Digging Deep

The feeling of accomplishment that many Maury students and staff members were experiencing around 10:30 this morning was unreal. Before homeroom was over, we had already broken ground with shovels and pickaxes in the front yard of Maury and begun planting 6 trees with the amazing Casey Trees organization. Under the leadership of our amazing Mrs. Ford, the entire third grade and a few second graders from our Be Water Wise team were rocking neon orange vests and getting down and dirty in the name of school yard greening and beautification!

I think Mrs. Bonds in the main office said it best when she expressed how much joy it gave her to watch our students from the office window, working together, smiling, and truly enjoying the experience of contributing to something so authentic, so important, and something so long lasting as the planting of a young tree in their elementary school yard. There is something very profound about knowing that the hole you dug will house and protect strong roots, a sturdy trunk, blossoming petals, and swaying leaves for years and years to come.

I was proud to see no conflict among peers, only encouragement, kindness, and congratulations. We are lucky that our students and staff members are encouraged to participate and initiate the kind of activities that promote such stewardship.

Look at us go and watch us grow!

Members of our 2nd Grade Be Water Wise Team

Active listening in the ceremonial tool circle

Technique baby!

Flexing her muscle

Go Mrs. Fritze! Show that root who’s boss!

Breaking ground!

Lalava lalava oh lalalalalva lalava lalava oh lalalalava lalava dududumdum

To the South Pacific Islands of Tonga and New Zealand we go!

With this guy——-> Filipe Tohi!

To do this thing—->lashing!

There is a peculiar third grade art standard that reads as follows:

3.3.5 Describe the function and meaning of specific works of art and objects from the Pacific Islands

Interesting.

Art standards such as these invite me to do a little research and stretch beyond the great artistic masters of the past to find new and interesting artists who are tapping into their culture and heritage to preserve tradition. Such is the case with our artist, Filipe Tohi. Tohi  moved from Tonga to New Zealand and has been working as a full time artist since 1992. He is the leading contemporary Pacific visual artists and dabbles in media ranging from stone, wood, steel and digital arts. He is most famous in our studio for his art of lalava. Lalava, the art of Polynesian lashing, or joining materials together, is a way for Tohi to “demonstrate how geometric patterns, formed by the layers of wrapped coconut sennit, were a well-established part of daily life, and a mnemonic device for representing a life philosophy that Lalava patterns advocate balance in daily living and were metaphorical and physical ties to cultural knowledge.”

We practiced locating the South Pacific on a globe and a map, demonstrating the difference between 2D and 3D geographical representations.

We are using colored raffia, instead of coconut skins, to lash our lalavas. This brought up an important conversation about the materials artists choose to work with and why. Price, convenience, functionality, etc. all play into it.

Preliminary sketches are a good habit to get into. We spent a day mapping out our geometric designs with rulers.

Wonderful craft and colors! I tried to stress the importance of sketching a design that would translate well to three dimension, like this one.

I love a good old fashioned collaborative project. Students had the option to work alone on their lalava or with a partner.

Reverse taping the body of the lalava was the first step. This part was tricky and having a partner to help was a bonus.

The dynamic duo!

These girls were very strategic in implementing their design. Many classmates took time out to complement their neat and precise work.

It’s nice when a project lends itself to a little physical hard work.

Because I can’t get this song out of my head every time I say the word lalava…

TbxToX7pHIUo

Art and Math, Y’all!

Reflecting on it in retrospect, it seems that fourth grade has really put in the hours on the math and art front. Although I am a huge believer in cross discipline learning, I hadn’t planned to inundate 4th grade with so many math/art units. They’re naturals and hey, it can’t hurt!

Here are the finished products ala Black History Month of our Grid Technique Portraits. This method really convinces the artist to SEE what you draw, instead of imagine it. It teaches scale, proportion, and does not overwhelm the artist with taking on the entire face all at once. By working on one box at a time, you are rewarded by the eventual progress and unity that comes with tackling the work in pieces.

