Identity, Diversity, Representation...

As we continue to examine Hispanic heritage both inside and outside of the atelier, kindergarten classes embarked on a discussion about their own identity, thoughts about diversity and began exploring ways to represent their ideas.  In the past few weeks, we have been learning about the lives of others- lives that are different from our own.  We learned that in many cultures, people are self-sufficient, hunting and gathering for food to eat, building shelter and homes, and making their own clothing.  People also make a living by selling the items that they make.  We discovered that climate also effects the artwork people create - the Huichol in Mexico rely on the hot, hot sun to melt beeswax in order to construct their beautiful yarn paintings.  As we discover more about others, we are also discovering a lot about ourselves.  Some of our families hunt, some of our families sew - and a lot of our lives mirror the lives of people around the world!  This began a discussion about identity -- what makes you ... you?  Students took turns telling stories about themselves - who they live with, what they like to do and they also shared their likes and dislikes.  We learned that a lot of people dislike broccoli and almost all of us enjoy pizza.  Through these discussions, we encouraged each other to celebrate both our similarities and our differences.  After, we thought of ways to represent, or show, who we are.  Together we decided that a painting might best show who we are.  Students examined their faces in a mirror - showing all emotions and also examined the lines and shapes they were going to draw.  We talked about proportion and distances -- how close are our eyes? How long is our nose? Where is our mouth in relationship to our eyes?  What about our ears?  In the art studio, we learn to look in terms of line, space and shape and while students were drawing, they were putting their vast knowledge to practice!  Since we spent so much time discussing, I promised all students that next week we will spend the entire class painting!  I can't wait to see what our scholars come up with!

Pre-K4 continued to examine their bodies in motion and completed a guided discovery on wire.  Students bent, twisted, cut and formed wire to follow a line that represented the movement of their bodies in dance (from last week's lesson on Latino music).  Look for a display of their wire sculptures within the week!  Preschool worked hard on painting their masks and maracas -- I think we are really ready for our Hispanic Heritage festival!  Parent volunteers are still needed to make traditional dishes as well as to make crafts!