Mousekin's Golden House Kindergarten Arts Integration

After kindergarten classes went to the pumpkin patch they followed up the experience with an arts integrated lesson based on the book Mousekin's Golden House. This is a very old book that is no longer in print and written and illustrated by Edna Miller. It weaves in the idea of composting, nocturnal, hibernating, predators and migration concepts all into a wonderful story about a mouse who discovers a discarded jack o lantern in the woods. Students created a jack o lantern by tracing different shaped pumpkin templates and then cutting it out. The next step involved creating a torn paper mouse which was a little frustrating for some, but students persevered keeping in mind that all mice look different so it was OK if they ended up with a different size mice. Next they had to orient their pumpkin in the correct position onto a brown background paper to cover their mouse. The final step and the most fun of all was receiving a handful of cotton fluff to create a bed for their mouse, just like Mousekin had in his house. This project is a great example of incorporating literacy and science with the arts.

Ms. Trombley's Historic Building Arts Integration Project

Ms. Trombley's second grade class spent time learning about the history of Essex Junction and also did a walking tour to explore the different buildings. They made predictions of what things looked like in the old days compared to the present day. In art class they learned about architecture and how many features seen on buildings today were also present in the historical photos they viewed. They created clay relief sculptures of either a public building or private home in Essex Junction. Stay tuned for the finished painted plaques. 

Fifth Grade Square 1 Art Fundraiser

Students created different versions of Zentanlge designs for their art fundraiser project. Zentangles are a form of doodling that incorporates line and pattern. Students had to choose some type of creature, real or imagined and then incorporate Zentangle designs within the creature and the background. We discussed how to create contrast in their black line patterns. I showed them samples of a design with a colored background and one with a colored creature. Some students chose a patterned paper collage route to create their focus of the design.

Fleming Fourth Grade Square 1 Art Fundrasier

Fourth grade art students learned about contemporary folk artist Heather Galler and one of the founding artists of the folk art period, Grandma Moses. Student artists were inspired by Galler's bright colors and patterns as they created landscapes that showed foreground, middle ground and background.