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Thursday, February 19, 2015

Grade 3: Chinese Dragons

This picture is why I love being a teacher... And this one too...

I began blogging several years ago as a means of communicating our days in the art room with Bear Tavern families but found comfort in talking about projects just as much. There's SO much going on related to education right now but these pictures are my goal for each day. Despite paperwork and meetings and this and that... it's these smiles that keep me alive. I guess any mom reading those knows exactly what I mean and on a higher level of thought that we share. We do what we need to do for our children's smiles. 

If you have stopped by the room in the patsy few weeks, you know that we have major sculptural projects going on with 8 classes. I accidentally slipped and told my 3rd graders we would be creating clay dragons for Chinese New Year. Well, they have perfect memories for anything clay. So, although a neater, 2D project would have been easier, I couldn't go back on my word. So, out came the clay. And the rest became a magical moment. 
We tend to talk a lot and all sorts of conversations can come up while creating art but the conversation about our dragons as we created them were incredible. By the time class was over, the ownership of these dragons was through the roof and we had a clear idea of the personality of each dragon, storylines, fantasy thinking about where the dragons came from and where they are headed... When they say "get lost in your art" we definitely were there today 200%.

The process was an easy one. Begin with a body and let your imagination go wild! Some kids had wings, others had powerful tails. We added scales for texture on most but it was up to each artist to determine what their dragon needed. 

(Love the idea for spikes on this guy... They will have to be added back in after bisque firing in the kiln)
The kids are doing a writing piece with their homeroom teacher about their dragons. I can't wait to read them.

Hope you're all having a great week. Happy Chinese New Year!

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