Exquisite Corpse, Sept 13 I LOVED this activity…it’s extremely accessible, requiring

minimal materials and lots of student creativity. I also

like that it can serve as a spring board to many different

discussion across many content areas.

E.g. This art activity could lead to very interesting

discussions/further study into Biology/Ecology/animal

adaptations, etc. Kris Fontes work suggests a lot of

potential for integrating issues of social justice into the

Art classroom; meaningful discussions on body-image, and

gender stereotypes come to mind. And perhaps even

writing as evidenced by this surrealist kids literary

adventure with the Library of congress.

Snapshot from my class notes of my simple rendition

of an exquisite corpse…a giraffe-hippo-duck! Sadly, I

don’t have a picture of the large size Exquisite Corpse

I made in class, but you get the idea…

Sample Grade 6 Exquisite Corpse project;

Kris Fontes, Union City Art Department

Partner Visual History:

Here I learned about where Josh

came from…

Bookbinding, Sept 13, 2011

A lot of creative +

differentiated

education options

with choice of

stitches

Things got crafty in our first Art Education class! Judah was particularly

helpful in walking me through the construction process. It was helpful to

experience this art activity from a student’s perspective. In particular I

noticed how challenging it is for a teacher to explain how to make this to a

class of 30 students.

Many of the stitches and specific punches are difficult to

demonstrate in a way that all the students can see clearly. I am

wondering if something like a cooking class overhead demo. mirror

is required...but is this feasible?

My second art-class creation!

DIY bookbinding for

adults + kids

I can see a lot of integrated lesson possibilities with this activity…

My first attempt at leaf-printing in 20+ years!

Leaf-rubbing Video

-A less messy alternative

to what we did in class;

cleaner, but arguably

less fun! (Click title for video.)

Printmaking, Sept 27 In today’s class, things got MESSY in a fun, kindergarden

sort of way. I particularly enjoyed this activity because it

made me consider negative space, reflection of images, and

pay close attention to the properties of the materials I was

using. Many of my prints didn’t quite turn out as I

expected, largely because of the latter.

This activity could be used to introduce discussions

about students’ sense of place and their local

environment. My wife and I are certainly living proof

of this… Excited about what I had experienced in

class, I took my wife on a leaf tour of our local

neighbourhood!

My lovely wife

Namsu, and

our baby-to-be

Gourd Instruments, Oct 11 As Burns aptly observed, “The best laid plans of mice and men [and eager PBL’rs] often

go awry. Such is the case with my Gourd project; I had eagerly started this project,

but a month later, my instrument is yet to be completed. Reflecting on this made me

think seriously about how I, as an emerging teacher, would fairly assess this if my

students presented me with a similar outcome, especially if their reasons for their

incompletion were legitimate.

After a hectic resource package schedule punctuated

by a really bad cold, this is what actually resulted.

Fantasy! Reality… I had hoped I would have completed a 3-prong gourd of

epic percussion qualities matched only by Desi Arnaz…

Ughhh…

Percussion Anyone?

How to make a kids’

TOM-TOM video

A [Virtual] Trip to MOA, Oct 25 Most of this week, I spent in bed, very sick with a particularly tenacious strain of the

FLU… Thank God for the Internet! From my laptop, under the numerous blankets of

my comfy bed, I was able to learn more about the elementary programs offered by the

museum and the amazing sculpture work of Bill Reid.

Mythical Icons Video

Haida Gwaii artist, Bill Reid

The MOA’s elementary programs seem to be a great place to engage students in

discussions about Aboriginal culture and art, that could be then continued in the Art and

Social Studies classroom. After some discussion in tutorial class, I wonder how a non-

native teacher can most respectfully introduce Native art and story telling into the

elementary classroom? I remember doing a “build your own totem pole” art activity as

a young child, but I am unsure whether this increased my appreciation for Native art, or

simply trivialized it. The Appendix H of the BC Ministry’s Aboriginal Education

document, Shared Learnings, seems like a great place to start responding to this issue in

more culturally sensitive ways.

Some of my classmate’s tiles…interestingly enough, I forget to take a picture of my own!

Clay Tile-Making, Nov 8 I found today’s class FASCINATING on two counts…one by the

sheer beauty of the Islamic art pieces Elsa showed us during her

lecture (The Islamic tiles from Iran and Pakistan were

gorgeous!), but also by the incredible craftsmanship and intelligence of the artists who built these massive pieces. On

first glance of these pieces, it is obvious that there are

mathematical connections to this form of art, but I didn’t

realize how DEEP these were. In this regard, the posted

Nature article was quite illuminating…before reading that I had

no clue what a girih was!

In addition to Math, I think these types of art projects lend

themselves to natural explorations of different cultures with our

students. E.g. Middle Eastern culture.

A girih in action!

Other TILE projects:

Pumpkin seed mosaic

Tangrams…

Math, Tile Art,

or Both?

Thankyou Elsa! Nov 22

If we are to take Picasso’s statement seriously, then we need elementary teachers

who take the arts seriously. Elsa, thank you so much for giving me a chance to

explore my artistic side in such an engaging way. More importantly, thanks for

reminding me of the importance of encouraging artistic discovery with my students!

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”