Landscape Newscasts

I finally finished loading all the green screen landscape news reports to four movies, one movie for each 2nd grade section. Students are so excited to finally have their videos on YouTube. For this project, students were divided into groups of four to five students, together they were assigned one landscape from two artists; Grant Wood or Peiter Bruegel the Elder, and wrote a script before recording their video. Their script needed to include the following descriptions; horizon line, foreground, middle ground, background, overlapping, placement, size, and value. See my previous post explaining this project.

2A Landscape News

2B Landscape News

2C Landscape News

2D Landscape News

Breaking News: It's all in the Landscape!

Second graders are using DoInk's Green Screen iPad app to create a news report on art vocabulary relating to space (the design element in art not the physical universe beyond the earth's atmosphere). Students examined landscapes from two artists; Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Netherlands) and Grant Wood (Iowa). Students are working in small groups to create their news report. 

First step, examine a landscape painted by Grant Wood or Pieter Bruegel from one of the landscapes below. Step two, develop a skit and designate speaking parts as they would see in Reader's Theatre by writing Character’s Name, then colon or dash and finally speaking part. In the script, students must include the following art vocabulary; foreground, middle ground, background, overlapping, value, size, placement, and horizon line. Students must include the artist's name and year painted. 

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap 1565

Grant Wood, Young Corn 1931

Grant Wood, New Road 1939

Grant Wood, Fall Plowing 1931

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Harvesters 1565

We also discussed how every great story needs a beginning, middle and end. Once groups have completed their scripts and assigned a camera person, their group may begin filming with the iPad using the DoInk Green Screen App. The landscape assigned to that group will be displayed behind the "Newscasters" onto the green screen as they point out the important information and vocabulary the group discovered while writing their script.

Script Checklist

Norman Rockwell Tells Stories using Images!

Norman Rockwell's process of creating an image is very similar to directing a scene in a movie. In this 2nd grade lesson, students relate Rockwell's images to the basic elements of a story including setting, character, and plot. Second graders will be using these same elements to tell their own visual story in one photograph. To inspire students, we examined the many photographs that Norman Rockwell hired as resources for his illustrations. Did you know that almost all of his paintings began as photographs?

Norman Rockwell"s Photographic Eye by NPR

Using a planning worksheet, students worked in groups of 3-4 at their table sections. A word list was provided to help choose elements for their setting, objects (to assist in storytelling), and characteristics. Groups drew a simple storyboard and a brief description explaining what will be going on in their photograph (plot).

Smithsonian American Art Museum Teacher's Guide page 56

Storyboard

Next week, students may need to bring objects from home to help with their storytelling or choose from available items in the art room if appropriate. Once their idea is planned, one student assigned as photographer (from each group) will use the camera app on the iPads to photograph their group in front of a green screen for a still frame photo expressing their planned story while the rest of the group pose and act as characters within the scene. An image from the internet will be saved to the iPad and used as the backdrop (setting) to replace the green screen and appear as if they are truly within their setting. Here is a great tutorial on how to use the Do Ink "Green Screen" app from a classroom teacher in Norfolk, Nebraska. Do Ink "Green Screen" will be the app we use for this project.

First Grade WordFoto Poems

First graders are taking last week's monochromatic hearts, writing a five word poem about their favorite person, and using the iPad app WordFoto to transfer their poems to a digital version of their monochromatic hearts. Many students chose mom or dad to write their poems about and a few chose their favorite football player or best friend.  Here are some examples of the many poem hearts using WordFoto.

Template for poem.

Did you know spaglosh is a food (a cross between
spaghetti and goulash)? Who knew!? I didn't until now!

Since I only have 6 iPads to work with, only six students can work on this project at one class time. The other students keep busy with a creativity stretcher. The only two rules for this creativity stretcher I tell students; they must only use scrap paper from the scrap paper box and they must use one paper towel tube to create something representational. The only supplies they are allowed to use are glue and scissors (pencils to write their names of course!). No markers or crayons. Here are some of the results.

We discuss that this is a creativity stretcher and that we should rely on our imaginations, not our neighbor's imaginations, but inevitably I end up with one or two that look alike...tsk, tsk!

 

To see more WordFoto Poems from first grade, see our Artsonia Gallery online here.