy birthday Dr. King] and once again I have no chance to do this art project with my own students, I'm sharing it here so hopefully many kids out there will get to experience the awesomeness of the project!

I have shared this lesson on this blog twice now [here & here].  I have only taught this lesson with my 5th grade students, but I would say that it is very doable with 4th graders on up.  If you teach 2nd or 3rd and your students have been introduced to many art projects, are fairly proficient with scissors, then go for it.  When I taught my 2/3 combination I was really my students first introducer into the world of art, so we skipped this project for the year [they would have been able to do something of this level by the end of the year, so you just have to judge your own class].

Now yes, I know that it is the Friday before the holiday for Dr. King, but it is not too late to do something with your classes to celebrate his birthday.  In fact, a four day week sounds like a perfect time to fit in some Dr. King art and writing.  I am guilty of being an inspiration only teaching blog, and I'm not one to add linkable resources for the projects I do here [sorry, that's probably not going to change].  However, Nicole over at Teaching with Style is one of those awesome teacher bloggers who includes the goods with her posts!  So, Nicole was inspired by this lesson, did it with her 2nd graders, and linked up some freebies to do the lesson with your own kids.

If you haven't done positive/negative art before, I suggest looking at the Blick lesson plan to help you out [it was the only one that made sense to me, and Nicole used it too, so it must be helpful].  I would also make sure to make your own Dr. King example [probably a few to make sure you really have it]before starting this with your class, or disaster may strike!

This lesson will really challenge your kids with following directions, something that all our kids need practice with!  Also, I was lucky enough to have a document camera [ELMO] to use while doing this project with my kids.  It is a STEP BY STEP project.  Because you need ALL the paper you are cutting, having kids go off on their own can turn out problematic.  Also, make sure your kiddos have clean hands before starting this project because once you get glue stick, dirty ball wall hands, and white construction paper together you can kiss those squeeky clean projects goodbye!  I love baby wipes to get this done quick and easy by the way.

I paired this art with some "I Have a Dream" poetry writing with my kids, but you could really take the writing portion anywhere that works for your kids.  Good luck and if you try this project out, I would love to hear how it goes [and see a picture if possible].

sometimes you just have to think of the simplest thing

reading and following directions is hard

at least, that's what it seems like every time I'm in the classroom

I work very hard to make sure every lesson is clear

and expectations are clearer

however, there are those times when I need my students to be able to complete a project

or assignment with multiple steps

and being able to read and follow directions is key

but I'm finding that even in middle school I am having to teach very simple

direction following skills

in the past I have given directions with a nice little numbering system

to let them know the order in which to complete the steps

however, even this has not always proven to be successful 

this week I stumbled onto something so simple

and it actually worked

give them a check list to complete while working on the project

I'm telling you, that little line where they actually "check off" as they go

made my life so much easier

and for the most part, it seemed to be the best my kids have ever

independently followed written directions

there must be something to the hand to paper connection as they go

or maybe it is just "interactive" enough to keep them focussed

whatever it is, I'm doing it again

here's just one example of our "Good vs. Evil" character comparison posters

from the story we read this week

and yes, guns can be "school appropriate" if found in our literature

or history lesson

so there you go

sunday's "so they said" [back for another school year]

we've been back in school for almost a month

and it is time to get back into "so they said"

one of my favorite quotes from this week was when I heard a student say

"I think I do more art in history than I do in art class."

I'm glad they are loving the art integration, but I'm curious as to what art class look likes.

