Today was phase two of our mosaic project: grouting. The thinset had hardened up, and the tiles were (for the most part) stuck in place, so today’s job was filling in the cracks. Everyone got a paper cup full of
Weekly Summary: Op Art Hands – Electrons – Art
In today’s art lesson, we took on an op art drawing, based on this video. I showed them Bridget Riley’s 1961 Movement in Squares, and we discussed its illusion and effect on the viewer. We even widened the scope momentarily
Weekly Summary: Mosaic – Electrons – Art
Today we took advantage of the lovely weather to work outside on some mosaics. I introduced the idea by showing off some of Chicago-based artist Edgar Miller’s mosaic work. We passed around the dry thinset mortar, and they started positioning
Weekly Summary: Animation Studio – Electrons – Art
Today we pretended to be an animation studio with an imminent deadline. I gave the group 47 frames of animation (almost two seconds) from Disney’s Bambi (1942), with the request that they trace all 47 frames. They distributed the frames,
Weekly Summary: Light and Dark – Electrons – Art
Last week’s lesson (at the risk of being a little dry) was on the subject of light. On the table, I’d set up a couple of balls as our scene; we began by making observations about how the room’s ambient
Weekly Summary: Embroidery – Electrons – Art
The group was given some paper circles, on which they sketched an idea of what to embroider. We discussed how straight lines are straightforward, but curves (which would have to be made up of many small lines) are trickier. They
Weekly Summary: Architectural Models – Electrons – Art
We began this week’s session with a warm-up: I’d printed out the facades of various buildings, and taped them to the bottom of a sheet of tracing paper. The group traced over them in as much detail as they could
Weekly Summary: Word Origins and Spelling Fun! – Electrons – Language Arts
We tackled that many-headed monster, spelling in English, by reviewing the three main languages that shape English (Latin, Anglo-Saxon (Old English), and French (Middle English). To make the discussion more interesting, we talked through the conquests that brought each language
Weekly Summary: “Pool Noodle Sharks & Minnows” and “Lanes” – Muons and Electrons – Gym
For our first week of combined Electrons-Muons gym, Jessica and I set the stage with the kids for how we would like to organize gym this year. Each week we will have 2 options: a competitive game and a non-competitive
Weekly Summary: Replicating Portraits – Electrons – Art
For our first class, we worked together as a group to reproduce some old portraits. Some brave volunteers would sign up to be subjects, and (based on the image) we would decide on the background and how to frame the