My fourth graders are learning about one of my most favorite places, Japan! I took a trip to Tokyo a few years back and was amazed at their culture. I fell in love with their sincerity, their pride, their food, their art, all of it. Take me back, any day!
Thankfully, My students didn't have to hop on a fourteen hour plane ride to travel all the way there. We watched this video on the legend of the koi fish. We talked about legends, symbols, and culture. We looked at pictures and talked about what is similar and different between their culture and ours. We drew a Koi fish and outlined it with sharpies. We then colored in the fish and the water with washable markers. We took our paintbrushes out and dabbed water onto our colored fish and watched the makers bleed together. We had to do the fish and the water on separate days so our colors wouldn't mix together. We then took markers and crayons to add Contrast to our pictures for a more dramatic effect. Job well done, Fourth Graders!
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First Graders looked at the awesome artist, Jennifer Mercedes. She has lots of amazing paintings, but her giraffes are my favorite. I love that spontaneity of her work, the "mess" and the control. The colors are beautiful and her artwork is so inviting for children and adults. The kids feel a little more at ease drawing something new because their "oops" lines or mistakes are able to be embraced. Here are a few pictures of her work that we looked at and discussed: And then they set out to make their own! Don't these just make you happy?
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