Rent Party Jazz Art

Sammy

This is our first post for a new class of students in 2nd grade. We are learning virtually due to the current pandemic, and have been doing art together every Friday. The paintings and drawings in this post were inspired by the children's book, Rent Party Jazz, written by William Miller and Illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb. We watched Viola Davis' reading of the story, which can be found on youtube. Please leave comments for our young artists.

Alondra

Malik

Amanda

Jason

Alison

Dylan

Edison

Art Camp Activity!

Lupe's Sunset

These past two months have flown by like a flock of hungry seagulls! Since school let out for the summer, I have been offering Art Camp via ZOOM to continue the fun. Some of the really engaging art projects we worked on this summer included: designing and building structures from recyclables, and drawing self-portraits of ourselves wearing safety masks. Two weeks ago we painted sunset cactus silhouettes.

Genesis' Sunset

Yeckson's Sunset
 

Last week we had six students show up to art camp- a record! Our lesson was taken directly from the free family art lessons the wonderful Richmond Art Center has been offering on Thursdays. I believe they will be offering one more lesson: https://richmondartcenter.org/event/family-make-10/, next Thursday, July 30, 4-5 pm.

Adrian's Sunset

Here is the lesson:

Take a piece of printer paper and fold it in half. Open it up, and for two minutes, draw 4 separate doodles on each panel of the paper. Don't try to draw anything specific. If you want to, you can close your doodles by connecting the first line with the last line.

 Next, choose one of your scribble drawings to expand/add details to/ turn into a character. Then give it a name. As you can see, I chose my scribble on the right, since it looked like a parrotlet. So I added a few (not too many!) details.

Finally, on a new piece of paper draw your character within the context of a setting that you'd like her/him to be in. Add a story if you'd like. As I was drawing my brick wall, I thought it would be fun to add a little texture to the bricks. I found an incense package that had a cool ridge pattern on the cardboard sleeve that contained it. I used this to create my texture for the bricks. (I got carried away, and added the same texture to the tree trunk and the crows!)

Sophia H's doodle guy Rosie

Adrian's doodle guy Dinner Bones

Ms. Senyak's 2nd Grade Class 2019-2020

The Hard-Working Hen: A Sensory Poem

Our Watermelon Wednesday reading group had a
discussion about the Little Red Hen. Was she right to
eat all of her freshly baked cake and not share with her
friends? It's true that the friends refused when she
asked them to help plant the wheat, pick it, and grind it
into flour. Some of us thought she should still share her
cake. We didn't agree with each other. That's why at
the end of our sensory poem, we have a selection of
different endings. What's your opinion? Should you
share with friends that don't help you?

The Hard-Working Hen

I  see  lots of golden wheat growing in the fields

I feel like making a veggie pizza

I smell warm fresh air and something yummy in the oven

I see lazy creatures watching me work

 I smell delicious pizza

I taste a soft, fluffy crust

I feel 3 pairs of eyes staring at me

Different Endings:

When I am done, I will share (Genesis)

I hear a distant train whistle

Poor, hungry friends (Ms. Senyak) 

They asked for some, that’s how good it was (M. Ali)

An Excuse to paint: Cinco de Mayo and Diego Rivera/Una excusa para pintar: Cinco de Mayo y Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera's Mother's Helper

    

Adrian's

Jazavier's

Sophia J.'s

Genesis'

To help bring Mexican culture to the fore in honor of Cinco de Mayo, the students worked on  observing, discussing, and then copying the work, Mother's Helper, painted by Diego Rivera. We used materials everyone had at home- a set of watercolors and a dark crayon. The crayon we used to sketch the outline of the features in the painting, and then we went over our works with watercolors. Many of the students preferred to sketch directly from Rivera's work which I projected on our shared ZOOM screen. A few students (letting me know with our universal video conference symbol of affirmation- a thumbs up) preferred following me as I sketched the painting from scratch. The magic of painting was present once again during this activity, as the students were entranced in their individual art pieces. The results are unique and beautiful, just like the artists who created them.

