Every week I have the unique opportunity to interact closely with more than 700 students in grades K-6, each with different skills and attributes. It is a pleasure to spend time with them and watch as their creative minds devour information and generate new ideas.
As an art specialist it is my pleasure to help students cultivate imaginative skills that can be applied to every other aspect of their lives.
These children are creative, uninhibited, happy, diverse, kind and productive. They watch out for each other and patiently work together to address problems. I love being a part of this welcoming school community.
My Project
At our school we are looking for opportunities to lift others and focus on the good works that we see. We would like to create an art show filled with student projects that focus on ways that we can be encouraging and helpful. We plan to start by asking each student to create a feather which will become part of a huge mural of wings in the hallway. On the back of each feather each student will commit to perform at least one kind deed for someone else. When we stick together, just like the feathers in a wing, we can accomplish great things and soar to great heights.
Muhammad Ali said, "The man who has no imagination has no wings." By giving children the opportunity to invent and work expressively we cultivate creativity and establish an environment where students know their ideas are important.
For this art show each grade level will be creating projects that support the theme of "We rise by lifting others." Each student will produce an artwork that has some sort of wing, feather, bird or other device that will motivate them to lift others. Students will be creating giant paper maché insects, enormous watercolor owls, mixed media chickens, colorful painted butterflies, textured clay birds, and even humans that fly. We will explore different kinds of paint, make our own feather quills for drawing, learn about paper armatures and 3-D techniques. We will use oil pastels for blending and decorating clay and we'll use colored pencils and paint to design wings to fly.
When finished, each student will write an artist's statement explaining how their winged creature will lift others. All of their pieces will be displayed in an art show so that parents and the community can walk away feeling lifted as well.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Gray and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
