Native American - Kachina Dolls

My fourth grader's are learning about Native American culture and I chose to do an art project focusing on ceremonial art and Native American Kachina Dolls - found in the Hopi tribe.

The book we read before starting our project helped students to better understand about the Kachina Dolls and what purpose (ceremonial) it served for the Hopi tribe.

"The Lost Kachina" 
by Heather Irbinsks

September 21st

My enrichment classes and art club created banners, a bulletin board and "Pinwheels for Peace" to celebrate 

"International Day of Peace - September 21, 2011" 

I think it's important to incorporate real-world topics into the curriculum. The banners and pinwheels turned out fantastic! We also included the event in the school's morning meeting in which we played the video: "We Are The World"! If you get a chance check it out. Celebrate Peace everyday...

3rd Grade (girls) Bulletin Board

5th Grade (girls) Banner

4th Grade (boys) Banner

Skyping with Paul Owen Lewis

3rd grader's skyped with author/illustrator Paul Owen Lewis about his books and art. We are studying Native American culture and Paul Owen Lewis is famous for his books "Frog Girl" and "Storm Boy" which are Native American stories. He even has a totem pole in his house and the students thought that was awesome!

The Nelson's "Stone Carving Workshop"

 What a BLAST! Each grade got a chance to be a part of history by participating in a stone carving workshop. All students got to carve stone, get a necklace created from their stone they carved and add 2 new piece to the front of our school. 

4th graders carved a "Marker"

3rd and 5th graders carved a "Sundial/Time Capsule" - the time capsule insertion is going to be held in October so keep checking my blog for more photos and information on what we're going to be inserting into the timecapsule.

Everyone had a GREAT time and learned a lot. A Special Thanks to Mr. Albert & Mrs. Penny Nelson for such a wonderful time. Check out their website to learn more about their wonderful work: Nelstone

Marc Chagall Stained Glass

5th Grader's created a stained glass landscape piece using recycled DVD and CD's.  Their artwork is based off the art of Marc Chagall and his famous painting "Paris Through A Window"

After listening to a Podcast on ITunes about this painting and reading the book "Dreamer from the Village", students created their own version of Marc Chagall's art.

These turned out fantastic, all the wonderful colors and the use of a new medium was interesting to see.