Annalisa's

This project idea came from: https://www.deepspacesparkle.com/diego-riveras-mothers-helper-art-lesson/, They recommend for 4th grade, but my 2nd graders thoroughly enjoyed it. I also experimented with the lesson's soft pastels on colored paper, and it gave a pop-art look that was really fun. 

Kelly's

Para ayudar a destacar la cultura mexicana en honor al Cinco de Mayo, los estudiantes trabajaron observando, discutiendo y luego copiando el trabajo, Mother's Helper, pintado por Diego Rivera. Usamos materiales que todos tenían en casa: un juego de acuarelas y un crayón oscuro. El crayón que usamos para dibujar el contorno de las características en la pintura, y luego repasamos nuestros trabajos con acuarelas. Muchos de los estudiantes prefirieron dibujar directamente del trabajo de Rivera que proyecté en nuestra pantalla ZOOM compartida. Algunos estudiantes (haciéndome saber con nuestro símbolo universal de afirmación de videoconferencia, un pulgar hacia arriba) prefirieron seguirme mientras dibujaba la pintura desde cero. La magia de la pintura estuvo presente una vez más durante esta actividad, ya que los estudiantes quedaron fascinados con sus piezas de arte individuales. Los resultados son únicos y hermosos, al igual que los artistas que los crearon. La idea de este proyecto vino de: https://www.deepspacesparkle.com/diego-riveras-mothers-helper-art-lesson/, recomiendan para 4to grado, pero mis alumnos de 2do grado lo disfrutaron muchísimo. También experimenté con los pasteles suaves de la lección en papel de color, y le dio un aspecto pop-art que fue muy divertido.

Fractured Fairy Tales : Taco Tuesday/Ichthyosaur Thursday Cinderella

We have been engaging in fairy tale study during our small reading group times. Our Taco Tuesday group and our Icthyosaur Thursday group had each read a different version of the classic Cinderella story. Our Tuesday reading group created the first part of our new fairy tale, and our Thursday reading group added on to it. Note: We are still collecting pictures to add to this blog post. If you would like to make an illustration to go with our fairy tale, please leave a comment in the comments section.

Annalisa's artwork

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Payasina. She had long hair down to her feet. She loved to make people laugh. She had two very nice stepsisters. Payasina was always playing jokes on them. She liked to tell them to close their eyes and she would have a big surprise for them. When they opened their eyes, she had left the house. One day, the prince sent invitations to everyone in Richmond to his big BBQ party on the beach. Payasina really wanted to go, but her family said, ‘No, you are too clumsy. We don’t want you to trip on that long, long hair!’ Then “POOF!” a fairy godmother appeared. “Bippity boppity boo, I’ll turn your sneakers into clown shoes!” And next thing she knew, she was wearing bright red and blue clown shoes. And a huge grey elephant was waiting outside her house.  So she hopped on the  elephant and they headed towards the beach. She noticed dogs running all over the place. The elephant was clomping so hard that he shook the steak off of the grill. Two little chihuahuas raced over and ate the steak before they could get it back. The prince, who was also the grillman, looked up on top of the elephant’s back. He was shocked to see a clown with blue hair smiling back at him. He laughed so hard, he fell backwards. He tried to get up, but when he saw her face, it was just a normal little princess. The elephant’s trunk knocked over the radio, and some jam music started blasting. The prince and Payasina started dancing. The clock struck twelve, and she turned back into her beautiful self and the clown slippers disappeared. Then she stepped on some beach sticks, and got an ouchie on her foot. So he grabbed a royal band-aid and carefully wrapped her little toe. They said good-bye, and they lived happily ever after. P.S. Maybe they got married after 5 years of being friends.

