Art Class: Explorers and Trailblazers: weeks 1-4

Week 1: Cave Paintings: We looked at cave paintings from the Lascoux caves in France and how they were found. We talked about how art can tell us stories.We talked about earth colors and types of line. We made "cave paintings" on brown paper with earth colors using our drawing skills(shapes and lines).

Week 2: Cartouche carving: We looked at pictures of Cartouches and talked about Egyptian Hyroglyphs. We began a three week project of making a Cartouche from sheetrock. This first week we prepped our "rock". We spent time removing the paper from the sheetrock. This was hard work and the kids did great!

Week 3: Cartouche sheetrock carving: This day we drew our names using Hyroglyphs. Then we carved them using carving tools. The kids did great work!

Week 4: We re-looked at the pictures of Cartouches to see how they would have been painted. Then we painted, using alot of gold.

Week 5: We are looking at Mosaics and what a Jewish Menorah is. We are making a Mosaic Menorah.

Trojan War - History 1&2, Explorers & Trailblazers

Separating history from mythology is one of the great challenges when studying the Bronze age. The writings of Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey tell us that the Trojan war began when Paris of Troy took Helen away from her husband, Menelaus, the king of Sparta in Mycenaean Greece around 1180 BCE.

The siege of Troy lasted over 10 years until Odysseus, a greek general, delivered a beautiful wooden horse to Troy and pretended to leave with his army.  When night fell, soldiers erupted from the hollow horse, conquering the town.

In 1879 archaeologists  found the city of Troy, with the remnants of ashes and bones lending credibility to the stories wartime destruction.

In class activities:

• Listened to the story of the Trojan Horse
• Discussed the difficulty that historians have separating fact from fiction in ancient writings
• Talked about the changes that happen to stories over time
• Built our own Trojan Horses

Optional lesson extension activities:

• Have fun with BBC's School Radio episodes covering the Iliad
• View images of the archaeological site of Troy

Assignment:

• Read (or listen to) any greek myth.  I suggest choosing a children's version adapted from the Iliad or Odyssey, but any myth will do. - Story Nory has several children's versions available that you can listen to online.
• Read history cards NT 4-8, OT 29-30
• Practice your timeline

Drama for All!

Posting for Sandie Dillion...my apologies for the lateness!

Last week and the next two, we have been working on space and movement.  We are using pantomime to become more physically expressive and begin to develop stage presence.  Last week I introduced the treats bag rewards for hard work or excellent cooperation. The students have the option to choose a small piece of candy or a small toy eraser or pencil. They have been instructed to follow home rules regarding candy and if I find they have eaten it without your knowledge or permission they would lose treat bag privileges. Also you should all have received my card with contact information. Please pop me an email so I know you have my address. Oh and ask your students what pantomime is!

Blessings!
Sandie Dillion

Explorers and Trailblazers!
 Please bring something to Batik this week! It can be a t-shirt, pillowcase or a piece of white fabric of some sort. Thanks!

Treasure Hunters : "The Feast of Tabernacles"

FOCUS: The Feast of Tabernacles (Booths)

DISCOVERY: Made fruit to decorate our Booth (or Sukkot)

LITERATURE: "Walk with Y'shua Through the Jewish Year" by Wetheim&Shapiro,
                  "Pyramid" by Macaulay, and Leviticus 23:33-43

MUSIC: learned some more blue-jello beats
                 began learning a Fruits of the Spirit song

SUMMARY: While roaming in the desert, the Israelites made booths (sukkot) to shelter them.  God provided food, water, and protection.  After finding the promised land and settling into houses, God commanded that they remember His care for them by celebrating The Feast of Tabernacles each year - The Season of our Joy - Z'man Simhatenu

We had a snack of apples and honey under our Sukkot.

Art-Pathfinders&Navigators
Tuesday, October 13

Class Overview
The Tabernacle was an amazing mix of skill and art! We would need the whole semester to thoroughly cover all the detail that went into God's design of the tabernacle, but we covered it as well as we could in one class.

Class started with a brief look at Bezalel, the man who God filled with His spirit and gifted with a huge array of skills to oversee His tabernacle design.

Project
Armed with their Bibles, students drew out a simple outline of the design of the tabernacle and the major pieces of furniture.

Assignments
-Read Exodus 35:20-26
-Find an additional Bible reference (from anywhere in the Bible) of weaving/fabric/dyeing
-Bring in a bendable twig at least 18 inches long (we need to be able to bend it into a circle without it snapping; good choices are weeping willow branches or grapevines)

Exodus - History 1&2, Explorers & Trailblazers

 In 1570 BCE  Egypt defeated the Hyksos who had invaded their land.  Using their new knowledge of Hyksos’ weapons and chariots, they drove the invaders back and expanded Egypt’s borders further than ever before. They continued to grow more powerful during this “Golden Age of Egypt,” which included great pharaohs such as Thutmose I, Hatshepsut (the girl pharaoh) Akhenaten, and “King Tut.”

After receiving grain from Joseph, the Israelites did not return to Canaan, but settled on the banks of the Nile, eventually becoming slaves to the Egyptians.  Moses, an Israelite raised in the Pharaoh’s house, was called to free the Israelites. Pharaoh refused Moses request, and there were great plagues.  Eventually Pharaoh relented, if for only a moment, and the Israelites were able to escape across the Red Sea.

In class activities:

• Reviewed the timeline of events leading up to the Israelites bondage in Egypt
• Discussed the Code of Hammurabi and its similarities to Biblical law
• Made our own Egyptian shirts
• Learned about the Hyksos and what their invasion of Egypt meant
• Finished our Egyptian mobiles
• Mapped the wanderings of the Israelites

Optional lesson extension activities:

• Pretend you are Moses in this online game
• Learn more about the Hyksos from Answers in Genesis
• Celebrate your own Passover feast
• Dover has excellent coloring books for this time period.  Not only are the images beautiful, but the captions at the bottom provide lots of historical context.  

Assignment:

• Read history cards NT2-3, OT 26-28
• Practice your timeline