In my next life, or maybe even later on on this life, I would love to become an illustator. While surfing around the web for inspiration, I came across Signature Illustration. What’s nice about this site is how its creator posts lots of thumbnail images of different illustrators’ artwork. This format really helps to give a complete picture of different illustration styles.
First graders ended they year by learning about Van Gogh’s sunflower drawings. I set up two still life displays around the room an then the kids basically just took off by themselves.
Once they finished their contour drawings, they used oil pastels for the color. I was doubtful at their ability to use pastels for small areas, but once again they rose to the challenge.
The thing that I liked best about this project was that my students were able to clearly see their growth from the beginning of the year. It gave them a tremendous sense of accomplishment. The last sunflower that I posted is testament to this. This student had tremendous difficulty controlling materials at the start of the year. During the project he turned to me and said “Ms. Sajan, I think this is my best work.” I have to fully agree!
Each time we come back to the States David and I stock up on certain things to bring back to China. I usually buy loads of shoes and pants and David buys electronic gadgets. (I hope you’re having fun with your new itouch, babe.) In addition, we always make a stop or two at bookstores.
This time around David found an amazing book called The Arrival by illustrator and writer, Shaun Tan. This beautifully and imaginatively illustrated book tells the story of a man who leaves his family and impoverished community in search of opportunities in a foreign and strange land. Along the way the man meets people who help him settle into the new world and share stories from their lives.
This book touched me for several reasons. Being first generation American, it made me imagine what my father and grandmother might have experienced when they left Austria and arrived at Ellis Island. It also made me think of my own experiences with living in China. There is a section of the book where the man is being introduced to strange and exotic foods. His reaction is exactly what I feel every time I go grocery shopping!
My second graders just finished working on crayon and watercolor family portraits. Here are some examples of their work:
After reexamining my curriculum from last year, I noticed that I focused too much on thematic artwork. While my students were exposed to a great number of different artists who worked with similar themes, I felt that my students didn’t have a strong grasp of the lives of individual artists. So in order to address this issue right off the bat, I decided to begin the year with a lesson about Leonardo da Vinci. For this unit, students will learn about da Vinci’s charcoal portraits, his life, as well as some fun interesting facts. For example, did you know da Vinci was a vegetarian? Nope, I didn’t know either.
While searching internet for online resources that my students can use, I came upon these resources that I thought were well worth sharing. So here we go….
The first site that I really liked was Brain Pop. I knew that my school had a Brain Pop account, but I always kind of figured it was a site that focused on the Science and Math. Boy, I couldn’t have been more wrong!! To my pleasant surprise Brain Pop has a whole section on Art and Music! I clicked the Famous Artist and Musician link and found a little icon of da Vinci staring right back at me. His tiny expression seemed to say to me “Dummy, why didn’t you check me out before?” In the section about da Vinci, Brain Pop has a great little animation that answers the question “Why do so many people talk about da Vinci?” In addition, the da Vinci section has quizzes, activities, and a small time line.
Brain Pop also has animations about art movements, techniques, and other artists. I think this has now become my new favorite online resource for kids. I can just kick myself for not looking into Brain Pop sooner!
The second online resource on Leonardo da Vinci is the Universal Leonardo Museum, sponsored by the University of the Arts, London. While some of the text may be advanced for 5th graders, the galleries are great for exploring the vast variety of work that da Vinci is famous for. The images may be accessed through clicking the Explore and Browse tabs in the main navigation bar. What’s most exciting is their Play section. Here visitors to the site can make hybrid monsters, take a quiz that makes the Mona Lisa smile with each correct answer, practice Mirror Writing, and much, much more!
