Maintained according to the EASD Acceptable Use Policy
With a little help from their imaginations, Forks Elementary School students have been traveling to countries around the world while in art class! With a huge world map to guide us, we make curricular connections between geography, history, and art. The theme of symbol making runs through our studies as we discover how every culture creates its own unique symbols to communicate about the world around them.
The children started out on their journey in Forks Township, USA, by creating suitcases and passports. Then we flew to France to learn about the art of pre-historic times. It was so cool learning how young children discovered some of the world’s greatest cave paintings! We also found out how difficult it really is to try to draw a realistic looking woolly mammoth!
We sailed back to North America to discover the cultural art traditions of our Native Americans. We buried our beautifully designed paper pottery in the desert sands to be discovered by archeologists some day. We used difficult pastel techniques to recreate Pueblo houses. And our prairie animals are filled with colorful symbols and patterns!
For the month of December we cruised across the North Atlantic Ocean to Africa where we are learning about ancient Egypt. Making a realistic map of the Nile River / Red Sea / Sahara Desert region is hard work but fun! We will continue our journey into Africa by learning about the art of various tribal regions.
Then onto Greece, Europe (the
Middle Ages), Asia and Mexico!
All in a year’s art....I mean...work!
Come aboard!!
Submitted by Barbara Tracy,
Forks Art Teacher
Art Class Travels
ESL Takes
Storytelling
to the Web
The students studied the works of authors Doreen Cronin and Betsey Lewin, the authors of the "Click, Clack Moo, Cows that Type" series of books. We looked at the importance of alliteration, character development, irony, personification, plot and resolution in developing strong well written and humorous stories! The students then created their own versions of the Cronin and Lewin's book series! We had a very busy classroom with monkeys, tigers, mice and even penguins typing! The students enjoyed creating their original art pieces and then working with sound studio and keynote to create podcasts. Check them out here!
Although our classroom literally turned into a zoo at times, the authentic writing experience made lasting impressions on the students!
Laura Warren and Tiffany Bandics ESL teachers EAMS5/6