This week I also realized that teaching ancient history and the middle ages

is harder for kids to grasp the concept of exactly

how long ago we are talking about

and I'm thinking I need to take some time doing some type of timeline activity

I think I remember doing something with receipt tape

and spreading it across the room, so I'll get back to you on that one

once I figure it all out

and here is the quote that made me realize I need to back the bus up

when doing acrostic poems on the Roman Empire

I came across the line for the letter "m"

"Most Romans had cars."

oh, ok

well that's good

at least most Romans had cars

overall I feel the project went well

the poems worked as an assessment piece for the chapter

[some got it, some didn't - obviously]

and the mosaics went perfectly with the project

but I'm also glad that I caught the confusion

because I think everyone could use a little time reference

because I was also asked

"Are we still in the Middle Ages?"

sure, it was our very first day of the unit so I'm good with this question

here's to making pre-teens realize the difference between old, and old-old

have a great rest of the weekend - now it is time for me to get ready for my baby shower!

so excited to see everyone and celebrate miss everly mae

everly mae

naming a child is really quite the experience

and for the mr. and I it seemed pretty effortless

we did not officially start talking names until we knew if we were having a boy or girl

and once we knew, it still wasn't a major conversation

one thing we did know was the name we had always talked about for a girl

was no longer an option

it had become too popular, and when both parents have very common names

we wanted something a little more unique, without being crazy

when I first got pregnant I had an interesting conversation with one of our uncles

where he starting telling us how the baby will name herself

and you will just know when you have landed on the right name

now, I must admit I kind of left that night thinking, umm, okay

but the craziest part is that I now completely agree with this statement

the mr. and I never could come up with a boy name

and we always kind of joked that it was because we were not going to have a boy

and that happened

and then as soon as we found out little lewis was a girl

nothing but E names came to me

I would send the husband several texts with names that I loved

and ALL of them started with the letter E

he started to get that there was a direction with the name

while perusing popular names from the 1920's & 1930's 

I came up with the name Everly

and I knew it was it

the husband loved it pretty much right away

but took his time letting me know that it was "the name"

his reason for waiting?

he said it just seemed "too easy to name her"

the middle name was set years ago

Mae is the most beautiful middle name I've ever heard

it also happens to be the middle name of my best friend

and the name of a band that has been a pretty big part of my adult life

so there you have it

how we came up with the name for our little E

it has just the right amount of vintage elegance for us

and it is different without being crazy

Everly Mae, we cannot wait to meet you

thank you to Meg for making so many beautiful signs for the upcoming baby shower

they are even more amazing than I could have imagined

having artistic family members is very beneficial

expectations for art in the classroom

last year I realized that art in the classroom was kind of my thing

and when it came to teaching nothing but history

I realized how crucial these projects were going to be for our success

however, I know that doing a lot of art in the classroom is not always easy

 for teachers to begin

and one of the biggest complaints I hear from colleagues is that they hate doing art

because the projects never turn out how they want

so I've decided to share a few things I do, or expect, from my students 

when it comes to each and every project

so here they are - expectations presented to my students for each and every

art project we complete in class

and a few helpful hints to make art projects a happy experience for all

#1 a pencil plan [just pencil on final paper]

 must be complete before ANY art mediums are used

#2 no pencil is showing on final projects

#3 always give students a number of art mediums you expect them to use on the project

I start out with 2 different mediums and then move up from there as the year goes on

#4 NO highlighters may be used on final art pieces

#5 markers are for outlining, not coloring in large spaces

#6 suggest which coloring supplies are going to work for parts of the project

[small pieces need color pencils, not crayons, etc.]

#7 colored chalk can be your very best friend, and the kids love it because they can add SO much color to their piece in very little time, and you will love it because it looks awesome

just make sure to remind students to use the chalk on the side and don't be afraid to get their finger tips dirty from blending!

