Let me tell you a story..
Creative Art Works offered an integrated art-making program in visual narrative at The William Lynch School in Washington Heights. Students in grades three through five built vocabulary, boosted confidence, and learned the elements of storytelling by sculpting their own unique characters. CAW Teaching Artist Lorisse Es Arte shared her experience with us.
Third through fifth grade students in our visual narrative program at the William Lynch School created their own characters, complete with strengths, weaknesses, and unique origin stories, and then built mini dioramas for them to inhabit that depicted a setting. Storytelling is a natural choice for a curriculum that is designed to enhance literacy, as storytelling is often the first kind of communication children are exposed to, and it's the way children are most comfortable expressing themselves.
Students in this class achieved the ability to talk about basic elements of narrative structure as well as the methods and materials they used to create their art. They learned vocabulary, such as “corrugated,” “filler,” and “armature wire” (as opposed to “bendy thingy”). We had a lot of English language learners discovering the meaning and spelling of these words and they then translated them into Spanish and taught those words to the rest of the class. Having the language to speak about art develops social skills, public speaking skills, and confidence.
“Being loud with their art is always encouraged here... making children feel safe to express themselves is vital to their development. To be able to express themselves by sculpting clay and building a diorama teaches life skills that are transferable to many career paths.”
Students created original characters and then placed them in dioramas representing an appropriate setting
While sketching, students are free to stretch the boundaries of their imagination
We started by making sketches of our characters. Sketching develops fine motor skills, and both sides of the brain are utilized and developed. Students are free to stretch the boundaries of their imagination while strengthening muscles in their hands. It is a way to express a truth without being wrong, or told to keep quiet. Children are told to be quiet enough. Being loud with their art is always encouraged here. Making children feel safe to express themselves is vital to their development. To be able to do this by sculpting clay and building a diorama teaches life skills that are transferable in many career paths.
Students were so excited to finally get to work with clay! We used a type of clay that doesn’t dry, so they had lots of time to experiment and change their minds. It was wonderful to watch their faces as they progressed to the magic of the final sculptures. They trusted and respected me and the process the entire way. I think that's why we finished so well and in a timely fashion.
It was so incredible to watch students go from zero experience in art, to being confident about creating. I think of Fabriel who took the idea of gridding and ran. Watching his eyes light up with understanding filled me with so much joy. I think of Ava who was originally only comfortable drawing characters she already knows, but by the end of the program she thanked me for encouraging her to use her imagination. And I got to watch students who were hesitant to use their skills at first become completely enamored by their labors, and putting passion into their work until the very last second before handing it in. And they'll have these skills for the rest of their lives.
We also had a scavenger hunt for the gallery walk, which tested their literacy in a fun way. They did great recalling vocabulary words, and talking about their favorite art pieces constructively. They will need all of the literacy skills they learned with us in almost every aspect of life.
Students and Teachers Attend an Art Walk
Gallery of Student Art
Creative Art Works’ In-School programs are supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Creative Art Works’ In-School programs also receive support from the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation and the West Harlem Development Corporation.
