UMMA! Oh, MY! (Our Trip to the U of M Art Museum)

 Kindergartners ventured out to the UMMA (The University of Michigan Museum of Art) last week and were treated with a VIP Tour!  Outside, we  "swung" into action right away then were greeted by ...who else?  Six of the "25 cats named Sam" by Andy Warhol on display in the museum store!



Immediately we were warmly greeted  by our SK Daddy and family- our special tour guides!   Dad explained about some of the UMMA's large permanent collection and also showed us a temporary exhibit of elaborate, organic, and architectural whimsy whose creator was inspired by, of course,  Alice in Wonderland  and Mr. Warhol himself!  One Kindergartner noted  the "symmetry" in design of ornate African ceremonial masks and another pointed out a head dress made with hundreds of cowry shells that was once used as currency and denoted a sign of great wealth for the owner.   We also observed an intricately carved  wooden chair  that even told "whittled out" stories on its foot rest.

One surprising discovery was made inside of tidy wooden drawers that centered several rooms.  Treasures, literally treasures were fastened to cushions in each of compartment.  Kindergartners were in awe of all of the gorgeous beads and necklaces, exquisite tiny containers and bejeweled belt buckles, and delicate paintings that rested there.  

We tore ourselves away to admire Indian sculptures, Japanese kimonos that depicted ancient stories, and even a platinum vase!
  

 

The museum's elevator, we discovered, has to be as big as it is to transport and store all of the massive paintings and sculptures that are acquired and in rotation from time to time  as well as hold all of the many visitors.

Contemporary  Art  in the museum enlightened us on how the use of very ordinary household objects can invoke extraordinary thoughts and opinions.

Also, the point of view from inside the museum looking out appeared just a captivating. 

After reluctantly saying our goodbyes, Kindergartners admired the outdoor sculpture garden briefly then a bit of serendipity happened!  We came upon a structure that looked much like a cannon that caught our attention.   Last week, we discussed Memorial Day, Maya Lin (the Architect who designed the Vietnam Wall  in Washington D.C. and also the U of M "Wave Field.")   We also read The Wall by Eve Bunting.  We learned  about how the Vietnam Wall, a large granite slab that is tucked in to  the little hillside of the National Mall is engraved with the names of  fallen soldiers from the Vietnam War.  We learned that because of the engraving process,  visitors can even feel the letters  with their hand.  Patrons can also receive a "rubbing" of a name with the assistance of  the National Park Ranger like I did.

This structure outside of the art museum, inscribed with a dedication,  gave us a very good example of how an engraved memorial might feel. 

Upon our return to SK,  Kindergartners were asked about the part of the museum visit they found the most interesting. They commented:

"The black and white face made out of wood .  It was a mask!"-W.

"The man that's made out of shooters!" -B.M.

"Everything!  The man with broken parts!" -C.R.

"Andy Warhol's Cats"!-C.F

"So, the chair did not look very comfortable...(on) the back part,  a head sticks out!"-C.S.

"The chair!  People were on it!" -E. B.

"The symmetrical headrest!  I like how there were a bunch of different things  but they did not look like a headrest.  It would be a surprise!"- E. B. M.

"The elevators were like..bumpy!"- S.L.

"The symmetrical headrest!  I liked the animals inside."- E.R.

"I liked the neck rests and the headrests."-S.S.

During afternoon "Choice Time," Kindergartners decided... (Well, the conversation went something like this...)  "What if we had our own art museum?....  We could put ourselves on display.... and people would come... and we won't move.... and they will think that we were paintings... ! And we would fool them....!"  They then began feverishly  cutting away frames from paper.  They scoured the room and set up a Plexiglass sheet, props from the Gilgamesh play, a blanket from the quiet area,  the  word wall board into the  museum facade and "trompe l'oeil" (trick of the eye) ensued. 

