Sixth Grade Self Portraits in Progress

ARTS INTEGRATION!

This six week session I have been integrating visual arts into Mrs. Koppelberger's sixth grade social studies class.  It has been an awesome and natural process because they are currently studying Mesopotamia, Sumer and Ancient Egypt and there is an abundance of early art to talk about!  Last week, students developed their own pictographs and cuneiform (the first written language) just like early scribes of Sumer.  Because paper was not yet used, students carved their cuneiform into rugged clay tablets which are now currently in the kiln.  They tools they used were primitive, just as scribes used to create detailed carvings for their pictographs and also wedged tools to create symbols in their written language, cuneiform.

Next, we are going to discuss symbols and perspective of Egyptian art and why craftsmen often drew from the angle they did.  My hope is to teach them how to create paper from pulp next week so that they can add hieroglyphs, just like ancient Egyptians.

A New Learning Tool

I found this quote online and loved it.  Plus, my classroom door could really use some sprucing up!  Now it is a learning tool.  I incorporated the styles of several artists we have recently studied--Don Drumm, Gustav Klimt, Wassily Kandinsky and Vincent Van Gogh.  It's a work in progress, but definitely fun to do during my lunch hour:)