It was a magical night at Longue Vue Gardens filled with joyful students, beautiful student artwork, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and fancy apple juice! Congratulations to our creative learners on their first official art opening and fantastic art work!
On Friday (pajama day) the "Humming Zebras" table group performed their original shadow puppet play, "Pelicanella, The Math Magician," the retelling of the classic Cinderella in the swamps of New Orleans. The group bravely performed in front of the whole 2nd grade during our Fairy Tales Art Show. Cast: Narrator............................................................................................. Luke Mrs. Bossypants (the step-mother) .................................................. A'sydah Meanyteenie (the step-sister) .......................................................... Erin Pelicanella (Cinderella) .................................................................... Allison Mrs. Sparkle (Fairy godmother) ....................................................... My'Shea Frog Prince (Prince) ......................................................................... Eli The Humming Zebra's were selected out of four groups to perform on Friday based on their excellence in the YACS core values: Teamwork, Passion, Creativity, and Discipline.
This week in the Matisse Studio learners were busily collaborating in table groups to write scripts and make shadow puppets to creatively retell the story of Cinderella in the format of shadow puppet plays. Last week we read 5 different versions of Cinderella and discussed what story elements remained the same in each version. We noticed that even though the character's names changed, their character traits remained the same in each story. We also noticed that the major plot events mostly stayed the same. So, we made a Cinderella formula and each table group wrote their own version of the story. The class also studied light and shadow in science to better understand how opaque objects block light to create shadows. Here are the scripts from each table group: Take a look behind the scenes!The Lion Monkeys brainstorm Merella. The Dragon Pandas editing their script. The Humming Zebras in rehearsals. The Leopard Sharks backstage rehearsing "Icyella in Minecraft World" Check out the slide show for more behind the scenes of the making of Cinderella Shadow Puppets! Throughout the art making process, students looked at the work of professional shadow puppeteers and artists who use light and shadow in their work. This summer Mrs. Rooney saw this awesome shadow art installation at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston called "Shadow Monsters" by artist Philip Worthington. During A.R.T. we watched this video. It sure didn't take long for learners to identify the crazy dancer lady lettin' loose at the exhibition.... We also looked at the work of a group shadow puppeteers called Stories from the Ground for inspiration. WE REACHED OUR A.R.T. GOAL!!!
Armiyah and Lavert model their "victory" pajamas on the YACS outdoor theater. Stay tuned for our next big class goal... Learners created dioramas to portray the setting of Beauty and the Beast. The dioramas were made with pages containing the text of the original Beauty and the Beast tale written by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont in the mid 18th century. The work was inspired by artist Su Blackwell who makes intricate pop up book sculptures out of actual books. Su Blackwell, Book Sculpture
Learners discussed the mood of the setting and how and author can create mood by describing the setting of the story in the text. We imagined what the forest must have felt like and looked like as the Merchant travels alone in the forest on a cold, dark, winter's night in the story. Additionally, the class read the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost and made connections to the setting in Beauty and the Beast. Art Reflection Time starts at 8am sharp each morning in Mrs. Rooney's class. A.R.T. is a time when students look at a work of art and write what they see, what they think and what they wonder about the work of art. The art could be a painting, a piece of music, a play, an art installation, a poem, etc.
Last Thursday the class set a goal to improve their writing during A.R.T.. The goal is that 100% of learners will write 9 complete sentences during A.R.T.. The sentences must start with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark. The class brainstormed a list of ways to celebrate if we reach our goal by Friday September 4th. They voted on a pajama party! I am so proud to report that we have grown each day! We have two more days to reach our goal, and we are so close! |
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