I've been watching Hoarders on TV and decided I really needed to get rid of some of the junk in my storage closet at school. It seems everyone thinks I should have what they no longer need, so they leave bags at my door. Sigh...
Hence, this final (loosely) Matisse-related project, which was easy and so much fun. Second graders had learned about Matisse, and knew that the word fauve meant wild beast. So they created their own "texture fauves" out of various materials. We had fabric, corrugated cardboard, pieces of foam, ribbon and lace, pom poms, feathers, wiggle eyes, doilies, wood shapes, and toothpicks. I purposely showed them NO examples, so that they totally had to figure it out for themselves. I gave them bottles of Elmer's Glue-All, had them each select a scrap piece of mat board for background, and away they went!
The rules were simple:
- Nothing sticking up off the board.
- No blood or weapons
- You had to be able to tell it was a beast or creature.
- Students could only take one thing from the selection at a time, and had to return stuff the same way it was found (ribbon rolled up, feather bucket closed, etc)
- Everything had to be glued down by counting to at least 10.
I LOVE these. You know how much I love the "explore" type projects. I love doing these too but it is so hard to organize all the supplies. They have a really big visual vocabulary. Lots of variety. How did you all brainstorm to get so many different ideas? Or are these kids super imaginative?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, we did't talk a lot. We did brainstorm for what characteristics could help their creation be recognizeable as a wild beast, and they mentioned typical stuff: eyes, teeth, wings, legs, arms, etc. Mostly it was the lure of the materials without limit that inspired them. I didn't say "you can't use more than 2 eyes" or "that's too many feathers" or try to direct them in any way. They each had scissors and glue, and I had the collage materials in boxes or bins lined up on the counter and they would pick something and return to their table to cut and glue, and then return for more. There was a LOT of movement in the room and lots or excitement. The shark blew me away. When the boy showed it to me my jaw dropped. How did he do that?!!
ReplyDeleteOne more thing that fired up the enthusiasm - the SCISSOR RAP! Many of the kids took their scissors to the counter to cut a hunk of ribbon or cloth, so we practiced (with hand motions and a sassy rhythm) "points down, hands around; points down,hands around!" They couldn't wait to sing the "scissor rap" to their teacher.
ReplyDeleteAnother great lesson! I like how it is a way to reinforce your unit on the fauves. What a great way to rememeber "wild beasts." Not just say it, but make it! Phyl, I also wanted to thank you for keeping the discussion going on James Rizzi. It is an honor to be blog friends :)
ReplyDeletelove these....I just might have to open up my buckets and bins and let the fur fly!
ReplyDeleteThe shark was really impressive! He really used his materials to his advantage, love the simplicity (instead of just gluing on everything which is also fabulous). Scissor rap cool!
ReplyDeleteI love all the textures! Makes me want to reach into the computer screen and touch them!
ReplyDelete