Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

A couple weeks ago the Sixth graders learned about the Atomic Bombing about Hiroshima. They also learned about a young girl named Sadako Sasaki. Sadako survived the blast only, at the age of twelve, to develop leukeima which was attributed directly to the bomb. While in the hospital a friend gave her a golden paper crane and told her the legend of the thousand paper cranes. If a person makes a thousand cranes they can have any wish they want. Sadako began folding as many as she could, hopeful that she might wish herself healthy again. Sadly, she passed away by the time she made 644. Sadako's friends completed the rest. The city of Hiroshima built a memorial to the children that died in the atomic bomb. The memorial is comprised of a statue or Sadako holding a crane and bell in the shape of a golden crane. Surrounding the statue and bell are glass cases filled with paper cranes sent to Hiroshima by children from all over the world.
The Sixth Graders in Mrs. Imel and Mrs. Hamlow's class are working to make a thousand paper cranes that they will send to Japan. The hope is that they will hang in this meaningful and important memorial with cranes made by children the world over.

The following are links to information about:

Sadako Sasaki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_Sasaki

The Legend of the Thousand Paper Cranes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_origami_cranes

Children's Peace Monument:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Peace_Monument

Fifth Grade -Shapes, Shading, and Ribbons-Mr. Strolberg's Class

The Fifth Graders continued to work on their shading and three-dimensional shape drawing project. In this post you can see examples of the project they worked on last week where they practiced shading by drawing ribbons and using a pencil to create the illusion of light and dark. Today, the Fifth Graders learned to draw three-dimensional shapes, shade them, and then rearrange those shapes to create correct human proportions.

Louise Nevelson Painting-Miss Horner's Class

Fourth Graders are almost finished with their found art sculptures! Students are seen here working to finish up painting or gluing on any last minute found object.

Starry Nights-Ms. Evans Class

These First Graders worked hard to finish their "Starry Night" pictures today! Check some of them out.

Eric Carle Paintings Part One-Mrs. Sickbert

The Kindergarteners are learning the job of a book illustrator. These students are have already looked at the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?" illustrated by Eric Carle. Today, I read them a collection of poems illustrated by Eric Carle as well. We talked about the job of an author and the job of an illustrator. I told them that Eric Carle illustrates books and sometimes writes them. Then I told them that he creates pictures by painting pieces of paper, letting them dry and then cutting out the shapes he needs. Today, we began by painting three pieces of paper, red, yellow, and blue. We are going to make a picture of a mouse the way Mr. Carle would do it.

Personal Countries

Ms. Fredricks class began a mulit-class lesson where the students' are creating their own country. To begin the country building process students created a flag. We talked about what the United States Flag looked like and what each part represented. Then we looked at flags from other parts of the world. Then students started designing their own flags and coloring them with colored pencil.

Lousie Nevelson Sculptures Painted!

Today, Mrs. Blubaum's class began painting their sculpture. The students are painting them all black like Nevelson painted her sculptures.

Starry Nights!- Mrs. Smith's Class

Mrs. Smith's First Grade class just finished their "Starry Night" pictures. They did a great job and worked really hard. Here are a few pics of these students working on their art!

Starry Nights!

First Graders learned about Vincent Van Gogh and his painting "Starry Night". On this post they are beginning the process of making their own painting/ drawing of Van Gogh's famous work of art.

Louise Nevelson Found Art Sculpture

The Fourth Graders learned about the artist Louise Nevelson. Nevelson made art out of everyday objects that she found. She would glue these found objects together in new ways to create interesting sculptures. She would finally paint the completed piece all black or white in order to make all the separate pieces look like one whole work. Using wooden sticks and random objects Fourth Graders are making their own versions of a found art sculpture. When everyone has finished theirs I will assemble them all together to make their own Louise Nevelson type sculpture. In this post the students are assembling this found art sculptures.

Shape Shifting!

Fifth Graders have been studying how to make three dimensional shapes. The students have also been practicing their shading skills by shading the shapes. This week I showed a group of Fifth Graders how to rearrange those shapes to resemble a human body. We talked about correct proportions. After practicing one student modeled while the rest of the class drew him.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Last week the Kindergarteners learned how to draw lines and turn those lines into squares, rectangles, circles, and triangles. This week I read the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" to them. After we finished the book I showed them how to turn the shapes they learned last week in a picture of a bear. The Kindergarteners then colored in their drawings. They turned out great! They also learned how to put a texture under their paper to give their bears interesting patterns in the fur.

Welcome Back!

Summer break has ended and students are back at school. A new year of art classes have begun as well. This year all classes have started by decorating their art folder with a multi-media self-portrait.