Mail Art + Pen Friends = Dear You Art Project
The mask project was difficult for grade 1 students to understand (we teach art in French), but the projects are cute!
Elizabeth Goldsworthy and her 1st graders at Sheppard Public School in Ontario, Canada are making and sharing art with Tatjana Knudsen and her 3rd graders at Korsholm Skole in Hinnerup, Denmark.
The headline "I'm a walking pattern" made my 3rd graders wonder how they actually could be walking patterns, but it didn't take long before they started to examine their hands, fingerprints, eyes and skin. As a teacher it was an interesting process. My students were so absorbed in their study that they didn't really need me in the room.
Very fast my students discovered that our body really is a walking pattern. One of the students even said: "Tatjana, it is so amazing our body is full of different lines and patterns......each and every one of us is a little miracle". Wauw!
Another student asked if they could have magnifying glasses, and of course they could. Within a few minutes I saw 19 young detectives investigating patterns on their hands, fingers, and skin.
I asked my students how we could make a piece of art, that could show what we had discovered about our magnificent body. One suggested that they made drawing of their fingerprints, another said that It would be fun if they could make a print of a hand walk. I was into the last idea, and I must say that I think the results are so full of creativity. I'm proud of my 3rd. graders and I hope that our friends in Canada will be pleased with "the walking handprints"
My best,
Tatjana
Tatjana Knudsen and her 3rd grade artists from Korsholm Skole in Hinnerup, Denmark are making and sharing art with Elizabeth Goldsworthy's 1st graders at Sheppard Public School in Ontario, Canada.
Dear Arlene,
Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and your dear ones .
These are pictures from the last Dear You Project "Let's go"with our friends from Finland.
My students worked with cardboard, primary and secondary colors and geometrical figures. They were very busy on how to construct their vehicles.
My Best,
Tatjana
Art teacher Tatjana Knudson and her 3rd grade artists from Korsholm Skole in Hinnerup, Denmark are making and sharing art with Dear You Workshop Leader Eliisa Sorvali and the 3rd grade artists from Viertolan Koulu in, Vantaa, Finland.
Here are a few pictures that show Tatjana Knudsen's 3rd graders working on their vehicles for the project titled Let's Go!. It has been an interesting process.
Before my students worked on their own we talked about how our actual daily transportation from one place to another. We talked about modern transportation like busses, trains, cars, planes, bicycles, motorbikes, and mopeds, and older ways as horse carriage, penny-farthing, and horses.
Afterwards I told my students to sketch any sort of vehicle they could imagine to transport. I also told them to use geometric shapes and either primary colors or secondary colors.
The pictures attached show the process, and some of the pictures also show discussion and cooperation, which I really like.
All my best to you, your family, and friends :)
Tatjana Knudsen
The 3rd Grade artists from Korsholm Skole in Hinnerup, Denmark are making and sharing art with the 3rd Grade artists from Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland.
I introduced the project to my students by showing them the Dear You website. My students were very excited and became even more excited when I told them exactly what their 1st project were.
One of my students said: "Wauw are we really going to mail it to another class, and will they mail to us as well?"
They were so motivated and couldn't wait to get started. I told them what kind of materials they could use and before I could look around my students were already creating their own little imaginary friend. Each and everyone with a unique expression.
As a teacher it was so nice to watch my students "grow" during the process, and it was even more wonderful to watch them write what kind of superpowers their imaginary friends have.
Right now we are all waiting to receive mail from our new friends in Finland.
My Best,
Tatjana Knudsen
The 3rd Grade artists from Korsholm Skole in Hinnerup, Denmark are making and sharing art with the 3rd Grade artists from Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland.
I'm a teacher and an especially passionate art teacher. I work at a primary school in Hinnerup, Denmark. My second job is at an Art School "Hinnerup Billedskole", which I'm very fond of.
Creativity is a lifestyle, people say. I agree. To me creativity is the way - the moment - where time and place disappear. I love to experiment with different materials and techniques, and I think it is exciting to make art out of things you normally would throw out. It is so fun to see art projects grow out of an cardboard box or an old shoe.
