Frida - Inspired Self-Portraits

Do Now: Draw a cover for a book titled, "One Spooky Night at Harlem Academy"

The 3rd and 4th graders continued to work on their Frida - inspired Self-Portraits. We will be finished with them next Tuesday, FEbruary 4th!

Chinese New Year

In honor of the Chinese New Year this Friday, January 31st, the 1st and 2nd grade studied China as part of our World Art unit. 

First, we looked at a slideshow about the Chinese New Year, which you can view below.

Next, we worked on our project - making Chinese lanterns! 

The lanterns are wonderfully easy to make. Fold a piece of paper in half lengthwise. Then cut strips along the folded side that end about 2 inches from the opposite edge. Unfold the paper, then staple the edges together so the crease is along the center of the lantern. Enjoy!

Frida - Inspired Self-Portraits 

Do Now: Invent a new sea creature. What does it look like? What is it called?

During today's class the 3rd and 4th graders continued their study of Frida Kahlo, though rather than paint pictures of her, they began to start self-portraits. These portraits will be in the same style as Frida Kahlo, so they will show each student from the shoulders up, looking at the viewer, in front of a colorful background. Frida often painted herself with her pets, and students were encouraged to include animals in their self-portraits.

We started sketching today and will begin to paint next class!

Asia:Russia 

Do Now: Invent a new sea creature. What does it look like? What is it called?

Today we continued our study of Asia, moving on to the world's largest country: Russia. 

We were very lucky to have 2 guests, Mr. and Mrs. Lushtak. The Lushtaks have two children in our 1st and 2nd grade classroom, and all four of them were born in Russia! Mr. Lushtak and the two children left Russia when they were very young, while Mrs. Lushtak spent most of her life in Russia. 

They told us know that today is a very big holiday in Russia, because it is the 70th anniversary of the end of the Siege of Leningrad during World War II. 

Next, Mrs. Lushtak shared with us her experiences of going to school in Russia. School is only from 9am-12pm, but it is 6 days a week!

Mr. Lushtak is a musician, and he brought in his guitar to sing us some Russian songs! The whole family helped sing along. 

After some more stories, students had a chance to ask the Lushtaks additional questions. While they asked, we began to work on our project, Russian Nesting Dolls. 

Russian Nesting Dolls, called "Matryoshka" or "Little Mother" in Russian, are wooden toys invented in Russia in the late 1800s. 

Mr. Lushtak showed us how to write "Matryoshka" using Russian letters.

For our project, we colored in Matryoshka dolls, cut them out, and arranged them in size order from largest to smallest. Many students are still working on their projects, so take a look at what we have so far…

Creativity in the Classroom 

Today, Harlem Academy's Winter 2014 Newsletter was published. 

Our art class was featured in one of the articles, entitled "Creativity in the Classroom: Students Get Excited About Visual Arts". 

Take a look at the article here.

Women Artists: Frida Kahlo 

Do Now: Draw a picture of something you were just reading about during independent reading.

In class today we continued our study of Frida Kahlo. Students finished up their portraits of Frida, cut out their portraits, decorated a colorful piece of paper with pastels and crayons, then glued their colored pencil portrait to the elaborate backgrounds they made. The pieces look beautiful! 

Asia: Japan 

Do Now: Imagine you could cast a magic spell. What would your spell look like? Draw a picture and write a sentence. 

Today the 1st and 2nd graders began to learn about Asia, starting with the country of Japan. Japan is an island west of China and North and South Korea. 

After looking at a map of Japan, we read a short book by Rosemary Wells, "Yoko's Paper Cranes". In this story, a girl and her family move away from Japan to the United States and she keeps in touch with her grandparents by sending paper cranes back and forth from Japan to California. 

We then began our art project, decorating Japanese fans. It is very humid in Japan in the summer, so many Japanese people carry around beautifully decorated fans. 

Students chose a design and decorated their fan with colored pencils and watercolors.

While they worked, we read "The Way We Do It in Japan" by Geneva Cobb Iijima. The book describes a family that moves from California to Japan, following a little boy and his new experiences. 

The fans came out beautifully. If you would like to download your own fan template, click here.