Good News from Senegal

Remember these ladies?  I posted about them here.  They're the Bayerena Group from Senegal.  These ladies live in the same region of Senegal and work selling tomatoes and hibiscus flowers and other small items in the market.  They came together in 2001 to form a solidarity group to support each other in their business.  Madame Kahady (raising her hand on the right) is the leader of the group.  She is 43 years old.  In a country where the average yearly income is $ 1,700 she is raising six children of her own and two more children who have been placed with her by relatives. 

I encountered this group through KIVA loans.  The group was asking for a loan of $2,000 to bolster capitol and improve their business.  KIVA is an organization that provides the tiny loans to people all over the world that can improve and change lives.  
Last year my $25 was pooled with other donations to make the loan.

Today I received an email with the good news that the loan was repaid in full and my $25  has been returned to me and is waiting in my pay pal account.  I have the option to withdraw my money, but I already know I will lend it again.

I'm really excited to visit the KIVA website, browse through the photos and descriptions, and select another group or individual to lend to.
If you're looking for a gift this holiday season for the person who as everything, or a way to do something small that can have a large impact on making the world a better place, this just may fit the bill.  Gift cards are available, too.  Yay, KIVA!. 

What's New?

Lots to post today!  Here is a taste of what we've been working on this month.

Fourth grade is working on drawing drawing cylinders.  We've also been looking at the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh.  Fourth graders put the two together by creating a floral still life using chalk pastels.  This week I'm loving Cassidy's bold choices in color and composition.

Third Grade has been working on self-portraits.  We did some pencil sketches using a mirror, drawing one feature at a time, talked about proportions of the face and then started a painted portrait.  This week I'm loving Michael's self-portrait.  It's pretty good at this stage but looks even better now.  During our last class he added the nose, eyebrows and the final outlining.  This work is 12X 18 and also very bold.

Here are two photos that show how the work evolved.  We began with a chalk drawing on construction paper.  Kids painted in the shape of their face, neck and shoulders. Then the background.  Then added hair and their clothes.  This project is based on the portrait project on Art from Small Hands where the steps are explained wonderful detail.  We took our time mixing colors to get each child's hair color and skin tone correct which opened the door to color conversations and shared knowledge.

Here is a cute first grade example of the same project, again started on brown paper.

And look at these Rectangle Robots!  This is a Deep Space Sparkle Lesson that is a lot of fun for the littlest artists.  We used oil pastels on the background and the printed using things we found around the room (corks, spools, and tubes).  We have been talking about shape as an element of art and identifying and naming geometric shapes.  Two of our favorite books about shapes are "Shapes, Shapes, Shapes" by Tana Hoban, and "The Shape of Things, by Dayle Ann Dodds.  We used shapes to create a simple figure.  We practiced gluing the "kindergarten way"  (neatly).  We embellished our robot with doo dads from the scrap bin.

Fourth and fifth graders have been looking at the life and work of Pablo Picasso this month.  We completed several observational drawings of guitars in our sketchbooks.  We learned that guitars were featured heavily  in Picasso's early work.  We completed a larger (11 X17) continuous line drawing of a guitar, talked about realism and abstraction, and looked at examples of cubism, an art movement that Picasso pioneered with George Braque.  Finally, we completed one last drawing using brush and black tempera.  Students explored abstracting their design by showing several points of view in their picture and strove to create an interesting composition using the lines and shapes the observed in the guitar.
We added color with chalk pastel.
These are really big works (18 X 24) and they looked great on stage at the Holiday Musical.

That's all for now!  Hope you enjoy the art.

Twinkle, Twinkle

Been making these little twig stars and I can't stop.

Have seen them in all sizes, but I like tiny twigs best.  

Hot glued them together into an "A" and wrapped the threads.

Then added the last two pieces and wrapped the rest.

They look cute hanging alone.

Three strung in a garland look cute framing a doorway.

Lesson Learned

There is no end to the fun when you put together seven girls, a hot glue gun, a few rolls of ribbon and three pounds of candy.  Making candy necklaces was the much anticipated activity I promised for the last day of our seven week jewelry making after school program.  Crazy fun watching the girls put their creations together, necklaces, bracelets, hair bands and belts.
The end result was a group of girls bestrewn with candy.  Their goal is to save their jewelry to wear to the holiday concert which is set for Monday night.  Hope they make it!

Eating candy was tempting, but not a problem for these girls.  Each girl tasted one piece before we began, and another when we finished and that was it.  
Our sessions are fast paced make-and-takes leaving little time for pictures but trust me these girls are amazing in all ways and created so many fabulous things this session.  Best group ever.

Sweet Necklace or Garland

Fun to do with kids. 

Make a holiday necklace wear or to give.

Or a candy garland for the tree.  

I found all this Walmart today.

A really big bag of peppermint candy.

3 lbs 12 oz.

WoW  

This was a dollar

49 cent ribbon and some plastic wrap I had on hand

Hot glue the ends of the wrappers to form a chain.  Tie bits of ribbon between the individual pieces. 

Keep going if you want a garland.

Add a ribbon closure if you want a necklace. 

  

Lay out any kind of unwrapped candy on a piece of clear plastic wrap.

Roll it up.

Tie bits of ribbon between the candy.

Add a ribbon closure for a necklace.

Keep going if you want a garland.

Bug Mural

Third graders finished their bug mural last week and it's now up in the entryway.  The kids have been working on it for three weeks.  Before work began, we brainstormed to compile a list of all the insects we could name.  We looked at pictures of insects of all kinds and practiced drawing our favorites.  We reviewed cutting symmetrical shapes and cutting two identical shapes.  Once we were up and going, groups took turns painting in the background and working in the "Bug Factory".   I love the result.  So cheery.
Our mural was inspired by Anna Pietrolungo's post at Imagine Explore Create .  Check it out!

Cardboard Owls

We broke out the specialty paints to finish up our cardboard owls.  Glow-in-the-dark eyes and golden feathers make them wonderful.

Step one:  Look at examples.  Practice.  Guided drawing on paper with sharpie.  (begin with the eyes)

Step two:  Final version.  Draw on cardboard with sharpie.  Draw big.  Fill the space.

Step three:  Dot on feathers with brown paint and Q-tips.

Step four:  Brush and yellow paint for eyes, beak, feet.  Brush on brown feathers if you like.

Step five.  Glow in the Dark eyes.  Golden feathers.  Black outlining.

Cut out and enjoy.

We have a lovely collection for our owl tree.  Coming soon.