Early in the month, I introduced the concept of visual culture to our students. What exactly does this mean? Well, I've noticed that our students have been making huge connections between pictures and ideas (and although for an adult, making these connections seem obvious; for a child- it is huge that they are beginning to recreate meanings which later enable them to make more sense out of their world). Witnessing their ability to make such connections, I thought it was essential that we examine the one thing that is present in their everyday lives - visual media.
Visual media includes all that one sees in movies, television, books and magazines (which also includes advertisements). I consistently hear students discuss Spiderman, Batman, Dora, Princesses and the like. I also hear quite a bit about what is "for boys" (the blue crayons) and "for girls" (the pink ones). Since we need our students to practice drawing from observation, I thought what better subject matter would there be other than something they love so dearly? So I spent a Sunday printing pictures from the internet of famous characters and on Monday morning I laid out each picture carefully. As students entered the atelier, I observed the boys oohing over the more "manly" pictures, and the girls grabbing those that were of dolls, princesses or other "girl" things. What could I gather from this?
After a while, I collected the images and asked our students to complete a T-chart with me: Boys vs. Girls. This brought a great debate amongst our kindergarten classes. Students shocked me with their mature ways of thinking, but unfortunately, my main assumption was right. Biases and stereotypes from the media had already reached our children.
I reread their comments aloud and asked what they thought of their ideas. Many of the girls were mad at the one comment, "Girls stay at home and cook..." which lead to another discussion about the roles in our families. We found out that through our discussion, the majority of our families have both moms and dads that help cook and clean - and that it was not just a woman's job. Some men stay at home while some students have both parents that work. One student also pointed out that in many movies, the princesses do always clean (Snow White, Cinderella).
Thus began our discussion about being critical thinkers and critical examiners. An artist examines everything - breaking up all the parts and putting them back together again. In my lesson, I wanted to focus on our ability to examine and question what we see. Just because we see something does not make it true and it is very important to ask questions. We should never simply accept something, especially when we are thinking, "why..?"
We also looked at each picture and chose whether we thought it fit into the "boy," "girl," or "both" category. Students debated why a barbie should fit under the "girls only" category, but also began to understand why it could fit under both. Many children who had a sister or a brother as a sibling admitted to playing with their "girl" or "boy" toy. I discussed why it was okay to play with any toy- and that toys do not necessarily have to take on one specific gender.
During Mid-March, most classes dove deeply into their own projects. Mr. Jackson's class in particular has been working on the story of the Three Little Pigs. After sequencing the story, they began to draw each part (and then they began to sequence their own drawings!). Afterwards, students had the opportunity to build each of the pigs' homes. Because the students are working on a production very soon, we talked about the importance of a setting and a background. Students brainstormed ways to make the background and together we painted two backdrops. One of a stormy day - to illustrate the way the pigs felt with the big, bad wolf was in town and one of a happy, "rainbow day" - how the pigs felt at the end of the story. I can't wait to see the production come to fruition during the month of April!
Kindergarten began some work focusing on the idea of recycling and created a collaborative collage using only recycled materials. Ms. Cassandra's class will be putting on a production of "Junkyard Pirates" and soon we will all be working together to create recycled props!
PreK4 has been writing, writing, writing!! I am so impressed with their ability to sound out words and dictate their own pictures. After many weeks of working on what makes a story a good one - we've come up with some great ideas. Because we will be working on creating collaborative books in the next month, we agreed to keep it a secret until our publishing party! (Look for more of that at the end of April/early May)
We also squeezed in a lesson on "Look-Move-Build-Sketch" with a still life. Students entered the atelier and were greeted with a still-life provocation. Fresh flowers were set on the table along with seashells and other natural materials (by the second day, students were more interested in the seashells than anything else - so that's what we focused on) -- Each student had the chance to make a initial drawing of a shell and then was able to get up and make their bodies like the shell - students were asked, "how can your body mimic the shape of the shell?" After moving around in different ways, we went back to the drawing board again. The difference in drawings from the first to the second was phenomenal. When young students have a chance to truly experience something - in every sense possible, they begin to deeply understand it. -This practice just makes sense! When you are at home with your child and introducing something new, try to engage at least four of their senses and then ask open-ended questions about it - you will be amazed at what your children know and understand! It is my hope that we get more time to practice this new(er) approach to drawing in the next few months!
Speaking of the next few months -- we have a lot ahead of us! It is my sincere hope that when you are choosing where to place your child after this school year ends, that you choose to stay within our system and move with us over to the new 33 Riggs Road location. As always, you are welcome inside the art studio at any time - we would love to have you! Have a wonderful Spring Break!
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