Clay seems to be the most popular media among students when it comes to art projects. Probably because it's so messy...lucky for me I have wonderful 4th graders who are so very responsible in the art room and always leave the room spotless (well...close to spotless). Some classes finished their fall tree pictures this week while others began to create their clay totem poles. Soon enough we will all be on to clay!
While some 4th grade classes are finishing up their fall trees, some are beginning the new project. With Thanksgiving approaching along with the Native American unit in Social Studies, the 4th graders are learning about Native American art in the art room. Focusing on totem poles, we discussed the purpose/uses of totem poles, how they were/are created (click here to watch the modern artist David Boxley, a Tsimshian Native American, carve a totem pole) and where they can be viewed today. Luckily, we live near Chicago and can visit the Field Museum to see some real totem poles. Students then had a chance to reflect on their own personalities, and choose an animal to feature on their totem pole as a representation of themselves. We will be starting to build our totems out of clay next week.
4th graders were asked what words they think of when they hear "fall." In class, we came up with a list of fall words, and then used these words to create the backgrounds for our fall trees. The words loop around the page to lead the viewers eye in to our fall trees, the center-of-interest!
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