Truly impressive work, 4th grade! These portraits are on display at center stage in the multipurpose room.

Oh! and the 4th grade number spirals are on display in the main hallway of the East Building. More math, more art!

Still Life: Unfortunately, A motto I’ve Been Living By…

With the dawn of our fifth grade Still Life unit upon us, I have unfortunately interpreted the theme all too literally, and taken to living the “still life”, from bed. I thought I was invincible, but I have finally fallen victim to the germs that saturate an elementary school in winter.

This week started off on the right foot, despite the sickly turn it took. My first 3 classes of the week scored perfect 4s on Positive Paws (way to go Cooper, Mallaney, and Scott)! Behavior and productivity were at an all time high and many new and exciting art units began.

Fifth grade, for instance, has begun a hard-core still life unit with a strong focus on value and contrast. We have an all white still life set up in the middle of the studio, with an industrial strength spot light to cast highlights and shadows on our motionless objects.

Monday was our pre-assessment day. Students drew as best they could without any prompting. Over the weeks, I will teach them a few tricks of the trade and re-assess their progress post unit. As was the case with 3rd grade, I think these 5th graders will be pleased to see their drawing improve with a little coaching. This is my version of the DC CAS–I have to get these kids ready for middle school art (a little less pressure, a lot more fun).

I’ll take a JOURNEY THROUGH TIME with this crowd anytime!

Black History Month is winding down Nation wide, but at Maury, the impact and spirit of many fine, inventive, creative, and heroic African-Americans will endure beyond the month of February. Maury’s inaugural  Journey Through Time event proved a huge success. Students were engaged, enthused, and immersed in authentic, hands on learning all journey long. At the art station, students painted in the style of Alma Thomas, a life long learner and DC superstar. Alma Thomas gave us some of the most unique artistic interpretations of nature through her expressionist works. Her paintings of DC flora and fauna hang in the halls of the White House thanks to Michelle Obama’s artistic influence, the Hirshhorn, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Beyond being a phenomenal woman and artist, Alma did not let race or age deter her from following her dreams. She was the first person to graduate from Howard University’s Fine Arts Program and the first African-American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City at the age of 80! Alma, you go girl!

Our little Alma Thomas apprentices hard at work. Students from the preschool and PreK classes worked in collaboration to reinterpret Alma’s New Galaxy painting.

Here, Autumn Leaves Fluttering in the Breeze was reborn in the able hands of our 3 year olds. Our younger artists were particularly apt at recreating Alma’s layered, dot-like application of the paint.

Kindergarteners adding finishing touches to a well-balanced canvas.

Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Battle, the chair of our Black History Month Committee, shares a moment with a former student and current 4th grader. It was so exciting to witness students and staff sharing knowledge and interacting with one another in such a meaningful new way. I was particularly pleased to see teachers and staff members taking the time to add their creative marks on our school-wide art pieces.

Second graders from Ms. Mallaney’s class do an out of this world job on Eclipse!

All in all, the entire Maury community worked together to create 12 panels of Alma Thomas inspired work at our Journey Through Time celebration! Bid on many of these pieces at this year’s Maury at the Market event and help raise money for our wonderful school!

An extra special thanks to all the volunteers, parents, and students who devoted their time to create a smooth and fun educational experience for all!

Check out our other talented teachers at their amazing stations on our Journey Through Time below!

Ms. Johnson evokes Madam C. J. Walker, a female entrepreneur who built her empire developing hair products for black women. Madam C.J. Walker was considered to be the wealthiest African-American woman in America and known to be the first African-American woman millionaire.  Some sources even cite her as the first self-made American woman millionaire!

