Second Grade students discussed movement by looking at the art of Kieth Haring. The class paid close attention to how Haring liked to draw his figures in a variety of positions. We discussed how the artist was very inspired by hip hop music and the break dancers he would see on the street. As a result, he tried to include these feelings and movements in a lot of his work.
After viewing and discussing some of Haring's art students explored how the artist could have been inspired by music and dance by doing a little dancing themselves! Students listened to James Brown and danced around the room freezing in position when the music stopped. Each table then traced one of their classmateds on large paper using their "frozen" positions as inspiration.
Kindergarten students began their year with a discussion about lines. We named and drew lines together on the smartboard. Next we thought about how an artist can create a picture of something we can't really see...the wind! We looked at many paintings that showed the wind, paying particular attention to the kinds of lines the artist used. Students created their own wind portraits by drawing different lines on their paper!
First Graders discussed how artists show emotion in their work by using the elements of art. We then discussed a movement in art called Expressionism. In Expressionism the artist is more interested in showing emotion than reality. Student then turned their attention to The Scream by Edvard Munch. The class discussed the nervous, anxious feelings they got from the painting and how the artist achieved that effect. 
