As part of our fine arts focus break this week we learned about Romero Britto and his engaging, bright pop art. Students were excited to try to replicate the happy, positive images and colors. Britto combines elements of cubism, fauvism, pop art, and graffiti in his paintings, using his bright and vibrant palette to portray lighthearted subject matter, creating a visual expression of hope and happiness (source). We chose a whale as a topic so no one felt stuck on what to draw, but anyone who really wanted to choose something else was encouraged to tackle pop art their way.
You know what is so 1987 that is still happening in classrooms all. the. time? Reading logs that are LAME. There are so many choices, from google forms, docs, keep and slides to flipgrid to…paper with CHOICE. Our reading programs in the library sometimes must include a log to prove required minutes (the company sets the terms to earn free tickets). But why should we limit choice on logs when we can encourage reading reflection that engages and does the job of documenting growth? I decided to do my own reading log for what I am reading this summer (ok, I left off at least one title that students probably just don’t need info on). It was interesting and I learned that a student would have to reflect on the themes and major points in the book to write/draw a thorough sketchnote or visual journal. I decided to try to “connect” some of the books by putting words or phrases in common between the two books. If course, I could expand that to make more of a venn diagram with images approach, but this is my first rodeo with this type of documentation. Imagine the amazing pieces you would have from students by the end of the year! What an amazing reading portfolio instead of snooozee……reading logs. I don’t even draw well and I still gave it a stab- only your perfectionists would decline- so maybe they could COLLAGE. So exciting. I may try that next!
the big green bookshelf 