A ticket to the world.

Do you think you could take your first graders on a field trip to Europe? How about taking them across the Pacific Ocean to Japan? "Friends, Near and Far," a theme in the first-grade reading series, gives me an opportunity to introduce my students to art around the world. We can travel the world learning about art from many cultures. An interdisciplinary approach is always appealing so that I can draw upon other knowledge the students have that will enrich my lesson as well as the other subject areas. I usually plan six to eight different lessons focusing on various countries and cultures during January and February, a good time to escape from the dreary weather of our region. First graders are very excited when I tell them that we will be traveling to different countries for our art lesson.

Travel Plans

Our mode of transportation varies to help set the mood. We always start our "trip" with the globe, a pilot, and a ticket taker. A student volunteer comes to the front of the room and pilots our vehicle, while the ticket taker circulates the room collecting imaginary tickets and I trace our route on the globe. Sometimes, all the students fly the plane by spreading their arms out wide, or drive the bus or boat. When we arrive at our destination, I have examples of artwork, slides, pictures, and a selection of children's literature to read aloud. I also share various facts about the people and the culture that will interest a first grader. I tell them about special foods they eat, clothes they wear, or games children play in that country. Later, I often play music from the country while the students are working on their art project.

Travel Sites

In each country, I present a different aspect of art, such as a craft of the region. Some of the crafts my students create are molas (a decorative stitchery of the San Bias Islands in Panama), African masks, and the tin art of Mexico. When we travel to Japan, we read Molly Bang's The Paper Crane and do a simple origami project. These are a few examples that demonstrate how the goal of exposing the students to many different art media and skills can easily be tied into the study of culture around the world.

Occasionally, I focus on an individual artist or group of artists in a particular country. When we travel to France, we visit Monet's garden at Giverny. I coordinate with the classroom teacher to read to them Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christina Bjork, before our painting lesson.

I talk to the children about Impressionism and demonstrate the wet-on-wet technique of using watercolors. The children first wet a portion of watercolor paper with clean water using the paintbrush. I encourage students to "drop" color onto the wet paper. The first part of our project utilizes a 45-minute period. The paintings must be completely dry before continuing. When we resume work, they add details to their paintings with oil pastels, pressing down to get a rich, vibrant color. Oil pastels give that rich color without the risk of smudging. The beauty of this project is that everyone achieves success. Even a muddy watercolor can be enhanced by the bright colors of the oil pastels.

I enjoy this approach to introduce my young students to the art of many cultures and countries. I know students are thrilled with their projects when they come to art class not asking, "What are we going to do today?" but "Where are we going to go today?"

NATIONAL STANDARD

Students know that the visual arts have both a history and specific relationships to various cultures.

Nancy Scheinkman is an elementary art teacher in Orange, Connecticut.