Expressive Arts Newsletter for Sept. 1999.

ArtExpress

All Around the Sites

Volume 4

Issue 1

September 1999

Classroom Activities

Welcome!
Project NOW Head Start Twenty people from Project NOW Head Start attended the three-day Expressive Arts Outreach Training workshop in Silvis, Illinois on June 1, 2, 3, 1999. They will begin replicating the ArtExpress model in their classrooms this fall. We look forward to having them share their classroom experiences and activity ideas.

Shannon Kellogg (Northwestern ECE Program) and her K-1 Transition class became inventors and made great musical instruments from recycled materials last spring. She plans to introduce the concept of being an inventor with her ECE children this fall. The children will come up with their own inventions. Successful ideas her children came up with included:

making wrist bells using pipe cleaners and craft jingle bells
creating paper maché maracas--they filled balloons with bird seed, attached a craft stick and then began the paper maché process.
covering blocks of wood with sand paper; adding old thread spools for handles to create sand blocks
making rain sticks from Pringle cans
making drums from mixed nuts cans
creating rhythm sticks from dowel rods and aluminum pie pans
using metal lids from juice bottles to make tambourines

The children decorated shoe boxes to make a special place to keep their instruments. (note: really like the idea that each child has his or her own set of musical instruments and a special place to keep them when not being used. Let us know how these inventor ideas work with the younger children.)

Cheryl Pilcher (Lafayette Center Pre-K Program) says the new acrylic easel in her classroom has become an adventure in painting, printing, and clean-up! In the spring, children enjoyed the "spring colored" paints placed at the easel. She then placed a bouquet of lilacs between the two easel boards so the children could see the flowers from both sides. Some children painted their own bouquet. Cheryl showed the children how to put paper on top of their finished work and make a print by rubbing gently. When finished children used a sponge to clean the easel for the next painter. Children thought this was a fun activity.

Cheryl and her program assistant, Lee, attended an IRC two-day workshop in Urbana on "Nurturing Art in Early Childhood." Cheryl reports that it was an excellent workshop and gave them both more background in art and many ideas to implement. Cheryl also said, "It was great having my assistant go too, so we are thinking on the same wave length!"

Field Sketching - "Engaging Children in Drawing."
Judy Potter, Susan Schoon, and Carol Schneider attended an Arts workshop conducted by Silvia Chard (co-author of The Project Approach) at Wildlife Prairie Park near Peoria, Illinois. It was called "Engaging Children in Drawing." Sylvia demonstrated the importance of observational drawing by giving us all clipboards, paper and drawing tools and sent us outside to do field sketches. We had a great time and learned many things.

Drawing is an important skill for children to develop.
Drawing, like reading, develops with experience and encouragement.
Even very young children can draw.
Drawing enriches childrenís lives and enhances their understandings.
Drawing communicates differently than writing--drawing represents more complex events than writing or verbal communication.
Drawing helps children remember past experience--helps children listen better.
When drawing children look closely and observe carefully--there is a quiet, calm concentration.
Drawing provides products to talk about with adults and other children.

Classroom Activities

Have Clipboard-Will Travel--Small clipboards can be made for each child, using an 8" x 11" piece of heavy cardboard as a base. Secure a clip to the cardboard to hold several pieces of blank paper. If interesting artifacts, such as a collection of leaves, pine cones, or pebbles are on display in the science area, encourage children to take their clipboards with some drawing/writing tools over to make study drawings. Children can also take their clipboards on walks or on field trips to make field drawings and words of what they hear and see. Children can draw pictures and/or write down sounds or sights they encounter. After the walk or field trip, children can share their information with adults and peers.

Software Alternatives:

The Amazing Writing Machine (Brøderbund) lets a child create a journal or book on the computer and then print in out. In this program children can both draw, paint, use stamps, and write on each page.
Kid Pix Studio (Brøderbund) is a children's drawing and painting program. Children can also stamp letters or use the type option to write. The drawings can be saved and placed in a slide show or printed out to create a book.
Disney's Magic Artist (Disney) and IBM's Crayola Make a Masterpiece (IBM Inc.) both have many drawing and painting options. Children can choose to draw or write, collect their work in a portfolio, show a slide show, and print out to create a book.
HyperStudio (Roger Wagner) is another way children can create a book about their learning experiences in the home, in the classroom and on field trips.

Create a Book--Children's experiences at home, in class, or on field trips add to their learning. Talking, drawing, and writing about the experiences fosters emergent literacy development. After a field trip or other shared learning experience, tell the children that you are going to help them make a book about it. Offer several sheets of paper and invite children to draw pictures of their experiences. Ask children open-ended questions, such as "Tell me about this part of our trip to the train station. What was happening in this picture?" Listen as children describe each picture and, on a separate sheet of paper, write down the words exactly as the child says them. These pages can go into the
book next to the appropriate picture. Ask each child to help you put the pictures and words in the right order, according to what happened first, next, and last during the trip. Children can create a cover from poster board or colorful construction paper. Ask children to draw on and title their cover then write their name. Bind all pages together inside the cover, then place it in the reading area so the child can share it with the other children. Children can also make a group experience book, each child drawing a different part of the experience. At one of the Expressive Arts Outreach sites children became authors of a group classroom book. Each child had a page with his or her photograph, name, self portrait drawing, and emergent writing. Children had great fun reading their book to one another.