Pegasus, 6th Grade



History Comes Alive Through Art

   Fifth and sixth graders are currently working on a special project entitled,
History Comes Alive Through Art. This project was made possible by a grant from the
Syracuse City School District Educational Foundation. It is an interdisciplinary lesson connecting the fifth and sixth social studies curriculum with art. The cross-curricular connection encompasses both district curriculum and Common Core Standards. Students have researched history topics related to their curriculum content and are each  producing an approximately 6"x6" tile to contribute to two large tile murals; one for the fifth grade and one for the sixth. The theme for the fifth grade is United States history and the theme for the sixth grade is Ancient Greek history.

                                          Statue of Liberty, Grade 5

 
Students began by created a drawing on a paper the same size as their tile. This drawing was then transferred onto a ceramic clay tile.

                                         
                                         Greek Temple, Grade 6

   Sixth grade students are using terra cotta clay, the same type of clay used in ancient Greece. Some students worked in groups of two or four to create larger images such as this Greek temple. Sixth graders are creating tiles with themes such as Greek gods and goddesses, myths, historical figures and other aspects of ancient Greek life and culture.

                                          The Great Migration, Grade 5

   Fifth grade students have researched and are creating tiles depicting many different aspects of United States history such as the Civil War, Underground Railroad, the Great Migration, the Civil Rights Movement, the Westward Expansion and the Women's Rights Movement. Some of the tiles depict historical figures including Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony and Langston Hughes.

After transferring the drawing onto the clay tile, students created a relief sculpture of their image by adding pieces of clay. They learned that relief is a sculpture that stands out partially from the background.

   Next, glaze was added to the relief tile.

                                          Trojan Horse, Grade 6

                                         Minotaur,  Grade 6

                                        Greek Helmet, Grade 6

Owl Print Collage

       Fourth grade students created these multi-media artworks portraying owls in their habitats. The pictures combine elements of printmaking and collage. Students viewed and discussed a woodblock print of an owl by the 19th century Japanese printmaker, Hiroshige. They also looked at photographs of various species of of owls in nature.

       A printmaking plate was created using a styrofoam tray. After printing the owls using brayer and ink, a background was made using collage techniques. The owl prints were cut out and glued into the background.

                                                                               

Grade 5 - Animals of the Tropical Rain Forest Biome Drawing

Animals of the Tropical Rain Forest Biome Drawing - Grade 5

Learning Goal:  Students will be able to use pastel drawing techniques to create a drawing of an animal of the tropical rain forest biome.

This was an interdisciplinary lesson connected to the fifth grade science curriculum.  The science curriculum includes a study of biomes which are large ecosystems including many habitats.  Students learned about the various types of animals that live in the Amazon Rain Forest of Brazil.  Students read the book, The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynne Cherry and viewed the illustrations.  They also participated in a Visual Thinking Strategies discussion of a painting, The Tropics, by French painter Henri Rousseau. Students then compared the painting with Lynne Cherry's illustrations from The Great Kapok Tree. Each student chose an animal from the Amazon Rain Forest as the subject of their drawing. Some of the animals chosen were sloths, jaguars, monkeys, toucans and parrots. After learning pastel drawing techniques, students created their pictures.Students drew lines with black oil pastel and then applied chalk pastel colors using blending techniques.

Kindergarten - Van Gogh Sunflowers

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Kindergarten - Van Gogh Sunflowers

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Kindergarten students viewed and discussed Vincent Van Gogh's painting, Fifteen Sunflowers in a Vase.  They talked about his use of color, texture and brush stroke. Students created their own vases, cutting them so that they had symmetrical balance, and decorating with line patterns.  They learned about brush stroke by painting the petals of the sunflowers and completed their pictures by drawing the stems.