#8 ALWAYS show examples of finished projects - this may be hard because many times that means you the teacher have to take the time to make the example yourself, but it is SO worth it

#9 ALWAYS give students the grading rubric at the start of the project

I create my own rubrics for each project but it works pretty much like a check-list for students to remember the details for that particular project

 like how many symbols they need to use, how many art mediums, etc.

and when they see that they are actually given points on the project just for "neatness" it seems to help them slow down while working

and last but surely not least

#10 COMPLIMENT THE HECK OUT OF EACH AND EVERY PROJECT

monitoring while students are working on their art is crucial

find something, anything, that can be complimented

I know this seems obvious, but I'm telling you, it is the true key to success

you can see the kid literally light up as you find something special in their piece

and confidence with art will take them so far

want proof?

well here are some pictures from the very first art project I have done with my 

6th grade students this year:

all my history students completed this mandala project on the topic

"what makes history?"

just let me know if you are interested in seeing the worksheet I created to help them begin this project

and the best part, I already had some examples from last year 

when my 8th graders made mandalas for our unit on slavery

well there you go, hope this helps

sorry, it turned out to be a little wordier than I was hoping

also, thanks to meg from oh happy day for suggesting I write this post!

there probably are a million other things I could have spent time on

but oh well, I wanted to get crafty yesterday, and that's just what I did

not to mention I have ample wall space in my new classroom

so I figured a little canvas art would be fun

I had a ton of crayons left over from when I did this project with some previous students

and I couldn't wait to try the crayon melting with all the colors of the rainbow

now it is time for me to get back to work

the classroom is almost put together, and I have gotten started on 

back to school projects for my newest bunch of students

this year I will be teaching 6th grade English and History

with one period of 7th grade History

so yes, if you have been keeping track,

I now can say I have officially taught every grade, kindergarten through 8th grade

I think I want a shirt that says that!!!

slavery mandalas

some weeks can get kind of tricky with scheduling

and for whatever reason you end up with two days where you are just kind of
"in between"

and what better thing to do than art

and so that's exactly what we did

and hey, since I had to make my very own mandala for my masters class

why not have my students join in the fun?

they created their mandalas on slavery

before working on their finals they did brainstorm their eight symbols to represent

different aspects of life, culture, and experiences

having the center of the mandala being the most significant symbol

we also found folding the final draft paper into fours 

helped the students create a circular design

they also included a key on the back of the mandala

 to explain each symbol

overall, this art project knocked my socks off

can't wait to hang them up in the room

art for the classroom, probably not mine, maybe yours

this past weekend I finished out my fourth masters class

even though my masters is in art integration

this was our first real "art" class

I enjoyed it

got a few new ideas

but unfortunately, being an 8th grade history teacher this year

I'm not seeing these lessons jumping into my plans real soon

especially with the standardized test crunch time being upon me

however, they are worth sharing

many were lessons I had done in the past, but with a new twist

which I always love

lesson #1 paper weaving

done this in the past

but mostly for holidays

and just with color construction paper

loved getting to paint first and then come back later and do the paper weaving

we painted with everything

vegetables, sponges, cut cardboard, pasta, just about anything

I had done "vegetable" painting before

I'm thinking it must have somehow connected in with our language arts story of the week

but then you get these funky paintings

with little directions, and what do you do with them

well, take one of those papers, fold in half

cut long slits in the paper

then take a second work of art and chop it into half-inch strips

and start weaving away

love the final product

lesson #2 found object painting

this lesson again is great for elementary teachers

really any age level depending on how you want to spin the focus

my art above was created with everything from chopsticks to marshmallows

and the black & white piece - potatoes and my chopstick wrapper

obviously elements of art, design, and color mixing could be the focus

or it could be a lesson on re-cycling objects around the house 

previously thought of us "trash"

and the best part of this art project

if the students don't create a piece they love "as is"

turn it into paper weaving as seen above and all is well again in the world

and even though these lessons won't be finding their way into my room this next week

another art project will

and I will be sharing those just as soon as I can

why pinterest could have saved me hours

well, procrastination never used to be my thing

when my thing was full time student

now that my thing is full time teacher -and-

full time student

procrastination is inevitable 

and painful

and being knocked on my bum for the last eight days hasn't helped the process along either

now this particular assignment has been enjoyable

create a visual journal of images around you that you love

that inspire you

that evoke creativity

so pretty much, my pinterest boards

but no, we have to kick it the old fashion way and put it together 

on paper with paste and all

so out came the magazines

and the ripping began

just like when I was a pre-teen making collages for my bedroom walls

and yeah, I think starting this twenty-five days ago

like I was instructed to do so

would have been easier

but hey

I guess acting a little more like a teenager is good

at any age

but yeah, pinterest, instead of wasting hours of my life away

you could have saved me hours...