Butterfly Art/ Arte de Mariposa

Like people all over the world, life changed dramatically on March 16th. That was the first day of this new thing called 'shelter in place,' where we live. As a second grade teacher, I had no idea how I was going to connect all of my students into this strange new world of distance learning. If that weren't a daunting enough challenge, trying to keep my students engaged and voluntarily returning for daily lessons seemed unrealistic.
As it turns out, I had a whole community of helpers already willing to do whatever it took to help us succeed in our goal. From teachers to administrators, to instructional coaches to resource specialists- and let's not forget abot the wonderful family members themselves, who have entrusted us with their children's care all year. We all worked together and made it work.

Painted Lady hatching and struggling to walk over leaf hairs

So there was a lot of pressure weighing on my shoulders to ensure that once I had everyone right where I wanted them- alert and sitting muted in front of their tablets at 9:00 am- I could get them to return the next morning without too many bribes. My secret weapon:  a topic that has proven irresistable to children for centuries- butterflies. And secondly- show high-tech PBS videos. I know, it's kind of cheating- but these videos were so mesmorizing- seeing a turquoise caterpillar the size of a grain of rice hatch out of a sheer ice blue little egg sack won us all over (I personally continue to watch these videos in my spare time.)  And somehow, miraculously, the students kept coming back for more. Today we practiced drawing monarch butterflies. In the over 100 days that I've worked with this group of lovable and quirky students, I have never witnessed them so intently focused for such a sustained amount of time- we were all in the zone during our butterfly painting session. 

Christopher's 

As the day progressed I went back to being my usual civilian self who basically is a person who spends an unusual amount of time eating- well- like a butterfly caterpillar. I checked my email in the late afternoon, and saw a message waiting from one of my students. 'Ms. Senyak, I was wondering if me and some of the girls in class could have a ZOOM meeting and talk about our butterfly pictures?'

Ah, the magic of the butterflies. Here are some of their works:

Sophia J's

Juan's

Annalisa's

Mohammad Aq.'s 

Jazavier's

Al igual que las personas en todo el mundo, la vida cambió dramáticamente el 16 de marzo. Ese fue el primer día de esta nueva cosa llamada "refugio en el lugar", donde vivimos. Como maestra de segundo grado, no tenía idea de cómo iba a conectar a todos mis alumnos en este extraño mundo nuevo de aprendizaje a distancia. Si eso no fuera un desafío lo suficientemente desalentador, tratar de mantener a mis alumnos comprometidos y regresar voluntariamente para las lecciones diarias parecía poco realista. Como resultado, tenía toda una comunidad de ayudantes ya dispuestos a hacer lo que sea necesario para ayudarnos a alcanzar nuestro objetivo. Desde maestros hasta administradores, desde entrenadores instructivos hasta especialistas en recursos, y no nos olvidemos de los maravillosos miembros de la familia, que nos han confiado el cuidado de sus hijos durante todo el año. Todos trabajamos juntos y lo hicimos funcionar. Así que había mucha presión sobre mis hombros para asegurarme de que una vez que tuviera a todos justo donde los quería, alerta y sentado en silencio frente a sus tabletas a las 9:00 a.m., podría hacer que regresaran a la mañana siguiente sin demasiado muchos sobornos mi arma secreta: un tema que ha demostrado ser irresistible para los niños durante siglos: las mariposas. Y en segundo lugar, muestre videos PBS de alta tecnología. Lo sé, es una especie de trampa, pero estos videos fueron tan fascinantes, ver un pilar de color turquesa del tamaño de un grano de arroz eclosionado de un saquito de huevo azul hielo puro nos ganó a todos (yo personalmente continúo viendo estos videos en mi tiempo libre.) Y de alguna manera, milagrosamente, los estudiantes volvieron por más. Hoy practicamos dibujando mariposas monarca. En los más de 100 días que trabajé con este grupo de estudiantes adorables y extravagantes, nunca los había visto tan concentrados durante un tiempo tan prolongado: estuvimos todos en la zona durante nuestra sesión de pintura de mariposas.

