This picture has made me think about how important it is for us to allow our students to respond to complex, emotional, or challenging topics through art. It is a great way to make cross-curricular connections as well!!
I addition, I am adding the King Tut artifact painting that my son created (I talked about this painting in my first blog post but finally took a picture to upload). Just to recap, Mattias painted this picture in response to the Ancient Egypt unit he was studying in his Grade 6/7 class last year. I have never seen him so immersed in a school project before. Likewise, I have never before seen him so proud of something he has done in school. I attribute this connection to the fact that he was given a choice and therefore, took ownership and pride in his learning. He was able to respond in a way that felt meaningful to him. Isn't that wonderful?!
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| Earth Mother |
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| Mattias' Painting of an Artifact from King Tut's Tomb |
Beautiful paintings Laura! It looks like Mattias takes after his lovely mom! I love the idea of allowing students to respond to thoughts through art. In fact, I love this idea of giving ourselves permission to respond to our thoughts through art!
ReplyDeleteTeaching and learning today, with technology, is so much more visual than just text-based! The way you describe the process of creating these pieces, for both yourself and your son, emphasizes the art as meaning making theme of our text. But put meaning with a beautifully finished piece, that shows some mastery of tools and technique, and the artist has not only been engaged but also has a sense of accomplishment. Remembering the PERMA framework for happiness and well-being that I shared early in the year, Engagement, Meaning (of course, based on choice!), and Accomplishment are 3 of the 5...and they also contribute to Positive Emotion...what you feel when you look at the piece and remember the experience.
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