#msquinn

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Eisenhower 7th Grade, Visual Art & ELA Ms. Quinn / Mr. Hawkins

7th graders used their study of Virginia Hamilton’s The People Could Fly as a jumping off point to explore the power of myth and magic to depict people’s true selves.  Mr. Hawkins led the students in a discussion of identity where students explored the different identities that people hold in their communities.  Students identified the stark contrast between what people might assume about them based on how they look and who they truly are inside.  Each student chose a mythical creature that provides insight into some aspect of their identity.  Ms. Quinn photographed students posed as their creatures, and then students used the photographs to create self-portrait collages incorporating their choice of medium:  paint, markers and/or oil pastel.

“People might look at me and think I am like a happy little sunflower but really on the inside I am like this little girl scared of the world trying to be strong and protecting the ones she loves.  Me and the kelpie relate because even though we are both pretty we are independent and we want to protect the ones we love.  We might not seem as we look”

“People might look at me and think I am mean, but really on the inside I am kind and sweet to people.  An angel represents the inner me because I am beautiful and peaceful and helpful and lovable.”

“People might look at me and think I am dangerous and dumb.  But really on the inside I am smart, very thoughtful and very silly at times.  A leprechaun represents the inner me because it’s short, silly, entertaining and smart.”

“People might look at me and think I’m weak (emotionally).  But on the inside I’m not, I’m confident.  The phoenix represents the inner me because I don’t care what anyone says about me, I’m going to continue what I’m doing to succeed.”

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Eisenhower 1st Grade and Writing Ms. Quinn and Mrs. Reine

First graders worked on a semester long project of creating their own fairy tales.  Students read examples of fairy tales, brainstormed what made fairy tales unique, shared stories from their own lives and then added magical details to transform those stories into fairy tales.  They edited their own writing, bound and illustrated their own books, and practiced reading them to each other. 

Through writing and creating their own books, the project was designed to support beginning readers at all different levels in identifying as readers and writers who know that books belong to them.  Students who usually avoided engaging in literacy tasks were deeply engaged in the project.  For a few students, this was the first book they ever read on their own.

 Here’s Kevin’s story of a bird that lays a high unusual egg.

[kidsmartnola]

Eisenhower 1st Grade and Writing Ms. Quinn and Mrs. Reine

First graders worked on a semester long project of creating their own fairy tales.  Students read examples of fairy tales, brainstormed what made fairy tales unique, shared stories from their own lives and then added magical details to transform those stories into fairy tales.  They edited their own writing, bound and illustrated their own books, and practiced reading them to each other.  

Through writing and creating their own books, the project was designed to support beginning readers at all different levels in identifying as readers and writers who know that books belong to them.  Students who usually avoided engaging in literacy tasks were deeply engaged in the project.  For a few students, this was the first book they ever read on their own.

Here’s Jelaia’s story of a mermaid who makes a visit to Raising Cane’s in Mid City.  Spoiler Alert: She gets lemonade.

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Eisenhower 1st Grade and Kindergarten, Nature & Visual Art Ms. Quinn

Kindergarten and first grade enrichment explored the connection between art and nature by diving into the work of Andy Goldsworthy.  We watched excerpts from the film of his work Rivers and Tides and then went outside to try it for ourselves.  Students reveled in their creative assemblages, drawing on personal resourcefulness and making strong bonds as they worked together.

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4th graders in Ms. Jack’s ELA class deepened their close reading of The Whipping Boy, historical fiction set in the Middle Ages, with a semester long writing and book arts project.  Each student created a character from the Middle Ages and is telling their story through a diary, weaving in the use of concepts and skills including figurative language, dialogue and peer editing.

We celebrated the completion of their diaries with a Medieval feast.  Students arranged their desks in a long banquet, arranged themselves by role and class as would have been custom in the Middle Ages, listened to Medieval music and feasted on oatcakes with honey and barley water.  Students read each others’ work and left compliments for their peers.  They even led a celebratory toast with their barley water. 

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7th graders had a unit focused on space exploration including a close reading of “Dark They Were, and Golden Eyed,” a short story by Ray Bradbury.  For this project, students were asked to imagine what life would be like on another planet if they were the ones creating a new civilization. They worked in groups to imagine new worlds, and created flags to represent the values of that world.  We looked at flag inspiration from artist Niki Tsukamoto, listened to a TED talk about good and bad flag design by Roman Mars. and considered the design of different flags such as the Pan-African Flag, the Gay Pride Flag, and Ms. Quinn’s favorite, the flag of Japan.

http://lookoutandwonderland.com/

https://www.ted.com/talks/roman_mars_why_city_flags_may_be_the_worst_designed_thing_you_ve_never_noticed

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Eisenhower 7th Grade, Visual Art Elective Ms. Quinn

7th graders in art created beautiful shibori pieces.  Students selected and drew designs on cotton fabric, then bound their fabric with rubber bands, clothespins and rocks after learning a few traditional shibori patterns.  Ms. Quinn took their pieces home and dyed them in an indigo vat, then students revealed their patterns a few days later once the pieces had dried.

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Eisenhower 1st Grade and Kindergarten, Visual Art Elective Ms. Quinn

Students in first grade and kindergarten art made puppets, first by selecting pre-cut shapes of cardboard, then hot gluing them together, then covering them in felt.  This project could easily be incorporated in different subjects: creating puppets to act out word problems in math, making different animals or bugs in science, or creating characters and plays in ELA.