To me making art and teaching art is about the process as well as the product. It is during the creative process you get new ideas, and it takes a lot of courage to "kill your darlings", but it can bring interesting art products alive. Products you wouldn't have thought of in the first place. Lastly, and most importantly, art is the kind of language all of us can use in spite of nationality, language, color and sex. It is a way to communicate without a lot of words.
This is why I love making art and being an art teacher, and if you are curious to some of the art projects i do with my students please visit my blog: Meet the Creative part of Me
The string collages from the 6th grader artists in Odder, Denmark to Texas, USA are in the mail!
Line, their teacher, said, "The students had a great time making their string collages. At first they found the task a bit strange, but when they started to think about what was important to them, they quickly got a lot of ideas and made some great collages."
Mail! We received our earth art pictures from Denmark with the Danish artists' twist on our photos. It's fun how the pieces evolved with their visit in Denmark. We see that the artists there really took the time to sense our world. Thank you!
To keep the communication going we took on the art from Denmark as our inspiration for November's Dear You assignment here in Meilahti, Helsinki. We thought about what symbols could communicate our thoughts of their artwork and our thoughts about the Dear You project in general. The symbols that popped into our minds were ones of mysticism, hope and celebration. We made stencils out of these images and started painting.
After our creative efforts our vast canvas had filled up with shooting stars, meatballs, bottles and variations of the symbols of social media and internet phenomena. This is who we are, this is what we see. Will you catch what we meant? Maybe you will, maybe you won't. The main point is that you try and in doing so, we'll meet each other half way.
- Nooralotta Ikonen
http://laiskia.blogspot.fi
Tatjana Knudsen and her 4th & 5th grade artists are full of energy after their Efterårsferie holiday!
"They were very creative and concentrated while they were working on their candy bags. This project lead us to a wonderful talk about the words "candy", which is American and the word "sweets", which is English. I think that all my students now know the difference between the two words.
THIS really is a wonderful way to mix art and language learning."
- Tatjana Knudsen
Today at Randlevskolen in Denmark we received this wonderful package from Finland. We look very much forward to show it to my students.
- Tatjana Knudsen
The Danes celebrate Thanksgiving in October with their holiday Efterårsferie! This year's Autumn holiday will take place from Saturday, October 11 to Sunday, October 19, 2014. It usually happens on the 42nd week of the year. Another fun fact is that Efterårsferie used to be called Potato Holiday! Can you think of why that is?
Thank you, Tatjana Knudsen from Randlevskolen, for sharing with us! We will celebrate Efterårsferie with you in our own home.
Denmark is such a beautiful country. Below are some pictures from my trip to Copenhagen and Århus from a few years ago. If you haven't been already, you gotta go!
http://www.tollundman.dk/
I wonder what our friends in Denmark will do. In any case, have a beautiful time!
With love,
Arlene
ps. As far as I can see, the original purpose for Efterårsferie was so that the children could help the families with the potato harvest. Wow times have changed, but it's nice to see that the tradition is still alive and well!
Starting in September 2014 Line Hansen and her artists at Randlevskolen in Odder, Denmark will be creating with the artists at Meilahden Yläaste in Helsinki, Finland. Below is a bit about their first workshop.
Line said, "Yesterday the 7th and 8th graders at Randlevskolen made environmental art. The students took some great photos and made some very different artwork, but they were all inspired by the nature around the school and the beautiful day that we had yesterday. They were really engaged in the process, and some of them could have continued for hours. They are also vey excited about receiving the artwork from Meilahti school.
We didn't have time for all the documentation and making a video message, but we will do that in our next English lesson on Tuesday. Sadly, we only have three English lessons per week, so we won't have time for working with video and photo editing. However, we would gladly post our video and photos anyway."
It's so wonderful that the participating schools can integrate Dear You into their curriculum. Both groups are learning video and photo editing outside the project with the shot material.
Here are some pictures of Tatjana Knudsen's 3rd graders working on their puppets. Tatjana said, "They are just so excited and can't wait to see what they get from their friends in Finland."
Tatjana is the art teacher at Randlevskolen in Odder, Denmark. They are sharing and making art with the artists at The English School in Helsinki, Finland.
