Learning about London through Legos

This week during art at home, J worked on a Lego kit to build a model of London.

Maybe you have heard of London. It is a big city in England which is part of the United Kingdom, also known as the U.K.

A panoramic view of London

Add caption

A map of London with some of the landmarks. 

I tagged J. after he sent me this photo. Here are my questions: 

Tell: I recognize a few of those London landmarks--Big Ben, the London Bridge, and the carousel in your Lego model. 

Ask: How difficult was this model to build? What got you interested in building the city of London? 

Give: Have you ever tried making a drawing of one of your lego models? It might be fun to try. You could do a map-type drawing or try making the buildings 

look 3-D. 

This was really fun for me to see. Thanks for sharing! Ms. Brooks 

An old map of London 

Chalk art, rainbows, and non-traditional art forms--A Conversation

What experiences qualify as art? 



The way I understand art, every material has expressive potential.

Everything we do can be done artfully, with careful observation, persistence, and thoughtful

reflection. But does that make it art?

Here are a few activities I've heard about that some of our WCS students have been busy with during Learning at Home time:

Baking Bread

Learning to crochet

Hatching baby chicks from eggs

Drawing rainbows with sidewalk chalk.

Which of these activities seem like art to you and why?

Can baking bread be considered an "art" experience?  Learning to crochet?  Incubating chicks?


Now, take a moment or two to think about this. 

 If you are expressing yourself--engaging your emotions--and problem-solving--using your thinking

mind--to create something that has a design or a form, you are most likely engaged in a creative

pursuit.

Art has as much to do with the intent of the person doing it as it does with the final result.

I'd like to hear your thoughts about this!

Playful Inquiry--What was the best thing about your day?

This post is directed more to the adults, those of you who find yourself in a new role, that of your child's co-teacher. 

So often in education we focus on "the teacher's role" and "the lesson to be learned."  

We focus less on the learner and their role.

 Learning at home offers a chance to focus more on your child 

and what they are naturally curious about.

                                 
What drives a child's interest? How can we help them go deeper? 

Follow this link to a TED X talk on Youtube entitled: Playful Inquiry--Try this anywhere!

"What is the best thing that's happened to you today?"

Synopsis: A simple, intentionally appreciative inquiry can result in a playful state that fosters creativity, openness and togetherness. Grounded in the science of positive psychology, this interactive talk demonstrates how appreciative inquiry opens us up to experience even greater positivity. The result: less fear and strong heartfelt connections and understanding between people, even strangers.

"Playful Inquiry" fosters an inquisitive stance toward learning. 

Play sculpts the brain, putting us in a state of mind that is optimal for learning. 

High challenge and low risk are present at the same time.

What? So What? Now What? is a simple framework for looking closely, thinking

about, and reflecting on learning.

What? What did you try, make, or experience? Describe or "tell" about it.

So What? stands out about this project or experience? What was challenging?

What was surprising? What did you discover? What did you wonder about?

Now What? Take a moment to reflect. What was valuable about this experience? What was

 frustrating or difficult. What will you do next?

Please share your "learning at home" stories with me at brooksro@link75.org Ms. Brooks

This Week's Featured Artist: J. in 1G

What happens when you're hanging out at home doing art? 

Sometimes, your parents have special interests or skills. 

This week's featured artist, J. from Mrs. Greenleaf's first grade class, 

 worked with his dad to learn and make two stop-motion animations. 

This is the finished, edited version. Kudos to J. and his dad for 

persisting and coming up with some good visual 

storytelling!  I TAGGED J. and here is our dialogue.

From J.: 

Dear  Ms. Brooks,

TELL--Ms. B: t looks to me like another battle. Wolf vs. monster?

           I see that you used a plain background to keep our focus on the action.

ASK--Ms. B: What title would you give this video?

   J: Monster Mayhem Part 2: A Hero Arrives! 

         

      Ms. B.: Who are the two main characters?

   J: Wolfey and Monstore.

GIVE...Ms, B: What kind of scene will you animate next?

     J.: Season:1e.p:1  cliff canyon. 

J's. Tip:Tell kids to ask their mom or dad to download the "zing" app on the app store. 

Ok?

thanks for e-mailing me.

J.M

This is the "rough draft.

Here is some more of J.'s "at home" art work!

Happy Art-making!

Ms. Brooks 

How an Artful Conversation Supports a Child's Learning

Today's post is about learning the art of the artful conversation and 
how to talk with your child about their artwork.

We are entering our fourth week of art at home.

Most likely, your child has made a few things for art. Now what? 

When a child shows us their artwork,

most of us don't really know what to say beyond 

some words of praise. "How nice!" "Very cute." "Lovely." "Good job!" 

