Integrating Music & Art

It began with a single idea...to teach the art of Romare Bearden to my fourth graders.  As I researched Romare's life, a major theme began to emerge, his love of jazz music and how it influenced his art.  I realized I could not teach about his art without teaching about the music and the exciting time in our history known as the Harlem Renaissance.  But, anyone that knows really me knows that I am not musical.  I love music, and I love to sing, and I appreciate almost all genres of music.  But, I am NOT musical.  So, I decided to ask the music teacher if she could teach our students about Jazz, to set the stage for the art.  She agreed, enthusiastically, and our integrated lessons began to form.  Then I thought, there are SO many wonderful books on the subject of jazz musicians and African American artists form that period in history, that maybe the librarian wouldn't mind reading the students books on the subject.  She decided to read books to the lower grades, and let the upper grades do research and write about a favorite artist or musician.  The computer teachers had the upper grades do Power Points on jazz, choosing their favorite jazz instrument, musician and artist, writing about the Harlem Renaissance,  and setting it all to music.
The lessons in art were as follows:
Kindergarten; Jazz Cat Collages
1st grade: Mardis Gras masks and necklaces
2nd grade: Jazz Instrument relief prints
3rd grade: Jazz Instrument Paper collage
4th grade: Romare Bearden Inspired mixed media collage
5th grade: Paper Mache Jazz instruments
There is so much I could say on the subject, and looking back on my blog sometimes I feel as if I write too much about a subject.  So I will end with a few student comments about the integrated curriculum, and ask you to message me if you would like additional information about any of the lessons or how we went about doing this in our school.
"I learned more about the saxophone by making one that I would have by reading words".
"Now when I spend the weekend with my grandma and we listen to jazz on the radio, I can tell her what kind of jazz it is and I know some of the artists.  That makes her smile really big".
"I learned about jazz and art better because I had it in all my classes".
When we asked the kids if they got tired about hearing about the same subject in all their classes, they all said "No way!  It was fun!  We wish we didn't have to stop!"

Art is Cooler than TV

Art is...Cooler than TV

In my art room I hung two large sheets of butcher paper on my walls below my windows.  One says "Art Is..." and the other says "Today in Art I Learned...".  When my students are finished early with their projects, one of the things they can do is write on the posters.  There are rules (and yes, I have had a couple students break them).  The rules are...write only school appropriate statements on the posters.  Try to think of something more meaningful to say than art is fun or cool (it is both of those things, but we have A LOT of that on the posters...think of something more original to say).  It is not to just write your name on...you must SAY something.  No inappropriate drawings.  The students have completely filled the papers up and I will be replacing them with fresh papers in the new year.  It has touched me, made me smile and laugh and made me realize the impact that art and my class have made on my students.  Writing and fine arts go hand in hand...they are the best ways to express ourselves.  What words can't say the fine arts can...but, words are powerful.  (I have typed out what my students wrote below each picture to make it easier to read, some with their misspellings, some corrected if I thought you just wouldn't be able to tell what it said. :) 

Art is My Life, My Soul, My Generation. Art is Me!

In art I learned that you still can be smart if you mess up.

(Art) helps me learn new things.

I love art because it expresses me.

Art is to show your feeling.

Art is a way to have fun.

Art is...Sweet, Awesume, Cool, Fun, Wonderful.  :)

Art is what you need.

(I learned how to draw a bird. I like birds. I believe that I did a beautiful bird.  I love art!)

That art is for you to express yourself.

(Today in Art I learned) that I am a very good at art.

(Today in Art I Learned) how to draw a blue dog.

(Today in Art I Learned) how to make a fish.  How to do step by step.

(Today in Art I Learned) I love art and myself.

(Today in Art I Learned) Keep Trying.

Art is a way to have fun.

Today I learned how to draw a bird.

Art come from the heart.

Art smart class is cool.

Art is...Radical.

Art is a thing I am addicted to.

I love Art. It is so amaving, asowome, cool for everyone.

Art is cool.

Art is...Creative.

Art you show your felling that come from your heart.

Art is Fun.

Today in Art I Learned...(I learn to draw a bird).

Art fill my heart with joy and Ms. Gallow is the best art teacher.  (Vernecya, you fill MY heart with joy!)

I learn how to make a bird and I like birds.  Mrs. Gallow show us her picture when she was 6 and her picture was beautiful.  (I framed the first drawing I remember making...a bird that I rubbed with a crayon when I was 6 years old.  My mother freaked out when I showed her and said it was the best bird she had ever seen.  She gave me a photo album to put my artwork in and I have had that drawing ever since.  I decided to put it in a frame and bring it into my art room.  My students are always asking me, when did you first start doing art?  What was the first thing you ever drew?  Did you like to draw when you were little?  So, I brought in my bird to show them.  They were just as encouraging as my mother...they all told me how beautiful my bird was.  That's all any of us need is a little encouragement, a little affirmation that what comes from us is good and beautiful, because maybe that means that we are, too.  I'm drawn to art because it brings me joy, and I hope that I can instill that same sense of joy in my students, no matter what they're interested in.  

