Family Photo 

Do Now: What is one thing you did over the weekend? Draw a picture and write one sentence. 

"I went to swimming lessons"

"On the weekend I went to New Jersey and on Saturday me and my friend went to Chuck E. Cheese and my friend is named Alana."

"I went on a Stevie Wonder concert. We helped the recycling people." (read more about the concert here)

"On Saturday I went to Saturday Club." (Read more about Saturday Club here )

Now that the 1st and 2nd grade has finished our Intro to Art unit, we are beginning our next unit: Families. The 1st grade is studying families in social studies, beginning with the concept of the Nuclear Family (members of your family who live in your home with you) and the Extended Family (members of your family who do not live in your home with you).

We began by reading the book "Family Photo" by Dana Meachen Rau. This quick read shows a large family getting ready for what seems like a family photo - on the last page, we realize that the little boy arranging his family is actually organizing them to take a photograph of him!

For our project today, we made "Family Photo"-inspired pictures. Instead of a regular family portrait, the 1st and 2nd graders drew pictures of themselves taking photographs of their families! 

Look closely at each drawing to find the artist holding a camera...

Iroquois Plate Game 

Do Now: You are a toy designer. Draw your new toy and write 1 sentence describing it. 

"A toy that makes wishes. Say something in the microphone and you get what you want!"

"The eye phone"

"Make-A-Brother/Sister. You can make your own sibling! Note: Don't take in the water or else!"

"A talking refrigerator!"

"A hand that you can use instead of getting up yourself, and a remote to track something if you lost it in your house."

"This is a toy of old people who would like to play with an Abraham Lincoln Doll."

"I would make a board game called The <3 of Manhattan"

To continue with our Native American Art, the 3rd and 4th grade made their own Iroquois board game.  Each student received a bag of materials that contained a paper plate, a piece of paper with a circle divided into 4 sections, 6 dried lima beans, and instructions to play the game.

First, students drew four animals, one in to each section of the circle. They drew a bear,  a deer, a turtle, and a wolf, four animals that represent some of the Iroquois tribes.

Next, students cut out the circle and glued it to the center of the plate. 

The last step is to color half of each of the six lima beans, leaving one half its natural white color. 

To play the game:

1. Place the six beans on the plate, and grab the plate with two hands.

2. Bang the ground next to the plate so that the beans hop up and then land.

3. If 4 (or more) of the 6 beans land on the same color, you get 1 point!

4. You and your partner take turns. The first player to reach 10 points wins the game. 

Color Dictionary 

Do Now: Draw a necktie and design a pattern on it. 

For our last class in the "Introduction to Art" unit, the 1st and 2nd graders made color dictionaries. 

The dictionaries include all the color groups we have learned so far: primary colors, secondary colors, warm colors, cool colors, and complementary colors.

Primary Colors 

                              Secondary Colors

Warm colors

Cool colors

Complementary colors 

After recording all the color groups, students had to draw a picture using the colors from only one of the groups. 

While students worked, our 7th grade volunteer read Alice and Greta's Color Magic by Steven J. Simmons. Afterwards, students made Simmons-inspired drawings where all the colors were scrambled!

Intro to Native American Art 

Do Now: Draw a necktie and design a pattern on it. 

Today the 3rd and 4th graders began their second unit - Native American Art. Now that we have finished our introduction to art and basic color theory, our units will be linked to the 3rd and 4th grade social studies curriculum. The 3rd grade is beginning a unit on the early inhabitants of New York, so we will spend the duration of the unit studying Native Americans through their art.

First we brainstormed what we already knew about Native Americans, then we looked at a map of New York state. The map below includes six of the largest Native American tribes that lived in New York. Together, these six tribes formed the Iroquois Nation. 

Next, we read an Iroquois folktale called Turtle's Race with Bear . In this folktale, Bear insults Turtle and calls him slow. Turtle challenges Bear to a race, and, using his wits and his family, beats Bear. 

Students listened to the folktale twice, reflected on its relevance to our 4 school pillars, and drew their favorite part of the tale.