Art: Observational Drawing

The girls practiced drawing what they see and they imagined a tiny, very slow ant walking around the edge of the object being observed. This time they drew pumpkins.  We discussed briefly that the pumpkin they see in their mind (orange, round, green stem, and maybe a face carved into it) was different than the pumpkin they see with their eyes.  Because the ant walks so slowly they had to draw very slowly to record every up and down and swirl around of the contour line. Their eyes were tired, but they did a great job! What can they draw from observation in the home? Outside? 

Art: Experience

The girls will be working with many different materials this year and learning basic techniques and art vocabulary.  The way this happens, however, is through discovery and sharing observations in the art studio.  The language of art is drawn out of their experience.  We often work with opposites to describe the possibilities and limitations with materials. For example, when I press the crayon hard I get a dark mark; when I press the crayon gently I get a light mark.  Through sharing and comparing experiences (What is similar? What is different?), they will expand their ideas and try new things.  

Our Trip to the Farm

The rain held off to give us a wonderful day for a trip to the farm. We loved having so many parents join us on our adventure! The girls learned about the many kinds of pumpkins and gourds grown on the farm, saw several farm animals with their babies, and even got to pick their own pumpkins. Much fun was had by all!

In other news, we now have 2 green chrysalises and one more caterpillar getting ready to do the "pupa dance"! This morning the girls enjoyed planting some milkweed plants sent in by one of our parents. We are anxiously awaiting our butterflies!

Art: Triangles Everywhere

We started out the year making a mess...on paper.  The girls used crayons, oil pastels, colored pencils, markers, and water colors to "cover the page". They covered three pages - different sizes and different textured papers.  Then, inspired by the work of Lecia Dole-Recio, they made triangle compositions.  All the girls in the Lower School did this unit... each student's individual style, perspective, and problem solving strategies are unique and the whole body of work demonstrates our creative diversity!

Technology: We have an app for that!

 The girls have been very busy learning a variety of new apps, both in the classroom, during art, french and technology. Here is a list of the apps they have been using:

Scribble My Story - we created an autobiography
My Story - we began our ABC book
Bugs and Bubbles
                                     Tangrams
                                     Magnabet
                                     Art Set

                                      OUR FIRST VISIT TO THE OWL GATE

This week our focus has been the letter O. We made our first visit to make wishes on the Owl Gate.
It was such fun watching each girl take great care as she decided her wish! We captured these moments and hope you enjoy these pictures.

 In science we continue to observe, predict and record both with drawings and using our iPads.  We are excited to watch the hungry caterpillars grow as they eat milk weed leaves.  We are enjoying listening to many books about the journey of the Monarch Butterfly.