It's funny, the last week or so, I've been feeling a lot more "awake" (which is ironic, considering some of the hours I keep) than usual. I think I know the cause: I started a lesson last week with my 2nd graders that I've been looking forward to for some time.
A wonderful thing, that enthusiasm. I need to get more pumped about the other lessons I've been teaching, too, and stop feeling like an automaton.
The lesson is on Pysanky AKA Ukrainian Easter eggs.
When I was a kid, I used to watch Reading Rainbow. (Is that still around? I hope so; it was fantastic.) One of the stories on the show was "Rechenka's Eggs", a story about an old woman who rescues a goose; the goose lays beautifully painted eggs as repayment for those it broke. A very lovely story. Afterwards, the show featured a segment showing the audience how the eggs are made. I was (and still am) fascinated by how intricate and beautiful the eggs are.
When I was ordering supplies at the beginning of the year, I found the book in a supply catalog and got it. As the 2nd graders are going through a pattern unit, I felt this would be an exciting project with lots of depth--culture, design, fun--and it's 3-dimensional, which the kids haven't really gotten to do yet, unless one counts the snowflake mobiles we created recently.
I can't, of course, provide 40 some-odd 2nd graders with real eggs, for various reasons, so I've decided to get plastic Easter eggs instead. The eggs will be hot glued together, so as to survive the project as a whole egg, and then they will be gessoed white (gesso is canvas primer for any non-artists reading this--it's usually white and is thicker than normal paint, so it should provide a good working surface). In lieu of dye, the kids will use tempera, and I'll apply a coat of spray varnish to give the eggs a glossy, finished look, which is also the final step for real Pysanky.
I haven't written out the entirety of the project's lesson plan, just what I need for this week and last, but I'll be hashing it out as I glue egg halves together this weekend.
When I'm not occupied by lesson planning, I've been playing catch-up with Art Sonia. I signed up for it near the beginning of the year, but just never found the time to get any pictures taken. I have a LOT of artwork to photograph, but I'm about half-way done. I've got two more 1st grade classes to do and eight kindergarten classes. Sadly, 1st and kindergarten each had about 3 times the finished work than 2nd or 3rd grade, as their projects have tended to be shorter in duration. But I'll get it done eventually.
In other news, I'm still waiting to hear back from a Praxis III examiner. I signed up at the beginning of last month to take the exam during March. I won't be terribly put out if it gets pushed into April, as I know how swamped they are, but that's not going to stop me from checking up on them periodically. I'd really like to get it over with, and I really kind of wanted to show off the Pysanky lesson. Ah well. Six to one, half a dozen to the other, as my father would say.
A wonderful thing, that enthusiasm. I need to get more pumped about the other lessons I've been teaching, too, and stop feeling like an automaton.
The lesson is on Pysanky AKA Ukrainian Easter eggs.
When I was a kid, I used to watch Reading Rainbow. (Is that still around? I hope so; it was fantastic.) One of the stories on the show was "Rechenka's Eggs", a story about an old woman who rescues a goose; the goose lays beautifully painted eggs as repayment for those it broke. A very lovely story. Afterwards, the show featured a segment showing the audience how the eggs are made. I was (and still am) fascinated by how intricate and beautiful the eggs are.
When I was ordering supplies at the beginning of the year, I found the book in a supply catalog and got it. As the 2nd graders are going through a pattern unit, I felt this would be an exciting project with lots of depth--culture, design, fun--and it's 3-dimensional, which the kids haven't really gotten to do yet, unless one counts the snowflake mobiles we created recently.
I can't, of course, provide 40 some-odd 2nd graders with real eggs, for various reasons, so I've decided to get plastic Easter eggs instead. The eggs will be hot glued together, so as to survive the project as a whole egg, and then they will be gessoed white (gesso is canvas primer for any non-artists reading this--it's usually white and is thicker than normal paint, so it should provide a good working surface). In lieu of dye, the kids will use tempera, and I'll apply a coat of spray varnish to give the eggs a glossy, finished look, which is also the final step for real Pysanky.
I haven't written out the entirety of the project's lesson plan, just what I need for this week and last, but I'll be hashing it out as I glue egg halves together this weekend.
When I'm not occupied by lesson planning, I've been playing catch-up with Art Sonia. I signed up for it near the beginning of the year, but just never found the time to get any pictures taken. I have a LOT of artwork to photograph, but I'm about half-way done. I've got two more 1st grade classes to do and eight kindergarten classes. Sadly, 1st and kindergarten each had about 3 times the finished work than 2nd or 3rd grade, as their projects have tended to be shorter in duration. But I'll get it done eventually.
In other news, I'm still waiting to hear back from a Praxis III examiner. I signed up at the beginning of last month to take the exam during March. I won't be terribly put out if it gets pushed into April, as I know how swamped they are, but that's not going to stop me from checking up on them periodically. I'd really like to get it over with, and I really kind of wanted to show off the Pysanky lesson. Ah well. Six to one, half a dozen to the other, as my father would say.
No comments:
Post a Comment