One Memory--Three Pieces of Art

Being able to observe our feelings/messages, synthesize and consolidate the message, and then to present our messages in the form of art is the essence of our Unit of Inquiry.  This week past, 3P have been learning to interpret art, to understand that we all have subjective and different views about a piece of art. Beginning this week students will begin to create 3 different forms of art about their memory, which they have carefully reflected about. 

This photograph elicited many ideas for example.  The students formed small groups to reflect on the photograph together. Some students felt it represented poverty due to the person in the foreground  being shoeless.  Others suggested it represented a sense of happiness and community given that there are other people surrounding him, and that there is a guitar.   Others linked the photograph to another of a black man who some felt was poor.  One student observed sharply that while one leg in the first picture was dark, this was due to a shadow, as the other leg was clearly lighter.  Still others felt the photo represented a sense of freedom and carefree attitudes.  So many ideas coming from grade three students tell us that understanding arts are a wonderful way for students to explore and develop their ideas.  Being able to express our ideas verbally, on paper and through art really makes students truly fluent.  This week in Language Arts we will begin to write poetry.  Last week we explored rhythmic and rhyming patterns for acrostic, haiku, shape and cinquain poems.  In math last week we continued our work with fractions.  I sense a growing understanding fractions in 3P.  In a routine math activity, however, we discovered that there is misunderstanding of how to add and subtract integers.  This will certainly be a topic this week coming up!  Grade three--always something to learn, always something to celebrate.