Extending Our Work

After learning basic skills and discovering the impact of working collaboratively during the first weeks of school, extending our work is now the focus in the art languages of collage. We are providing children the time to work on projects in collage over several sessions.  

This helps the children make a plan and execute it without losing stamina.  It supports their independence with managing materials because they are not spent at the end of each session and still have the capacity to think through which materials need to be returned to which places.  

The first opportunity to work in this way was on the animals for the Sixth Day collage and paint display on the wall in the classroom.  The children did a lot of cutting each day and this tired them out.  So, they were encouraged to work on the big parts first and then add details on another day.  Their work is beautiful.

Now the Rocks and Rivers students are all working on a self-portrait collage.   

The first day’s work was only to add the face as there was some observing necessary and decision-making about what color paper would be best to use.  Then the face paper required a lot of gluing.  This was a good place to stop.  

Most children completed their eyes in one day, adding white circles, cutting irises of the right color, and adding a pupil. Some children have begun to add a nose.  

More details will be added in the coming days. The children are learning to make a plan, execute it, and clean up after.  They are also learning that some jobs take more than one attempt or one session and that we can come back to work to add more and see it develop.  It is a delight to be proud of one's hard work.