I love art and I learned how to draw a blue dog and I learned about the artist George Rodrigue.

Art is my way to express myself.  I love Art.

Monochromatic Self-Portraits

    Thanks to the wonderful Elementary Art Fun Blog (http://elementaryartfun.blogspot.com/2010/08/first-week-of-school-ideas.html) and a fellow teacher finding this project there and sharing it with us, we created these wonderful self-portraits for our first art class of the school year.  Now these bright, happy faces, K-5,  line the main hallway of our school and are creating a lot of smiles! 

    Students were given a set of monochromatic colors in crayons, colored pencils and markers.  They were instructed on how to draw a simple portrait and add their own unique charateristics to it.  I showed them a portrait of myself that was done in reds, and I asked the students to tell me what they noticed about my portrait, hoping they'd pick up on the color scheme.  But, most said they noticed my hair was pretty, or that I had on lipstick or glasses in my portrait, and I was eating up the compliments.  When one first grade boy at the back of the room seemed to have an epiphany, his hand flew up in the air and he said, "I know!  I know!".  I said, "Yes, what is it?"  He said, "I know, you look better!"  Gotta love first graders!!!

Mexican Folk Art

     Last October, we studied the Folk Art of Mexico.  Los Dias de los Muertos (The Days of the Dead) is traditionally celebrated on Nov. 1st (All Saints Day) and 2nd (All Soul's Day) in Mexico.  Family and friends gather to pray for and remember their lost loved ones.  Private alters (ofrendas) are built to honor the deceased using items like pictures of their loved ones, candles, marigolds, the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and most popular, sugar skulls.  

    Leading up to the Day of the Dead, students at all levels learned about the folk art associated with this holiday and other types of Mexican folk art, as well.  When the art projects were completed, we made a beautiful art display in the main hallway of our school.

    Kindergarten contributed decorated cones filled with tissue paper flowers to hang on the walls and brightly colored lanterns to line the hall. 

    1st grade painted brightly vivid Zapotec Rainbow Blankets to hang from the ceiling.  They were a cooperative learning project, for which each student was responsible for creating rhea knots along the edges of the blanket for the fringe, and a specific color of stripe in the blanket.  They created a pattern with their colors, waiting to take their turns, encouraging each other and problem solving along the way. 

    2nd grade painted this gorgeous flower mural; each class contributing a different layer to it in another cooperative learning effort.  One class made the initial drawings of the flowers in oil pastel, another painted them in with tempera, another added more details with oil pastels, such as insects, butterflies and veins in the leaves, and the last class added more paint. This project was found on the Painted Paper blog.  It was a wonderful success and added so much to our display.

    3rd grade learned about the art of Mexican folk art of metal tooling.  Embossing designs like suns, maracas, parrots, flowers, birds and lizards on the surface of the metal, the students then colored them in with brightly colored permanent markers.  I found this project on the Kinder Art website.  Each classes' projects were made into long connected hangings with beads on the top and bottom.  These were one of the favorite parts of our display!

    4th grade watched a video on Dias de los Muertos, which highlighted the making of sugar skulls and the bright, ornate decorations that adorn them.  Oil pastel "portraits" of sugar skulls were drawn and decorated with flowers and fun patterned backgrounds to add to their whimsy.  In Mexico, during Dias de los Muertos, there is a spirit of poking fun at the dead and honoring their lives with laughter and joy.  Our sugar skulls definitely put a smile on all our faces!

    Finally, 5th grade learned about the skeleton, making these wonderful reliefs out of art straws called "Funny Bones".  Skeletons (calaveras) are seen everywhere in Mexico during this time of year, dressed in all kinds of costumes or clothing; it is tradition to dress the calaveras up just as the departed loved ones they are honoring dressed.  We thought about someone we might want to honor and how they would have dressed.  One student made a military uniform in honor of her deceased grandfather, another made a flower printed dress in memory of her grandmother.  Most made clothing that represented their own ideas of how they wanted their skeleton to look; like a skateboarder or a rock star.  They embellished their art with yarn for hair, sequins and buttons on the clothes, and even beads for the skateboard wheels.  Skeletons were shown in motion; dancing, skateboarding, rocking out.  We discussed how the parts of our body would realistically move into different positions.  

    This unit was a wonderful way to tie in social studies and health science to our curriculum and brought so much cultural and community pride to our school.  We looked at the areas of Mexico we were studying on our world map, often making personal connections to the places and people who lived there.  We discussed the traditions and beliefs of our neighbors to the southwest of us, and learned about the art history and processes used to create the art in another country.  We found similarities and differences in all of these areas as we immersed ourselves in the rich art and historical traditions of Mexico.  Most of all, we discovered a real spirit of cooperation and team work in the art room.  This is what community is all about!