recycle and recreate

We have a New City School tradition the week before winter break called PODS. The fifth and sixth graders choose a special class to take for the whole week offered by teachers and administration.

Students could choose birdhouse building with Bill from buildings and grounds, jewelry making with Laurie the school counselor, piñata making with Nina the spanish specialist, music making on iPads with Ben and Liz our music and tech specialists, or exploring thingiverse and printing on our maker bot with Eric the science specialist. Wow! Our students must have had a tough time deciding which one to choose!

This year, I offered a recycle and recreate class using my hoard of plastic water bottles. I have seen water bottles being used in so many amazing ways from bottle cap murals to mobiles so I wanted to give it a try.

I highly recommend it! It was lots of fun to make and you can't help but to smile when you see these hanging in the hallway. The installations are so colorful, catch the light beautifully, and are a great example of how artists can transform the everyday object into art.

won't you be my neighbor

These sweet little houses were created by the kindergarten artists. We are still busy working in our "Building a Better World" theme!



You've probably heard of this before: all I really need to know I learned in kindergarten. This BBC story, Crossing a St. Louis street that divides communities, has really stayed with me since I saw it last month. In fact our school is very near to the Delmar divide. I feel dismayed and hopeful at the same time.


(this image is a still from the BBC video news story)

second grade bird sculptures

The second grade artists have finished up their bird watercolors and are now working on creating bird sculptures! Each bird actually started out using the pinch pot method in clay. The features of the birds were carefully pulled out and texture was added using various tools. The artists chose a piece of wood as the sculpture base and had to decide how their bird would balance. The clay birds were kiln fired, glazed, fired again, and then carefully perched. It was fun to see what kind of wood the children were drawn to- some organic and rough others smooth and geometric.



Last year I made a fun trip to the workshop of NCS family Willard Woodrights to collect pieces of scrap wood for the art room. They have a passionate interest in using reclaimed, locally harvested urban hardwood whenever possible and we are very fortunate to have these gorgeous pieces to use for our art projects. I love their philosophy and you can read more about what they do here.

Pandora's Box: Opening at a theater near you!

I shared this movie trailer with Anne's fourth grade class (greek mythology experts) and I thought you might like to see it too!

pandora's box from on Vimeo.

So I guess you know that I was just having some fun with imovie now. Anne's fourth grade class did love seeing their art on the "big screen" and it was a great way to start off a group discussion/reflection about the project.

first grade leaf sculptures

We had our first taste of Spring weather this weekend in Saint Louis after many snowy and icy days! This reminded me of a project we did in first grade soon after this printmaking project.



The first graders used real leaves and large rubber leaf stamps to press the leaf texture on the clay. They carefully cut them out and assembled them using the score and slip method onto a base. The sculptures were fired in the kiln and painted using metallic watercolors. I am so impressed with these young artists! Their work is a beautiful reminder that our cold winter trees will soon have leaves again.





I love the little armadillo!

third grade rocks!

Art in different cultures around the world is a reflection of environment, land, and home. In relation to the third grade “Keepers of the Earth” theme, the students explore how artists make and use art as an expression of their place in the world.

We started with the cold landscape of the Inuit and looked at how material, size, function, and subject matter of Inuit art directly relates to their environment.





An inuksuk is a balanced based stone sculpture traditionally built by the Inuit. These sculptures were used as hunting and navigation aids, coordination points, message centers, and as spiritual markers. The third grade artists expressed their thoughts and ideas by choosing and arranging rocks, stones, and pebbles; these pieces of earth formed by ancient forces long before our time.









We read this beautiful book to help get us started. Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor presents 10 wonderful rules for finding just the right rock. I challenged the third grade artists to come up with an 11th rule. This is a great way to get them thinking about aesthetics. Here are some of the rules they created:



Keep your rock in a special spot. -Catherine
Make sure it matches your personality. -Lily
Be gentle with your rock. -Emma
Keep your rock at the right temperature. -Sophie
Find another friend for you rock. -Rohan
Don't let you rock fall into the wrong hands! -Steven
Find round rocks that look like a robin's egg. -Gavin
Look for one that has a white line going all the way around. -Mila
Don't misplace your rock. -Julia
Take your time finding the perfect rock. -Meg
Keep your rock close to you. -Ruby
Find a rock that suits you. -Mason
Respect the personality of your rock. -Allie
Name your rock. -Russell
Enjoy your rock while you have it. -Tre
Put it against your cheek to really feel it. -Maya