 
Just FYI, we have  been talking about Leonardo da Vinci (Mona Lisa) and   Giuseppe Arcimboldo (Vertumnus) as some artists who included the painting  technique  of trompe l'oeil and used optical illusions- realistic looking objects like flies and painted violins on doors, upside down hidden images, and  portraits made of fruits, vegetables and other vegetation- into their artwork to fool the viewer. 
Kindergartners celebrated these tricksters with a yummy "Arcimboldo" fruit and hidden vegetable salad for snack!  

Our current "Andy's Cans" for charity count: 21.  

Our Kindergarten Class' goal: 100 CANS!

Flutter Bye-Bye Butterflies!

Benjamin's Mom and our Before & Aftercare Worker Nick,  were not squeamish at all and offered  up a dish of sugar water for our newly hatched and frisky "Painted Ladies."  The butterflies waited no time at all in having their first meal since the Metamorphic process just a few days ago.  The 5 butterflies flapped their wings fervently letting us know that they were ready to depart to open spaces.  We had a trial run in the courtyard then the release of the first brave one followed immediately by another.  Both had a conversation with nearby bumble bees (probably discussing ideal locations of nearby flowerbeds) then disappeared over the school building going west toward County Farm Park.  The third and fourth critters were a bit more tentative in leaving the pavilion and after departure,  # 4 stopped and lingered a bit by a nearby flower near the Art Room before taking off for good.   Nearby birds and the Kindergartners chirped with excitement and I'm  sure it was only to celebrate the Ladies' birthdays!

Kindergarten Caper Catch Up

SK South Entrance Skylight,  Fall 2012

Wow!   It is hard to believe that the school year is rapidly coming to an end.  It seems like your babies just tumbled into our new, gorgeous building with excitement and wonder.  I can still see us toting our umbrellas around our newly fenced playground and Yonder Tree,  peering into the cages of primates at the Toledo Zoo, and being more fascinated by the grey cat than the cows at the dairy farm.  I realize I will soon watch  these Kindergartners stop just short of the K classroom.  I may not be the recipient of the daily "surprise!"  but I will be listening by the door and waving them on!  I've had the time of my life!  Now onto something that won't make me tear up...


Kindergartners have been discussing many forms of "Reflection" this month!  Speaking of which, our  "Reflection's Night" was a wonderful example of the growth of the children's artistic and musical gifts and talents.  My colleagues, Tracy and Adam are awesome and  the children were adorable!  I am grateful to be able to witness such a lovely event!  Classroom "reflections" included a poem appropriately entitled "Reflections" from the book A Mural on Second Street and Other City Poems by Lilian Moore. Kindergartners have been practicing reciting and sight reading skills as well as speaking in front of an "audience of their peers. "   The poem itself is about the "phantom faces" that can be observed while window shopping.  Other ideas about reflections from the Kindergartners  included "remembering"...  "looking into the past"..., "what you see in the mirror" and "what you see in the water."


Kindergartners also heard a very
sweet story titled Grandpa Green by Lane Smith.  This beautifully illustrated picture book tells of how a little boy's great grandfather's way of "remembering" is with the use of an unexpected tool- a sculpture garden.  Kindergartners discussed the job of a "horticulturalist" and a "topiary" as a specially sculpted or trimmed bush or tree.  This was a great segue from our recent trip to the Oaken Transformation Sculpture (although different from sculpted) Garden in Brighton, MI mentioned in a previous blog entry.    During Choice Time, Kindergartners seized the opportunity to sculpt and cut paper (only fitting-made from trees!) into their own pop-up topiary greeting cards!  This activity afforded some great problem-solving (How do we make it pop-up?) and idea sharing! Children were also asked to incorporate various pen and ink shading techniques like in the story.  Some children even stated that they would be including  by name the "Billy Brown" technique (sketch technique  using short, colorful lines in various directions that resembles cross-stitching and creates movement.)   Our Art Teacher, Tracy will be proud!     In addition, we  had a lovely discussion about the effect of Alzheimer's disease on families and how sometimes, and for various reasons, we all forget things.   Kindergartners have also been enjoying an audio of Shel Silverstein reading his book of poetry, Where the Sidewalk Ends during our Quiet Time.

