#RHSforNepal - Social media can be used for good!

Last week my middle school students created and learned about the significance of Tibetan prayer flags. After becoming educated about the severity of the earthquake in Nepal, they then created their own prayer flags. Instead of using the traditional colors for the fabric that represent the elements, the eighth grade decided what our bright colored fabrics would symbolize as a means for sending positive energy to the other side of the globe. The students chose to have our flag colors represent positive, tranquility, strength, healing, and empathy. Each student created a design, text, or image to represent this on their flag. At the end of the week, as a full middle school group we explored how social media campaigns can be used in positive and strong ways across the world. The kids were split into mixed grade groups and sent on a scavenger hunt around campus. They had to figure out the location by the clue and then take a photo with their group with a strand of the flags. Then we launched our own hashtag: #RHSforNepal ! 
Please help us spread RHS's moral support and expose others to the tragedy in Nepal by liking and sharing our instagram photos! 

I am including the google presentations I used for both of these activities. 
Intro to Prayer Flags can be found here. 
Social Media for good can be found here. 
(Both slide shows have two great and short videos linked on the second slide.)

Namaste!

slide show for perspective landscapes

Wonderful news! 

This year I have become addicted to google presentations for a number of reasons. 

I have recently figured out that I can "publish them to the web", meaning the presentations/slide shows can be accessed without logging in. Wahoo!

If you were a fan of my middle school perspective landscape lesson from last spring I now have my slide show posted as a google presentation. You can access it directly here -

so now I do not have to email out my folder of resource images. 

Enjoy!

Please please please make sure you site back to my lesson post if you post projects on your own. It is the right thing to do- AND I would love to see other teacher's results and adaptations. 

7th grade interior spaces with perspective looking outward

This project was based on the "aquarium perspective" project that probably hits your pinterest feed at least once or twice a day. All of the seventh graders started out the same way. They had to have a back wall and checkered floor that followed one-point perspective. After that the students could choose what they wanted to do with their interior and exterior space. 

The challenge was for the students to create a space that then went beyond the space. 

I showed them examples of mostly aquariums with viewable ceilings and walls as well as solariums and greenhouses where you could see beyond the windows:

Most students used watercolor, watercolor pencils, colored pencils, sharpie, or magazine collage. Some students experimented with masking fluid. 

The entire Artsonia gallery can be viewed here. 

symbolic silhouettes with stippling

Each eighth grader chose an issue or thing that he/she thinks is important and needs people’s attention.

They then completed the sentence: “Let light shine on ____ because ____.”Students created a silhouetted image to visually represent their ideas.They did the stippling with these long q-tips/craft swabs (I swear by them for everything from Elmers glue puddles to pastel blending to stippling) and tempera paint. The metallic tempera works really well on black paper. This was a great way to quickly and easily tie in some history of Pointillism and Georges Seurat.I only had three class periods to get this done. Because we were under time pressure I let the students find images to trace since the drawing element was not the lesson's main objective. The finding of images and transferring of the silhouette shape on to the paper took the most time. Stippling only took one class period. 

Religious Symbols: Let light shine on religious tolerance because people deserve the right to practice their own religion, also many wars are caused by religious conflicts. With more religious tolerance many conflicts would dissipate.

Penguin: Let light shine on arctic animals because they are affected by global warming and it is hurting them and their habitat.

Runner: Let light shine on exercise and health because running and activities help you wit your weight and strength.

Pitbull: Let light shine on pitbull abuse because more people need to realize how many of these animals we take for granted and have made an awful reputation for the breed.

Octopus: Let light shine on the Great Barrier Reef because the waters are being polluted and it is home to many sea creatures. 

War Memorial: Let light shine on the military because soldiers lay their lives down for us every day, as these soldiers did at Iwo Jima.

Person with hands up: Let light shine on police brutality because it is becoming a major problem in the United States. 

Eiffel Tower: Let light shine on the Eiffel Tower because of the shooting that happened at the magazine in France.

Ukraine: Let light shine on Ukraine because Vladamir Putin is trying to bring Russia back to its Cold War status.

Cuba: Let light shine on Cuba because our country is rebuilding our relations with them.