Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program

Tag: symmetry

  • EXTRA! EXTRA! Truman Elementary Sneaks in Art Show Before School Closures

    Nathan Smith, BTSALP Visual Art Specialist at Truman Elementary School in Granite School District, makes sure to not only display the work of his students but to explain to parents and art show visitors the content integration that informs the art projects.

    First grade students examined their roles and the important roles of other people and places in their communities. They referenced the artwork The Block by Romare Bearden, an amazing contemporary African American collage artist. Then students used organic and geometric shapes to create their own collage of their favorite places in their community.

    Second grade students created Color Wheels to explore how colors mix to create new colors. They discovered that the Primary Colors (red, blue, and yellow) mix together to create the Secondary Colors (orange, green, and purple.) Then they turned their color wheels into their own original Life Cycles, and explored how every living thing grows and changes over time.

    Third grade students explored their understanding of the force of gravity – how it acts on everyday objects, and how it affects the Earth, Moon, and Sun. Then they showed the force of gravity in abstract artwork by creating colorful Contour Lines – lines that trace the outline of a shape or form.

    Fourth grade students created Pixel Artwork – drawings or designs created by small colored squares. They examined the artwork of the famous street artist, Space Invader, who creates pixel art outdoors. Their challenge was to create a design and find the Area and Perimeter of their work.

    Fifth grade students used their knowledge of land forms and Earth’s surface to create their own hand made historic maps. They created thumbnail sketches (small practice drawings) of a variety of land forms to study how they look. Then they drew and watercolor painted them before aging their map by covering it with a wash of coffee.

    Sixth grade students used their knowledge of Moon Phases and the Solar System to create their own space masterpiece. Their goal was to use Value (the combination of light and dark) to create the illusion that their planets were three dimensional spheres.

    Kindergarten students explored how they can express and recognize feelings on others’ faces. They created their own original Emotion Monsters to show different feelings. These monster faces are examples of a collage. Collage is a way of cutting and gluing paper shapes to make artwork.

  • Mosaic Murals at Sprucewood Elementary

    Jonathan Hale, BTSALP Visual Art Specialist at Sprucewood Elementary School (Canyons School District,) worked with each grade level to create a colorful mural. Each Mosaic Mural is a compilation of concepts taught at each grade level. Students worked to develop images in clay and then used recycled and donated items to complete the picture. Students reviewed and explored grade level concepts while creating and constructing these mosaic murals.

    1st Grade Mosaic Mural

    Connections to Grade Level Learning: The main focus of the 1st grade mural is on changes that occur; the seasons change bringing different kinds of weather. In spring the caterpillar changes into a butterfly, plants and flowers grow from seeds. In fall the tree leaves change color and fall to the ground.

    The flowers and the snowflakes were constructed using composite shapes. The students explored their knowledge of community making bees, complete with the queen bee and worker bees. The mural emphasizes colors as a way to show temperature and the seasons.

    2nd Grade Mosaic Mural

    Connections to Grade Level Learning: The main focus of the 2nd grade mural is on the local, state and national symbols. Students created their homes, neighborhoods, and communities including their very own Sprucewood Elementary School, stores and the post office. Students then represented state symbols like the Utah State flag, Utah’s Dinosaur Monument and Arches National Park. At the national level students helped to make the United States flag and the Statue of Liberty. In addition to the local, state and national symbols, students created phases of the moon with shapes divided into equal parts.

    3rd Grade Mosaic Mural

    Connections to Grade Level Learning: The main focus of this mural is the interconnection of the sun and earth and the rotation of the moon. The mural also includes elements of space with constellations, satellites, spaceships, and the occasional math problem. The constellations were made using a grid with students calculating the area and perimeter of their creations.

    4th Grade Mosaic Mural

    Connections to Grade Level Learning: The mural focuses on the state of Utah. This mural highlights the many rock formations and types of Utah land forms, how they are formed and the effects of erosion. It also features fossils, Petroglyphs and and the people who told their stories through them. The mural also showcases the meeting of the two railroads at Promontory Point in 1869, Utah counties and even an Allosaurus. The water cycle is featured along with mathematical concepts of symmetry, angles and rays.

    5th Grade Mosaic Mural

    Connections to Grade Level Learning: The main theme of this mural is the formation of the United States of America. Each mural has a central image and four quadrants that highlight the explorers, patriots, inventors and Yankees that helped shape the American we know and love.