4 Seasons

What on earth are we going to do with this???

I wanted to give my 4th graders a very open ended assignment that would be both sculptural and collaborative.

This is what I came up with...

I have this print of Giuseppe Arcimboldo's, The Four seasons, hanging near the door in my classroom. Out of all of the colorful art images hanging around my room this one peeks the most interest.

I showed my students this work as well as others where the the artist depicted each of the four seasons in one work of art.

Students then formed teams. As a team they brainstormed a list of things that "see" all seasons. I gave them examples such as a tree, fence, and house. I was pleasantly surprised with what they came up with. Some of their ideas included...
cars
fashion
New York City
pets
ponds
mountain
wolves
doors
hands


The teams then chose one idea to develop into a sculpture and drew up a plan. They stretched their imaginations so far beyond my expectations, I was left in total awe.

After introducing the project to my first class, the very next day,  I had children showing up with television boxes. They were thinking BIG!!! I had students coming in with Barbies and fabric to dress in seasonal fashions. They brought in Christmas lights and bubble wrap. I even had a group ask if they could put live fish in their sculpture.

Works in progress

We aren't finished yet, but I couldn't wait to share. This project has peaked student excitement about art in a  truly unbelievable way.

S - Exploration of the seasons
T - Internet research
E - Sculptural construction
A - Aesthetics, Design, Study of famous works of art
M - Measuring, problem solving