Serengeti silhouettes: a year-long African adventure.Preparation is vital to the success of any journey, especially when one is dealing with a faraway far·a·way adj. 1. Very distant; remote. 2. Abstracted; dreamy: a faraway look. faraway Adjective 1. very distant 2. land and 700 sixth graders. After making contact with people who have been to Africa, and keeping up with the current events of the region, we were ready for our journey to begin. Only we didn't really go to Africa. Africa came to us this year in a variety of theatre, music, dance and art experiences; through lessons in geography, history, and science; and through the Lost Boys, young men who spoke to captivated cap·ti·vate tr.v. cap·ti·vat·ed, cap·ti·vat·ing, cap·ti·vates 1. To attract and hold by charm, beauty, or excellence. See Synonyms at charm. 2. Archaic To capture. sixth graders about their lonely and dangerous escape at age eleven from Darfur, Sudan to Tanzania to escape the genocide in their country. Field trips to local museums to view an exhibit on African masks and the film, Roar: Lions of the Kalahari, preceded a trip to the theatre for a behind-the-scenes look at a "naked stage" and an actual performance of Disney's The Lion King. What an exciting and, at times, exhausting journey. But worth every minute of planning. Working collaboratively with teachers from different content areas and the Educational Coordinator of the Rochester Broadway Theatre For other uses of "Broadway", see Broadway. Broadway theatre[1] is the most well known form of professional theatre to the American general public and most lucrative for the performers, technicians and others involved in putting on the shows. League, my participation involved creating new art projects reflecting our African journey. One project was an extension of a previous project called Cone Heads (See SchoolArts, October 2005), focusing on the animals and traditional cultures within the various countries of Africa. The other focused on life on the Serengeti. A Three-Stage Project Serengeti Silhouettes, began with learning about the annual migration of animals migration of animals, movements of animals in large numbers from one place to another. In modern usage the term is usually restricted to regular, periodic movements of populations away from and back to their place of origin. within the large area between Tanzania and Kenya known as the Serengeti. Four main geographic areas--the grasslands, woodlands, volcanic, and kopjes (pronounced "copies"; large rocky outposts)--provide food and protection for the myriad animals living there and, artistically, provide students with distinct imagery to incorporate into their work. Stage One Students sketched a variety of animals and acacia trees and then created a composition that included an African animal and evidence of a geographic area of the Serengeti. A variety of plastic African animals, books, and photographs were available for reference. After planning the composition on 8 1/2 x 11" (22 x 28 cm) paper, students placed an acetate acetate (ăs`ĭtāt'), one of the most important forms of artificial cellulose-based fibers; the ester of acetic acid. The first patents for the production of fibers from cellulose acetate appeared at the beginning of the 20th cent. sheet over their sketch and traced their design using permanent markers A permanent marker is a type of marker pen that is used to create permanent writing on an object. Generally the liquid is water resistant, contains the toxic chemical xylene or toluene, and is capable of writing on a variety of surfaces from paper to metal to stone. . (I used transparency film for overhead projectors.) Students colored in their sketch to create a silhouette that was clearly identifiable and did not blend in Verb 1. blend in - blend or harmonize; "This flavor will blend with those in your dish"; "This sofa won't go with the chairs" blend, go fit, go - be the right size or shape; fit correctly or as desired; "This piece won't fit into the puzzle" with other nearby objects. Stage Two Students created a tissue-paper collage using warm colors by tearing tissue paper into small, irregular shapes and applying them to a lightweight tag board using thick paste--overlapping each piece of tissue just a bit at the edges. It helped to first apply a light coat of paste to a small section of the tag board, apply a few pieces of tissue, then apply a second coat of the paste on top to seal the tissue and give the piece a consistent glossy look. Stage Three Students created a symmetrical border design on 11 x 14" (28 x 36 cm) scratchboard scratch·board n. A drawing board coated with white clay and a surface layer of black ink that is scratched or scraped away to produce an effect similar to engraving. Also called scraperboard. that incorporated three African symbols or design influences. Textile books, clip art A set of canned images used to illustrate word processing and desktop publishing documents. books, and books on different African countries were good visual resources. Type "African symbols" in a search engine and a variety of Web sites will appear online, providing not only the symbols but their meanings as well. Once the border design was established, students were given scraps of scratchboard and taught how to use a scraping blade. A few students who had trouble with this task re-evaluated their border design and simplified it. Once the design was applied to the border, contrast was to be added by scraping out small areas solid white. When completed, the collage, silhouette and frame were stapled together. (Flip the silhouette over to the opposite side for a cleaner look.) As part of the evaluation, students described their African scene and the symbols within their design--either their meaning or their country of origin, in a piece of reflective writing. Culmination Much of what students had studied and created in their projects was reflected back to them upon going to see the stage production of Disney's The Lion King. Pride Rock, the moving grasslands, the stampede stam·pede n. 1. A sudden frenzied rush of panic-stricken animals. 2. A sudden headlong rush or flight of a crowd of people. 3. of wildebeests, the use of silhouetted backdrops and shadow puppets, and the menagerie of animals that were brought to life brought us full circle to the end of our time spent in Africa. It was a great trip. Where to next year? Mary Coy teaches at Spry Middle School Spry Middle School is a middle school located in Webster, New York and is part of the Webster Central School District. It was built in 1924 as Webster High School. It was reopened in to 1994 as a middle school. Spry currently has three houses; Red, White, and Blue. in Webster, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and is a contributing editor A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. for SchoolArts magazine. MaryCoy@ rochester.rr.com NATIONAL STANDARD Students use subjects, themes, and symbols that demonstrate knowledge of contexts, values, and aesthetics that communicate intended meaning in artworks. WEB LINKS www.rbtl.org www.welltempered.net/adinkra/ htmls/list.htm www.serengeti.org |
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