Swings - Poetry and Art

When Alfie was asked what is important to him he said the playground, especially the swings.

Robert Lewis Stevenson lived long ago and he wrote a poem called "The Swing". The children were intrigued with the fact that he's dead and wanted to know more about him. We did some research and discovered that he died in 1894, hundreds of years ago! He was a Scottish writer and he also wrote poetry for children.                                                                                                                                     

Robert Lewis Stevenson

The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--

                                      Till I look down on the garden green,
                                      Down on the roof so brown--
                                      Up in the air I go flying again,
                                      Up in the air and down! 

To express the swinging motion that Alfie loves so much we built a pendulum painter using an empty honey container hung from the ceiling with string! The children were thrilled to have a turn and watch the paint form "ovals" and "space" pictures!

Blossoms - Art

Simone's topic of interest is blossoms. 

She likes the pink and white ones and when she looks at them she feels surprised.

The children listened to a Japanese song called Sakura, which means cherry blossom. The children listened and then reflected what feeling the song evoked in them and wondered what feelings the artist was feeling. Most of the children felt scared.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keF-KYKKYeI

Simone chose art as a way to express her thoughts and feelings about blossoms. The children were inspired by this picture and an interesting discussion took place as they noticed that everyone's representation of the cherry blossom tree looked different. Is there a right and wrong way? 

We looked at different artists representations of trees and noticed that they were all very different, especially abstract art. 

Everyone has a different perspective and that's amazing.

The hot air popcorn maker brought up many stories of making popcorn at home and the overall feeling was surprised - perfect for the feeling some of the children wanted to portray in their picture.

Surprised expression

Surprised expression

Trees - Poetry

Another way to express the love of climbing trees is through poetry.

Margaret Atwood wrote a lovely poem called Up in a Tree
and what better place to hear it than in the woods.
The children and I found a spot far off the path surrounded by trees and read poetry about trees. 

Some of the children were inspired to write their own poems . . . 

I love climbing trees

I love trees

Trees make me happy

-Sofia

Look! I'm up in a tree!

I'm so happy.

-Roy

Simone worked hard at trying to create poems that rhyme:

I am a tree

I am a leaf

I come and freeze

I am a bee

I make honey from a tree

I am a fly

I like to lie

-Simone

I climb when I'm a person

I fly when I'm a bird

I like climbing trees

It's my favourite responsibility

-Simone

Trees - Dance

What a wind we had yesterday, the trees and leave blowing and bending. 

The children demonstrated how trees move in different types of wind and this 

inspired us to express their idea in the form of dance. 

The children watched a video of dancers using fabric and movement to express the idea of the ocean. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48BEHwzz4ZU

The children used fabric and danced to music that alternated between fast and slow tempos, representing different kinds of wind. The fabric represented the branches and leaves and Simone used brown fabric to become the trunk of a tree which is why you can't see her face in any of the photos.

Everyone was very engaged in this activity and they asked to listen to the music twice. 

Each child displayed creativity as they moved their bodies and fabric.

Trees - Painting

TREES

Trees are important to Johnathon because climbing them makes

him happy.

Artists who paint trees use colour and shapes to express feelings.
What feelings do you think are being expressed?

Paint a picture of trees and tell us what feeling you are expressing in your painting.

Painting trees

"This tree makes me feel yum, yum yummy"

"These trees were happy but then the dark came and it was scary"

New Unit: Express Yourself!

Central Idea:

We express ourselves in many ways and this helps us connect with one another.

Lines of Inquiry:

• How language, music and visual arts help us express ourselves and build connections with others (connection)
• Sharing ideas and being good listeners helps us build understanding (perspective)
• Taking time to reflect helps us practice slowing down so that we can make connections with what we see and hear (reflection)

The children shared their beginning understanding of what the words "express yourself" means:

"don't go away"

"think about things"

"don't give away your ideas"

"fly"

"drink water"

I explained that expressing yourself is sharing ideas, thoughts, and feelings and there are many ways we can do this. I asked "If I had a really important idea to share with you how could I do that?" The children's beginning knowledge is "Tell us (with words)" "Take a picture of it" (photography). 

Two great ideas! 

We explored other ways we can express ourselves: literature, poetry, songs, music, dance, and art. Why do we care about expressing ourselves? "It's like being generous." said Pippa. Sharing important ideas, thoughts and feelings helps us connect with one another, helps us understand each other and strengthens our relationships to each other and the world. 

The next 7 weeks of inquiry the children will be choosing topics and ideas that are important to them, researching and learning more about it, and then exploring different ways to express this to help them grow their sense of the arts (performing, visual, written).

Child Initiated Investigation

During our visit to Musqueam Creek the children were keenly interested in hearing about how salmon used to return to spawn here. The journey of the salmon from creek to river to ocean and back again spurred many questions.

Today we researched and read about the life cycle of salmon and all the dangers they encounter along the way. Some predators of salmon are bears and eagles and us! "I love salmon!" said Simone.

The children created a scene of salmon swimming against the current as they return to lay their eggs. "The eggs are soooo cute!" said Sofia.

 They used round dabbers to replicate scales.