Andrew Goldsworthy

The 5th grade class spent several weeks before Christmas learning about the artist Andrew Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy is an artist and environmentalist from our time. He creates his artwork from the items he finds available in the outdoors. As the 5th graders are learning about earth science this project fits in well with their classroom curriculum. The kids really enjoyed this project as they got to be outside a lot and really use their imaginations. I had so much fun watching them create and get excited about what they were learning. They had to use materials that they found on the school grounds. The weather changed a lot in the weeks we worked and by the time they installed their artwork there was snow on the ground and it was really, really cold.

Kandinsky

To prepare for "Picture the Music" I had the 1st and 2nd grade look at the artist Kandinsky. We talked about his theory that color can express emotion just like music expresses emotion. We discussed how different colors can stand for different emotions ex. red for anger. They then each made their own color study with concentric circles like Kandinsky's famous work. I was thrilled with how engaged the kids were in this project. They really enjoyed learning about the artist and talking about color.

Finished Canopic Jars

I let the kids use more colors with their paints this year compared to last and I really like the result. They look great.