One of my favorite things to do during the two-year cycle I have each student is the Reaction Art Museum. After our study of Conflict, we look at good things that came out of wars and other tragedies such as art (Picasso's
Guernica), literature (
The Diary of Anne Frank), and music (
Where Have All the Flowers Gone.)
I challenge the children to think of a conflict that has affected them and to react to it by creating some sort of artistic expression. I have gotten some pretty neat things in the past.
Yesterday was the big day. This year, though, I moved the museum from my classroom to the more open Science room so we could spread out.
The entry door displayed our wishes on 1,000 cranes from our crane project (inspired by the true story of
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.)
This class is not as high academically as the other 4/5 gifted classes I have taught. As a result, I was not sure just what the kids might do for their artwork. A few students really nailed it.
Like MCM with her cancer awareness jewelry tree.
EK wrote poem called The Nine done in black and white.
GS had a tribute to the sinking of the Lusitania and how it brought the United States into World War I. (That's a piece of sheet metal that his collage is on; it represents a part of the destroyed ship.)
A triangular flip-section shared AM's thoughts about Hiroshima. Each side of the triangle represented a progression through the disaster.
Last but not least of the "nailed it" artworks - EP with the song she wrote and sang while accompanying it on the ukelele.
HS reacted to the bombing of the Boston Marathon (our museum was held on the third anniversary of the event.) He wrote a poem, illustrated it, and then did a second illustration.
The sinking of the Titanic was the topic of AL's artwork.
EW is a vegetarian and strong supporter of animal rights, and she expressed herself through painting.
BP did a drawing and a poster of the Titanic...
... while JK made a huge model of the ship.
The sinking of the Titanic was really popular; SR did it, too!
SS is a budding animal activist, and she made a painting and sculpted a tiger and made a cage for it.
JR showed her feelings about homelessness.
ZH shared his thoughts on the recent economic downturn.
The Twin Towers was another popular topic. RP chose to make a model of it.
MM did a pencil sketch (deliberately in black and white) of Pearl Harbor.
RR combined family history and work on her Faith in God award into a display about her personal genealogy.
We took a selfie together. Just because.
GH had a working fire alarm in his art about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1915. (He knew enough to not push the button on the smoke detector, but a kindergarten boy did not!!)
More literature from AY. Her topic was The Twin Towers.
A pencil sketch of the sinking Titanic by CP.
GCD's grandmother is a kindergarten teacher in our building, and she brought her class to see what GCD and her classmates had accomplished.
More Twin Towers from GB...
... and JS. (None of these kids were born when that happened. The fact that the event is so heavily represented tells me that we adults are still reacting to it and thus communicate that to the children.)
The Challenger disaster was depicted by GG.
All but four of my students had parents or other family members visit our museum.
Every classroom teacher brought her class except one - that is a terrific turnout!
We spent the entire day (with the exception of a half hour for Library and then lunch) sharing our artwork.
My counterpart, Ms. Williams, brought her class and enjoyed visiting her former kiddos.
We even had some siblings come see us! This is JK with his brother, C.
Mrs. Fields and the office staff came down, too!
I would estimate that we had about 500+ people visit throughout the day.
"Who'd have thought that standing and sharing would make me so tired?" HS said to me when all was said and done.
Agreed, HS! I could barely walk when I got home! But it was a wonderful day, and I am very proud of what these kids accomplished.