Genesis'

A medida que avanzaba el día, volví a ser mi ser civil habitual, que básicamente es una persona que pasa una cantidad inusual de tiempo comiendo, bien, como una oruga mariposa. Revisé mi correo electrónico a última hora de la tarde y vi un mensaje que esperaba de uno de mis alumnos. 'Sra. Senyak, me preguntaba si yo y algunas de las chicas de la clase podríamos tener una reunión de ZOOM y hablar sobre nuestras fotos de mariposas. Ah, la magia de las mariposas. Estas son algunas de sus obras:

Adrian's

Kelly's

                                                             

       
                                                                                         

Distance Learning/La Educación a Distancia

Sophia J. proudly displays the artwork she created while learning from an episode with Mo Willems

Annalisa reads 'Mummies' to her baby brother

One of our school's resource specialists posted a list of resources available during our shelter in place. One of my favorites is the free art lessons being given daily at 10:00 am PT by children's author Mo Willems through the end of March.  Here's the link: https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/  Note that if you miss an episode, you can watch a previously recorded one. Thank you, Ms. Baena!  Also seen are photos of students reading leveled books in EPIC at home. Families, please feel free to email me your home schooling/adventure photos to be included in an upcoming blog post! In the meantime, please keep up the great work you all are doing at home. Many students have been reading, quizzing, and making excellent progress using our math program ZEARN. Please let me know if you have any issues/need assistance of any type.

Adrian enjoys 'Buzz Bee' at home.

Wishing you a safe and peaceful week.  

Uno de los especialistas en recursos de nuestra escuela publicó una lista de recursos disponibles durante nuestro refugio en el lugar. Una de mis favoritas son las lecciones de arte gratuitas que se imparten diariamente a las 10:00 a.m. PT por el autor de los niños Mo Willems hasta finales de marzo.  Aquí está el enlace: https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/ Tenga en cuenta que si se pierde un episodio, puede ver uno previamente grabado. ¡Gracias, señorita Baena!

Aquí hay fotos de estudiantes que leen libros nivelados en EPIC en casa. Familias, ¡no duden en enviarme por correo electrónico sus fotos de escuela / aventura para incluirlas en una próxima publicación de blog! Mientras tanto, sigan con el gran trabajo que todos están haciendo en casa. Muchos estudiantes han estado leyendo, cuestionando y haciendo un excelente progreso utilizando nuestro programa de matemáticas ZEARN. Avíseme si tiene algún problema / necesita asistencia de algún tipo.

Te deseo una semana segura y pacífica.

Mosaic Introduction

My class took a six month hiatus from major art projects. We have been very busy learning about how school children around the world cope with hardships such as natural disasters and poverty; we have been participating in activities for our fossil study that is making us feel like paleontologists- putting together fragments of skeletons and writing museum display labels for fossils found in tar and tree resin. 
This whole time I have been sneaking in art where it made sense, but I needed more inspiration (and materials!) to start something bigger. That's where the Richmond Art Center came in. They held an Art Educator workshop last month that exposed a small group of interested teachers to different art forms and how to make them accessible to their students. They even donated a full bin of art supplies to each participant teacher- including 50 pounds of mexo, an air-dry clay.  I know how time flies when you're teaching, and didn't hesitate to start using those precious art materials right away. Last Wednesday, I set up my whole class for our mosaic exploration activity. The students were jazzed about the little slide show showcasing ancient mosaics as well as local favorites such as the beautiful  San Fransisco mosaic steps.
The day after we created our beautiful bean and mixed gem mosaic pieces, we received the dramatic news that our school may be closing for three weeks due to the covid-19 virus we'd all been hearing about on the news. It was a time of uncertainty and confusion for our young scholars. It was very comforting to return to the art pieces we had put together the previous day. The students admired their work, and found solace in walking around and sketching their favorite pieces- which usually ended up being their own. At a time when it felt like the sky was falling, mosaics created by the students' own hands gave them a sense of control over their lives, and an appreciation for the power of creation.