Natural Memory

Do you remember a time in your life when you felt extremely close to nature?  This is the question I posed to the Mind Move Make students at the beginning of our class this week.  After reviewing our central idea, we live in an interconnected world, we told stories about our experiences with the natural world.

After our discussion, we had a collection of beautiful memories shared by each student that were inspired by nature.  One student mentioned a time her English teacher took her class outside to read the book Charlotte's Web.  She recalled the texture of the grass as well as the color of the sky on that day.  Another student shared a time when she was at the Pacific Ocean.  She was using her boogie board as a surf board when a wave came and knocked her off the board.  In that moment she saw a large fish swimming under her through the water.    A third student discussed snowshoeing along a quiet path and coming across a waterfall.  She remembers the sound of the trickling water in the still, show-filled world.

I told the students that they could use these experiences as inspiration for their artwork.

After that I showed them many pictures of artist and illustrator Soyeon Kim's work.  Here are a couple of her images to inspire YOU as well!  I asked the students to notice the multiple layers of different media.  I also asked them to identify the many different materials she used in both pieces to create mixed media artwork.

Image courtesy of Soyeon Kim

Image courtesy of Soyeon Kim

After that it was time for relaxation.  The students came into a comfortable position on their yoga mats, either sitting or lying down.  I instructed the students to return to the place and time that they felt close to nature and to try to recreate that moment in their minds.  I reminded them to also follow the path of the breath while imagining the scene in their heads.

For the movement part of the class we played a new game called Pass the Drishti.  During our first class  I taught the students that drishti is a point of focus for our eyes to help us maintain our balance when we are in a challenging pose.  It also reminds us to concentrate during movement practice.  For Pass the Drishti, the leader of the game has a rock on his or her yoga matt.  He or she instructs the class to come into a pose and watches to see who is the most focused.  The leader then places the rock onto the matt of the most focused student and that student becomes the new leader.

After moving through many different poses we were ready to settle into creating artwork.  One of my requests for the students' completed piece is for each of them to include a self-portrait in the illustration.  I provided them with this hand-out to help them consider the proportions of the human figure (courtesy of http://www.drawinghowtodraw.com/).
 

Most of the students are choosing to illustrate one of the ideas contained with the book You Are Stardust.  Here are a few of their pieces of artwork so far.  Hopefully for our next class we can dive into adding color to these creations!

You Are Stardust

Welcome to Mind Move Make: Session III!

I started the first class of Mind Move Make's third session by sharing our new Central Idea:

We live in an interconnected world

Then I read Elin Kelsey's mind blowing, magnificent book: You Are Stardust. Here is a description of it from the app that goes with the book:

From the water they drink to the trees

they climb, kids are connected to the natural world in big and surprising ways. With simple, poetic text and exquisite artwork, You Are Stardust does more than introduce kids to these connections.  It sparks their imagination. It starts conversations, and it delights all ages.

The book is filled with interesting scientific facts that connect humans to the natural world around us and within us!  As an artist and an art educator, the illustrations by Soyeon Kim  combined with the poetic text truly make me swoon with excitement!  I hope the Mind Move Make students felt the same way.

After discussing the book, we morphed into relaxation time.  The students found a comfortable position on their yoga mats and followed the path of their breath while listening to the sound of the singing bowl.  Many times I have told my students that I would have LOVED the chance to relax for a few minutes after a busy day.  Such a great opportunity to clear the mind after it has been used to its capacity during a long school day.

During the movement part of our class the students played Yogi Says.  The last few students who didn't get the chance to become the Yogi (the same role as Simon in Simon Says) got their chance in the spotlight.  Once again I was impressed by the way the students instructed the rest of us in finding the poses.  One child decided to lead us in Surya Namaskar A which is a complex series of movements.  She did a fantastic job!

Then it was art time!  I explained to the students that we would be creating a diorama in a similar style as Soyeon Kim, with multiple layers incorporated into one piece of artwork.  We are starting this artwork using thick, high-quality watercolor paper.  We will use cardboard to build up the various layers so that they are more three-dimensional.  The visual art concepts of foreground, middle ground, and background will be used to create this piece.  Many different types of media will be incorporated into the final artwork.  One of my "requirements" is that each student incorporate him or herself into the artwork.  It will be fun to see the completed pieces!  Here are the beginnings of several of the artist's works:

  

Last Class of Session II

It is unbelievable to me that this class was the LAST ONE of Mind Move Make's Session II!  It has been wonderful focusing on our Central Idea:

Humans can choose to cultivate kindness to make the world a better place.

We started the class by reading the lovely book How To by brilliant author and illustrator Julie Morstad. The text in this book is very simple; each page starts with the statement "How to....". My favorite page says "How to see the wind," and there is a drawing of children flying kites and holding balloons in a billowy field of grass.  

Before we read the book, I talked about how its message is about appreciating and seeing beauty in every moment of life. Then I asked each student to share their favorite part of Mind Move Make for the second session, along with a new perspective they might have about kindness.

After our discussion, the students engaged in relaxation. They followed the path of their breath and the sound of the singing bowl.

During the movement part of our class we played Yogi Says. Three students led us in their favorite yoga postures. I was impressed by their verbal descriptions of how to get into the poses. Each student instructed the class on how to find their favorite posture, and they gave wonderful directions!

After that we set up the room for making artwork. All students diligently worked to complete their kindness creatures. A couple students finished early and had time to create other creatures to add to their kindness creature family. Most of the students finished their creatures, but two needed to take their creature home to complete it.

Here are pictures of several of the finished kindness creatures!