Watch out Wally Amos! Ms. Stover and Ms. Vick are some smart cookies! These ladies know how to satisfy a crowd. With cookies! Wally Amos worked as a talent agent with a very persuasive strategy. He would send home-baked chocolate chip cookies to celebrities to entice them to meet with him and help sign a deal. Students learned about his famous recipe, integrated math and art, and got a taste of the goods as well. It was torture for me all day being set up next to the chocolaty station!

Mr. Rogers rocked it out with an array of booming percussion instruments. He also reminded us of the way many jazz musicians and African Americans use music to celebrate or honor the dead. Students mimicked the lively spirit of the second line in one of many iconic New Orleans style jazz funeral processions. It was hard to compete with the beat stomping good time these young musicians were kicking up from across the multipurpose room. Ms. Battle and Ms. Cooper brought us home with a powerful retelling of Show Way Quilt history. “Show Ways”, or quilts, once served as secret maps for freedom-seeking slaves. These teachers relived the passion and bravery needed by all slaves in order to persevere, unite, and develop creative and resourceful ways of ensuring a better life for themselves and their families.

African American History: A Journey through Time plus WATER

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

-Langston Hughes

February is Black History Month and also the start of the early childhood team’s latest 6 week unit of study on WATER! Hence the water inspired poem by one of our greatest American poets, Langston Hughes! In addition to learning EVERYTHING there is to know about water (trust me, a class of 4 year olds have already schooled me with a high school chemistry lesson on how 2 hydrogen atoms bond with 1 oxygen molecule to form water!), our Maury students will be celebrating the history and contributions of African Americans throughout time. Themed, African American History: A Journey through Time, students will play trivia every morning on the am announcements, on Wednesday they will travel through stations set up in the multipurpose room and experience a variety of hands-on lessons about famous inventors, artists, poets, musicians, and more. Ms. Covington and I are preparing a station on one of my favorite Black artists, Alma Thomas. Each class is also preparing for our culminating African American History program on February 24th. Dancers from the Kenyan Embassy will perform and each talented Maury homeroom will prepare a poem, song, dance, skit, or creative performance of their own imagination. I am extra excited because on Thursday, I get to take the 4th and 5th graders to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, my alma mater, for the groundbreaking 30 Americans exhibition. Thanks to the PTA and the Corcoran Docent program for their generous donations to make this field trip possible!

Please feel free to join us for any of the above celebrations and ask your student to share with you the importance and significance of our varied African American histories.

How does the water come into play? In the studio, our water unit has taken us from bubbles to ice to Kool-aid. Preschool and PreK are making handmade paper to fashion into a book that will remind us of all the different water-inspired creative processes we’ve used along the way. The first kind of paper we made was bubble print paper.

Students started by practicing making bubbles with a straw. A mixture of water and food coloring helped us perfect our technique. It was important that we got the hang of blowing OUT instead of IN. A stained mouth resulted if the later happened.

Next we added soap to really get the bubbles to grow.  We had fun watching them spill over the edge and onto our tins. My apologize, parents, if there’s an increase in milk bubbles at the dinner table this week.

We used our sheet of paper to press into the bubbles. This created a speckled design from the bubble patters. The process can be repeated over and over depending on how layered you want your paper to be.

Then we talked about what happens to water when it freezes. I dyed ice cubes with Kool-aid to create ice cube brushes. We painted with these cold tools and created a watercolor wash. We also experimented to see what would happen when we poured Kool-aid powder, in its solid state, directly onto the paper and then added water. The results were very different.

Powdered Kool-aid with brushed water was VIVID and TEXTURED!

Kool-aid cube brushes were more subtle and water color-esque, but tasty. I can’t resist edible art!

Elf Owl Portrait Gallery

 

You know when pet owners start resembling their animals? This may also be the case with Elf Owl artists and their owl creations, if only for the cuteness component.

This post is in honor of our beloved Elf Owls. We’ve all become so attached to one another over the past few weeks and it’s time to show them off in all their glory–owners and all!

Mrs. Spurlock’s Class

Mrs. Mitchell’s Class