Andy Warhol's Cans have been the foundation for a lot of our math lessons this week!  We have examined more of Warhol's Graphic Design work that included the area of "product design."  We have various cans trickling in daily and are practicing our counting and data recording skills, and are practicing drawing "elipses" and "cylinders."   We are also becoming quite proficient at reading can labels!  Our first activity was to identify the weight of the cans in pounds (lbs.) and/or (ounces).  During a lesson one of the kids victoriously shouted, " I found the O-Z!"  Another activity included locating the "sodium content."  We will be discussing the topic of food preservation  further and hopefully with the help of 3/4 Grade Teacher Chris' class.  They have just returned from a trip to the a brinery.

We are incorporating in our can activity the use of weights and scales.  Ben and Mason's Dads seemed to have as much fun as the kids in determining just how much rice could actually balance on top of the weight scale!  We will be making some comparisons with our "standard" and "non-standard weights" in an upcoming project.  P.S.  Please submit a baby picture of your child with birth weight and length A.S.A.P if you have not done so already.  Thanks!

Our very sweet and helpful Concordia University Volunteer, Rachel, shared a recent trip to Hershey Pennsylvania's "World of Chocolate."   She explained and showed a video on her computer of   the process of chocolate making, did a mini Math lesson on how many "Kisses" equaled a Hershey bar, and discussed the reason she could not serve chocolate samples at our "Nut Aware" school was because of the product being created on an assembly line that produced items with nuts.  This was a great addition to our Product Design discussion!  Rachel is also working with our class while working on her Reading and Literacy project for her class.

Caterpillars are growing in the Kindergarten Room!  Because of the TLC  of all of the children (and Spring temperatures outside) the caterpillar larva have reached the chrysalis stage of their metamorphic process. 

 A "Butterfly 

Release Party" 

date for our

"Painted Ladies" 

will be forthcoming!

Other Science/Sensory activities included seeing just how much water the playground sand box could hold, cultivating a small wildflower garden in our playground, and Science classes with Dr. George!  One week entailed revisiting  the prototype "Hoop House" structure complete with a mini lesson in "Just how many different kinds of insects? live inside of  a tool shed.

  

After assisting with storing extra hoop house beams in the now tidied shed, we visited the new Hoop House structure to check the temperature guage.  The children hauled water and supplied it with much needed water to maintain its ideal temperature.  

This week's Science class involved exercising our muscles while disassembling and reassembling a structure made from the recently extracted parts from microwave ovens.

 

And speaking of a workout, last week's Yoga lesson with Dom included back bends and the use of a Medicine ball.  Kindergartners seemed to enjoy the deep stretch (and the change of perspective) that a turn on the medicine ball provided.

Kindergartners spontaneously "wrote" and produced their own play for an adoring and adorable (the rest of the class) audience.  Roles were distributed, rehearsals were made  and several performances were acted out.  The crew even included a "Stage Manager!" 

Just a reminder, Kindergartners have a field trip to tour the UMMA with Claude's Dad next  Friday, May 24th!   Departure at 10:00 A.M!

(Above) My own youngest baby, Jhordan (is she supposed to be sitting on that?) outside of the UMMA (University of Michigan Art Museum) on  Graduation Day-  Class of 2013!   Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Spanish.  (An honorary SK Kid!  She would have loved it here!)

And one of our very own SK Daddies!!!

A special Thanks to all of you lovely, lovely Parents and Grandparents for your awesome Kids/Grand kids,  your support and commitment to Progressive Education,  and for the delicious Staff Brunch (and attentive kid supervision and cool craft project) you provided for all of us teachers!  We appreciate you!!!  

                                        Kindergarten Class' Lost Tooth Count this week:  2!

Teachers Chris 3/4s and Elaine 1/2s having a very reflective (and Ocean's Eleven- like) moment gazing up at the Apple Blossom Tree outside of the South entrance of SK.  The scent of the foliage was captivating!



SK South Entrance Skylight, Spring 2013