The Kindergarten class is the first group of kids to start the Auction Art Project. Each grade will learn about the African-American Expressionist Painter Alma Woodsey Thomas (1891-1978).
Each grade will create a finger painting design inspired by the work of Thomas. It was extra special to introduce Thomas to the Kindergarten because she was a teacher and artist as well. She taught Kindergarten for 38 years in the Public School system of Washington D.C. Her artwork is displayed in the Hirshhorn Museum (D.C.), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY), National Museum of Women in the Arts (D.C.), and the White House Historical Association, just to name a few!
The Kindergartners expressed so much happiness seeing Thomas’s work and were super excited to start finger painting! #Saklanwellrounded
The very first part of this project starts with the Egyptian Canopic Jars. Each vessel has a different head as the lid (4 Sons of Horus): a human, hawk, baboon, and jackal. Each protected a part of the body. I asked the students, what do you want your vessel to protect and why? After the little history lesson, the students began making the vessel. They started building a basic coil pot and had some height requirements to reach, so the students made sure to measure their vessel as they kept building. After the vessel was complete, they got to start of the lid, which brings us to the spirit animal part.
Miss Natalie asked the class, if you could be any animal, what would you be and why? After some fun discussion, the students took a quiz that would reveal their “true” spirit animal. Almost all of the students identified with their given spirit animal. Some did not match with the animals they chose personally but were excited and motivated after reading why the quiz had given them a specific animal. They were given the choice to accept the given spirit animal from the quiz or the animal they personally resonate with. They printed out several perspectives of each animal head and began sculpting! The students are so excited for their project to get fired in the kiln because that means next week we can start glazing! #Saklancreative
After finishing their clay looms, the third graders used watercolor to paint the bisque ware. Using watercolor instead of glaze, the students can blend and overlay multiple colors. Miss Natalie sprayed the looms with a clear glaze overcoat before they started weaving.
Here, the students are learning to set up their warp yarn and begin the center of their circular weaving. The students worked together to help one another when we got a little stuck in the process. It was a great day of teamwork and problem solving. They were surely proud with the progress they made on their weavings! Next week, they will continue weaving with a second color.
I asked the 1st and 2nd grade, What is POP Art??? We talked about what is popular in today’s American culture and why. During our discussion, I showed them the work of Sculptor Claes Oldenburg, who sculpts large scale everyday objects. To guide the project in a direction based on healthy eating instead of popular junk food sculptures, the students chose their favorite fruit or vegetable to make. Their inspiration was the Mexican Folk Artists who create paper mache fruits and vegetables that are widely collected as works of art today. They could make their fruit or vegetable to scale or they could exaggerate the size like Pop Artist Claes Oldenburg did.
Having some of the fruits and vegetables to view while sculpting helped the students understand shape and form more clearly. After creating the form using newspaper and tape, the students had fun doing the paper mache. Once hardened, they painted their work with attention to detail. Learning that each fruit and vegetable has unique qualities to paint. We are in the process of making the large fruit bowl and will segway into learning about still life painting . Once we are all done with the making, we will play a fun game to learn the Spanish word for each fruit and vegetable made. The students are loving their fruits and veggies! #SaklanWellRounded
Saklan’s West African Music and Dance program is taking off thanks to last year’s fund-a-need which allowed us to purchase a set of drums from Ghana. The 4th and 5th grades are learning a social dance called “Agahu” which involves a complex call and response choreography between the Lead Drummer and the Dancers. The after school drumming class is a great way for students to get more practice and instruction on the drumming techniques used for Agahu. The ensemble is starting to sound great! They will be ready to play drums for the dancers at the Annual Spring Concert in March. #SaklanHandsOn
The Kindergarten had fun making ceramic beads and constructing their own one of a kind necklaces. After showing some examples of beads in different materials such and glass, wood, stone, and ceramic, they learned the basics of how clay works. They took a little trip to our kiln room and saw our new tool ‘the kiln’ that finishes the beads. They know when the clay is wet you can shape it and when the clay is dry it is ready to be fired.
When the beads were finished, the students arranged them in order of how they wanted to string them and used factory made beads as extra fillers. Our little Kindergartners have some fashionable jewelry and design skills!
The 3rd grade is exploring textiles from around the world. They will be weaving and building their own circular loom.
The very first step is creating their own loom out of a clay slab. They will add texture and three dimensional elements to the loom. Along the way, students will learn how to identify the origin of a particular textile based on its pattern. After the loom is complete, the students will learn to weave!
This week, the 7th grade spent time in the Borneo Rain Forest using virtual reality viewers. Students were able to have a 360 degree view of the forest and see for themselves different plants and animals that make their home there. While their main job was to learn about different adaptations organisms have for living there, the students also seemed to really enjoy the feeling. Whether it was standing in a mangrove forest, being in a cave with bats, or being inches from a cicada, they seemed to “feel” like they were there. If it did get a bit too much, as it is quite a different experience, students could take a time out and use a tablet to experience this as well.
Saklan’s students had a “POSADA” this week. Posada is a tradition that gives the opportunity for students to enjoy a fiesta in a true Hispanic fashion. As part of this tradition, middle school students decorated their classmates’ candy bag to show how well they know each other. In fact, a student said “The person who decorated my bag knows me very well.”
The students took turns swinging at the piñata filled with candy while onlookers sang an encouraging verse “Dale, dale, dale; no pierdas el tino, porque si lo pierdes, pierdes el camino.” Once the piñata was broken, kids collected the falling candy to fill their bags. It was a party filled with cheerful socializing and wishing each other Happy Holidays, Felices Fiestas, in Spanish.
FRIDAY BLOG 
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