Art, Books, and Creativity... Summer Inspiration

 Teachers are creative,  passionate people... I spent last week in an intensive and rewarding institute at the Museum of Women in the Arts with 25 of them from around the region. It was inspirational and tons of fun! We delved deeper into Visual Thinking Theory (VTS) and explored the art of the book and ways to integrate both into the rest of the curriculum through the Arts, Books, and Creativity (ABC) curriculum. 

Art under a chandelier at the UMWA!

The NMWA museum educators are deeply committed to providing fabulous teacher education and a rich museum experience for all of us... and what a special place to spend our week!

Yours truly in her happy place surrounded by art materials!

 A possible new fun culmination to our 2nd grade "faces and color show emotion" unit

One of many project ideas: a tunnel book depicting the rainforest...
others explored DC architecture, the solar system,
and habitats of early Americans through this same medium


My deepest thanks to all my fellow educators who shared their ideas and passion, and to the workshop leaders who kept us exploring and challenged and creating and talking about art all week long!

Greek Art, Literature, History and Theater... What a Rich Experience!

As I was going through photos this summer, I remembered one of our end of the year informances that knocked my socks off and that I wanted to share here! The 4th grade team, lead by Judy Fratto and Kathy Echave, delved into a juicy unit on Greek myths and celebrated their learning with a captivating and polished Greek shadow puppet show. 

I felt privileged to collaborate by assisting students in creating the stunning Greek vase drawings you see on the curtains behind their stage production. We were able to extend our learning about the proportions of the human body as we drew our Greek figures in the form of Gods and Goddesses, olympic figures, and people performing everyday tasks. 

We also learned about the lip, neck, shoulders, body, and foot of a pot. And of course, we had a discussion on contrast and balance and the importance of the art of the Greek vase in our understanding of Greek life and mythology!