Today's post is about how to extend the conversation.   

Working with the Studio Thinking framework we can flesh out some ways to talk about art that 

promote learning. 

As an art educator, I have often wondered about these two questions:

      1. How do we encourage children to reflect on their artwork? 

      2. How can this reflection lead to deeper learning? 

A few of my choice-based colleagues have shared their approaches over the years.

I've adopted this simple framework in our art program at WCS.

I am sharing it with you today because it might help you have more

meaningful conversations with your child about the things they make.

O and Em getting started.

It's called T.A.G. which stands for:

        Tell what You notice.
      Ask a question,
      Give a suggestion.

These three prompts encourage us to organize our response by the following--

1. Look closely and describe what you see.

2. Probe a little deeper by sharing out loud what you wonder about. 

3. Think about how this experience might lead to the next steps in learning. Remember that these are

     just suggestions. example "If you were to do this again, how would you do it differently?"

Now, let's practice! Give it a try with these photo of an art project that was recently sent to me by one

 of our Williams-Cone School families.

I hope you have fun exploring artful seeing and the art of the artful conversation with your child(ren)!  As always, I love to hear from our Williams-Cone families.

Ms. Brooks April 5, 2020

Stained Glass with blue tape removed. O is
in 2nd and Em is a K student at WCS. 

Stained glass window painting by O and Em with blue tape.

Inspiration is Everywhere! Reaching out to Williams-Cone Artists

Dear Williams-Cone Artists,

Inspiration is everywhere you look! 

Every day, everywhere you look,

Robin Brooks, Bowdoin Mill, watercolor and pencil on paper, private collection

I'll bet you can discover something wonderful. 


Getting Started: Have a look around your house. See what you have at home. 

***Make sure to ask permission from an adult before you take something for 

your art project. Now gather your materials. Find a place to work.

Even if you don't have paint or fancy materials on hand, there are many other

things to find and use. 

You can even paint with leftover black tea or coffee! 

Do you remember when we painted with leaves and 

feathers instead of paintbrushes? 



Clean Up: At home, like at school, please clean up 

your work area.  

put things away and clean up your mess. 


Now Share! I have been sharing some WCS "at 

home" artwork here on my Choice-Based Art blog. ***Hint--I would love to 

hear from my students in grades 3, 4, and 5! I would love to include your 

artwork too, so have a family member email me some pictures of your work.

I hope you will continue making art during this time at home. 

Thank you to the families who have been sending me pictures. Please keep

them coming!

Ms. Brooks 

brooksro@link75.org.  

Being an Art Detective--Looking Closely at Three Artworks

Marc Chagall, Russian-French Artist of Jewish ancestry, oil painting

What does comparing one piece of art to another one have to teach us? 

Here are paintings by two famous artists

and one artwork by an anonymous artist.

(Anonymous means we don't know the 

name of the person who made it.) 

This is an invitation to use the Studio 

Habit "Observe" to look closely at each 

work of art. 

Begin at the top with Marc Chagall's 

musician. After you have looked 

closely at all three works of art, 

scroll down to the bottom for next steps.

Georgia O'Keefe, American, Canna Lily, oil painting

Kantha embroidery, colored thread on fabric, India

This is an example of  Kantha embroidery.

*Note: Kantha is a type of embroidery craft from the 

eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent, specifically

 in Bangladesh and in the Indian states of West 

Bengal, Tripura and Odisha. (definition from Wikipedia)














Next Steps:

1. Notice your feelings. The words "I like it" or "I

 don't like it" might pop into your head. Put these

feelings aside to explore a little more.

2. Observe things in the three artworks that are similar. 

For example, there are flowers in all three

artworks. Can you find the flowers?

Is there anything else that all three artworks have in common? A color or colors? example: red, white

A line? example, curved lines

A shape? example; rounded shapes

3. Now you can focus on things in the artworks that are different.

How can you talk about the differences?  What is each artwork about? We call that "subject matter?"

What colors do you see? Does the artist use a color family like warm and cool?

How do the artworks make you feel? Now you can come back to the feelings you had at the start.


 Note: If you would like to be on my blog, please write some comments in the comment box below. 

I would love to hear how you liked this "seeing" exercise. What did you learn from doing it? 


Another note: You can do this "seeing" exercise with any two (or more) works of art.  

By noticing what is similar and what is different and finding words to describe what you see, you will

no doubt start seeing more! 


The more you see, the more you will understand about art and the ways that artists use the *language 

of art to express their ideas and feelings.  *line, shape, color, texture, form, space, movement, etc.


PS You can improve your "Art Detective" skills by looking at lots of artwork in books, on line, and in

 person! You might even have some art at your house to study.

Have fun being an art detective! 

Ms. Brooks