legos and You.

Before winter break, I introduced the 2nd graders to the work of South Korean artist Hyesoo You. As we looked at her relief and freestanding sculptures, we talked about the nature of abstract art and how different people see different things when viewing the same piece. We also talked about how Aaron Draplin's skateboard design implied 3d space by overlapping flat papers and Hyesoo's work uses actually 3d solids that may overlap each other to create actual depth and space.

I used this lesson as an exercise in team work and play. Students worked in teams of 3 or 4 and made temporary works that were inspired by Hyesoo's abstract compositions. Students worked together to come up with a cut paper grid that they placed on top of a larger geometric shape. Once they made their grid, students used legos to create mini sculptures to place on the grid. When teams were done building and positioning their individual pieces, I took photos of their work with my ipad and emailed them to their teachers.

Before letting the kids build, I talked about view point. When taking the photos of their sculptures I would have the camera directly over their sculpture, looking down on it. Because of this, I wanted them to think about if their sculptures were going to be more interesting to place on their grid standing up or laying down.

Students could build independently or collaboratively. Students could join their sculptures together with sculptures made by members of their team. After about 20 minutes of build time, I asked students to plan out where their pieces would be positioned on the grid. Once I took the photo of their set up, they could play with their creations for a few minutes before having to take everything apart for the next class.

After clean up, groups made a list of the kinds of 3d solids they used and could identify in their sculptures.

The level of engagement in the project was extremely high. I have a lego center in my room that is always busy with early finishers, so I knew most students would be pretty focused. Some groups had specific plans or ideas as to what they were building- cities, vehicles, spacecrafts, while others approached the project more freely. There were moments of frustration- beginning builders feeling intimidated, but there was almost always a "master" builder in their group that could help them get more comfortable with the process.

clay all day.

This week I entered my clay phase;)

The 2nd and 5th graders are both working with clay for the next two weeks and then the 3rd graders will be for the two weeks after that. Time to break out the lotion:)

The 2nd graders are making clay tiles inspired by the work of Invader. I have been stoked about trying this with them for some time and I think the kids are enjoying it too. We take a look at his website and he's got a map of the world that shows where all his "invasions" have taken place. You click on any of the cities and it takes you to photo/s of the works at that place. Pretty darn slick! Look out for the moving one too- he's got a piece on the outside of the International Space Station too.

Five years ago, he invaded San Diego, so we look at those. Some of them are still around the city. While we are looking, I point out how he only uses squares and rectangles to create his images. We talk about pixels, old school videogames, and of course, minecraft.

The role the kids play in this project is that of an invader creator. Their job is to design their own invader using only squares and rectangles. Also, they use the texture of legos to alter the texture of their clay tile. The kids have been pretty engaged with this one;)

The kids sketch out 3 different designs, decide which one they will do, share their reasoning with a neighbor, and then get stamping. When we get to the stamping part, I emphasize that they only need to press softly. If they go to hard, they will punch a hole through the clay. Some kids inevitably do this, but I tell them it does add a little character to their overall design- which, when controlled, it does. They should use the legos as stamps and not as cookie cutters.

Next week, we'll paint 'em.

The 5th graders are making modified coil vessels for their clay project. I have been using work by high school students up in LA county as the inspiration for this one. Debra Price-Agrums teaches at Whitney high school and her students can rock the clay work:)

I demonstrate various ways they can coil and modify coils to create their form. The shape and style is up to them. Next week, they will glaze them.

I love how this guy used his leftovers to make something else, too:)

Check out that interior!

leggo my lego.

Last week the 4th graders created a design using patterns and different types of lines to make certain parts stand out. This week I wanted to see them apply these elements to something that looked more real.

Enter my kids' legos:)

I began class by reviewing how the students used diagonal lines last week to make shapes look like rooftops of buildings. We then created a 2 practice drawings. One making a box look 3d from the front and the other from a corner edge. I emphasized the importance of the diagonal lines in these 2 drawings. If you don't use any the shape will NOT look real. I also stressed the importance of the diagonals being consistent with each other.

I then talked about what a still life is. Showed the kids a few examples, and then told them we would use diagonals and line patterns to observe a still life and draw it.

I used my presenter to show them a lego block. I moved the camera so they could see it from an angle up on my dry erase board. I then traced the shape, soliciting the steps from the students as I drew. Once the shape was complete, I removed the lego so they could see the drawing by itself. The kids thought that was pretty cool. Again, I reminded them that it was the use of diagonals that made the drawing look so real.

I then put the block back on the presenter and added a couple more shapes to the set up. We drew it together. We revisited the different geometric solids that made up the shapes- cubes, rectangular prisms, cylinders, etc. Some of the classes even picked up on the obtuse angles present in some of the set ups.

I stressed the importance of drawing the shapes large enough on their paper, so to eliminate too much empty space in their compositions. I also discussed moving the shapes around in their drawings. They could place the shapes differently than they actually saw them. This is more creative for them, and more interesting for me when I look at 150 of them.

This activity challenged the kids, but they all hung in there and did a great job with it. I have seen many students struggle with using diagonals correctly to make things look like they have volume and depth. By tracing the shapes out on the whiteboard as the students followed along worked well. It may seem a little cheaty, but I really wanted them to see how these lines were present in a real life set up.

Once students finished with the shapes, they traced the contours and added line patterns of different value to each of the shapes to make them look even more real.

A special thanks goes out to Logan and Aurora for letting me play with their legos for a few days:)