Did you know that you can hear art and see music? The art studio has been a real cacophony of stomps, snaps, and claps as Maury kindergarten and first graders have become experts and creating and identifying the rhythms of their names through pattern and repetition and creating unique sounds to pair with the letters of their names!
To begin, students were made aware of just how much our name says about us. We shared all the fun, silly, sweet, and meaningful nicknames our friends and families give us as a means to express the closeness of our relationships to one another. In order to have a special name, a level of trust or closeness is necessary. Learning about the origin of some of our Maury student’s names was so fascinating. For example, one student was given the French spelling of his name because his father is a French teacher and wanted to pay homage to the language he loves. Another student was given a silly nickname as a baby and as he grew up his nickname matured with him. Today, his parents and even football coaches reference him by him nickname, Wink! I’ll let you think about how the name Wink may have evolved from a more appropriate name for a baby to this much more sophisticated version. Hint: what rhymes with winky?
In addition to integrating music with this art unit, Ms. Bomba worked with the K-1 teachers to help practice handwriting skills. Students focused on the proper way to form their capital letters, just as they practice in their classrooms. Using watercolor paint and oil pastels made practicing penmanship fun!
John Biggers, Four Seasons
Alma Thomas, Iris, Tulips, Jonquils, and Crocuses
Next we looked at artwork that used repetition. We asked ourselves why an artist might use repetition and pattern in their work and how that design principal serves to add emphasis. Advertisements use lots of repetition and emphasis to convince us to buy products. Artist use similar tricks.
Lastly, students came up with unique color patterns that repeated whenever a letter reappeared. For example, someone with the name Annie could create a color pattern of red, orange, orange, yellow, green. Can you figure out why the color orange repeated twice? Exactly! Because the name Annie has double Ns! The repetition of colors and letters created interesting results in some compositions. Surprising diagonal lines appeared, as well as bold vertical arrangements.
Come by and see for yourself in the downstairs hall way of the East building. See if you can match sounds to the rhythms of our special name identity paintings!