hey, so I feel like I disappeared for a bit

well, busy doesn't quite explain things lately

so I'm back from my mini blogging break and ready to share

just one of my projects that have been keeping me occupied

and I just can't wait any longer to share it with you

so last week I mentioned that I got to teach my old students for an afternoon

and that is just what I did

now let me tell you that being back in my old classroom was bittersweet 

to say the least

but seeing my kids, and how happy they were to see me

made it oh so worth it

and the best part, we made this

each student created their own flower and used chalk and oil pastels for color

they helped hot glue on the crayons

signed their name on the edge of the canvas

and I brought it all home to start melting and mod-podging away

now let's hope it brings big bucks at this year's crab feed this weekend

fingers crossed

sometimes pinning can turn into a project

and tomorrow, not only will I be trying out some inspiration from a pin

I get to do it with my former kiddos

yup, I'm heading back to my classroom from last year

and I can't wait to share what we make together

I always love doing something new

and getting to teach an art lesson to former students

 is surely something new

and awesome.

Out of the Files - Remembering Dr. King

so if you have been reading this little blog long

you are probably feeling a tad bit of deja vu right about now

but, seeing as how this week many amazing teachers are going to be introducing 

their students to Dr. King, I figured we could always dig this one out of the files

and since I am on a bit of a crunch with my own curriculum

I'm not going to be doing it with my students (slight tear for my elementary days)

so, maybe you will be inspired to try it!

Last year when I came up with this project I went here to learn how to do

positive/negative space art

and this was just about the only place that explained it in a way that made sense to me!

To make my stencil I used my smart board to outline an actual picture I found of Dr. King
split the image in half and then copied one half onto the white construction paper
This project is a little time consuming to plan - you want to make a few trial runs at it yourself
before actually teaching it
but I really do think it pays off - the kids LOVED this project
and it looks so striking in the room - I kept this bulletin board up extra long!
and of course to really finish off this project I would suggest
some poetry writing for students to really dig a little deeper
Last year we created poems where the students compiled
 their own dreams for the world/society
repeating the historic line "I have a dream..."
they were pretty touching - but you could go just about anywhere with the written piece
good luck - if you have any questions please just ask!!!
oh - and tomorrow is our first ten on ten of the year - so grab your camera - and go!

traveling back in time

this week we have been preparing for our town hall debate.  students were already starting a little "pre-debating" today.  hearing 13 year olds talk about loyalists, patriots, and neutralists without me prompting them is pretty much magic.  hoping tomorrow goes as well as the preparing has.  check out that propaganda!  awesomeness.

just art...

last weekend I spent two days working on all things art integration for my masters

and I found it odd when my professor continued to bring up

rationalizing art integration to parents and principals

I just kept thinking, hmmm, never had to do this
I guess she is just setting me up for my art rationale paper that is due

at the end of the month

well,  I must have jinxed myself

let's just say, today, I had to do a whole lot of rationalizing to a parent

apparently, my students have done nothing but draw in my class

and that my methods are very "elementary"

being super passionate about what I do made this attack feel super personal

and I know that these kinds of things happen

and it's all part of the job

I guess the first time is the hardest

the funniest part was when I got home and went to my district's webpage

right there on the main site was a video about a particular middle school site

and how they are doing some amazing things

what are those amazing things you ask?

well, it was all about art integration in US history

geez people.  that's all

remembering nine-eleven

we talked.  we watched.  we painted.  we learned.