Students Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy

Students Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy from Gabriela Elizalde on Vimeo.

Naturalist Intelligence designates the human ability to discriminate among living things (plants and animals) as well as sensitivity to other features of the natural world (cloud patterns, rock configurations). 

In this lesson I wanted to provide an opportunity for students to become  more aware of our natural surroundings and what we can experience by being fully present in a particular moment.  
This quality of attention may be what is at the heart of the "flow" experience. 


Suggested reading- FLOW- The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced me-high chick-sent-me-high) 

The Arts and The Brain

"...there is no 'looking' without activation or creation; and there's no working with the hands without also directing the brain (Wilson, F.,1999).  Many areas of the brain and body are engaged to see and create art. In fact, the intricacies of creating a piece of visual art are mind-boggling, which leads us to the brain."

taken from Arts With The Brain In Mind by Eric Jensen 2001

Paper Sculptures

Arranging a Compostion

Looking at the work of Henri Matisse was the perfect opportunity to discuss composition, collage, and cutting techniques. First we identified and discussed different types of shapes found both in artwork and in our environment. We also talked about what we liked about certain artworks focusing on The Lagoon from Jazz.  Now it was time for the students to create their own composition. Choosing color palettes, focusing on cutting "mostly curved or mostly straight edged" shapes, arranging their pieces in different ways before actually gluing, being completely engaged in the art making process...this is arranging a composition...this is success!

This Week in Art...

This Week in Art... from Gabriela Elizalde on Vimeo.

Bird Puppets

Untitled from Gabriela Elizalde on Vimeo.

.</p

 In 2nd Grade we are exploring color and imagination.  Students drew characters and settings a couple of weeks ago (scroll down to see post) and now the students have created  a make believe bird puppet. We used oil pastels on butcher paper and then sewed the front and back panels together.   We took a vote and they all want to extend the lesson and work in groups to put together a play for their puppets.  In This Week in Art (video above)  you can see various students starting the process of creating a play.  It was great to see students helping students; you see last year I taught the Kindergarten and First Grade how to sew. Now we enjoy the fruits of our labour!  This is a big basket of fruits...consider co-operative learning, peer tutoring, social development, and the generous game of art making.