ART - Pathfinders & Navigators

Tuesday, September 20

CLASS OVERVIEW
Today in class we began working on MOSAICS, a type of medieval art. Each student chose a Christian symbol and two colors to be featured in the creation of their mosaic; the significance of these symbols and colors from early Christian art were discussed last week in class.

We began a discussion on the Byzantine art period, and what were the characteristics of this period:
-It was simple, and one dimensional
-Colors were somber
-Human figures were almost always front facing, and featured long, narrow faces with little detail
-It was Pietistic (Christian) in subject matter
-Religious members such as monks made up a large percent of the artists of this period
-Sculptures were forbidden as they were considered idols

Next week we will look in closer detail at some mosaics from this art period as students will finish working on their personal mosaics.

ASSIGNMENTS
-Research the artist Giotto di Condone, and learn about his life and works. CORRECTION: Giotto di Bondone - works & biography

Music - Trailblazers/Pathfinders

What is rhythm and how does it work? What's the difference between the rhythm and the beat? These are all questions that we answered together in class. Using rhythm sticks we found the rhythms and beats in the songs we sang and listened to.

Next we reviewed note values, and playing written rhythms. And we practiced reading rhythms with a Rhythm Telephone Relay.

Trailblazers worked on a Rhythmic Inventions page, figuring out the rhythms of syllables, words and phrases.

Pathfinders learned about polyrhythms, which is the simultaneous use of two or more rhythmic patterns. And then, in groups of three, they started composing their own polyrhythms.

Music - Explorers

All About Melody

The melody is usually the part of the song that we remember. To demonstrate this, the kids were each given a song to hum. As they hummed their tune, they also listened for what songs others were humming, and tried to find people who were humming the same tune.

A melody is the tune of a piece, and it is made from different pitches, some high and some low, put together in a particular order. To see the way pitch works, we made maps of a melody(Amazing Grace) on the floor, and then we started composing our own melodies.

End of Western Rome - History 1&2, Explorers & Trailblazers

After Jesus died followers spread the word that He was, and is, God.  This process was facilitated by the order and shared language of the Roman empire.  Sadly, Roman authorities believed that the worshipers of Jesus were dangerous and enslaved or killed many believers. 

Persecution continued until 313CE when Constantine the Great ruled that Christianity was legal.  

Christianity eventually became the official state religion, spreading it throughout the empire.  This ran counter to traditional Roman rule, which declared the emperor to be one of (or equal to) the gods, and was one factor in the decline of Rome, in addition to many others.

In 330CE, the Empire was intentionally split into two parts: the western half centered in Rome and the eastern half centered in Constantinople. This defenensive move did not prevent repeated attacks of Rome by the barbarians who eventually conquered Western Rome.

In class activities:

• Learned the meaning of the ichthus and made our own scratch art fish
• Reviewed the words barbarian and vandal in both their original and modern definition (the kids thought it was hilarious that pants were considered barbaric in Rome)
• Discussed the "hard words" on this week's history cards including "vulgate" and "council" - discussed why our timeline handmotions help our brains to remember the meaning of what we are saying.
• Played a game in which we tried to defend a large area from invaders
• Learned about persecution & Constantine
• Located Rome on a world map, and then highlighted the extent of the empire on regional maps
• Discussed cardinal directions & marked the portion of Rome that fell to barbarians
• Added to our Medieval Notebook

Optional lesson extension activities:

• Watch Crash Course History's brief synopsis of the fall of Rome.  
• Play online games as you learn about ancient Rome
• Take a short quiz to see what you remember from class

Assignment:

• Read history cards MA 5 & 6 (St Benedict and Monasticism & Justinian the Great)
• Practice your timeline

Explorers and Trailblazers Art

We reviewed who Cimabue was and what was special about him. We  colored in the" gold plated" area around Jesus head on a copy of his famous painting. We, then painted our castle drawings with watercolor. I reviewd or introduced them to the proper way to set up supplies and prepare your watercolor. We put our Cimabue picture into the notebooks. 
 Homework! finish coloring the Cimabue picture of Jesus and make sure you have a notebook for art history.

Explorers and Trailblazers Art class
I read a story about an artist from the Middle Ages, named Chimabue. He was the first to try making people look realistic by turning their heads sideways or tilting them. He also used gold to accentuate certain things, like halo's.We drew a castle and added gold enhancements to it.  Sometimes kids are intimidated about drawing buildings.So, we broke down the parts of a castle drawing with shapes, so they could experience success. I think they were mostly pleased with the results. This week we will paint these amazing drawings that the kids made!

Music - Navigators

The Navigators Class this year is a great group who seems very ready and willing to learn and experience music. Since this class is a little older with many varying degrees of musical understanding, I will be slightly changing the plan. We will still be doing an overview of the fundamental elements of music, but we will be focusing much more on listening and appreciating many different styles of music, which of course, will include Medieval and Renaissance.

Students will be asked each week to bring in their own samples of music that relates to each topic that we are working with. And there will also be a cool project called 'Music as Identity'.(more details on the project will be discussed next week)

Please come to class next week with a notebook & folder

Thanks!