Spooky Radio Plays

 Since it's Spooky Month, students are working on Spooky Radio Plays. Last week I introduced students to the concept of listening to a theatrical production on the radio - some students were surprised by this concept and couldn't imagine having to just LISTEN to their entertainment instead of being able to WATCH it. I shared a short clip of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds as inspiration for this unit. Students are working either solo, in pairs, or small groups to write and perform their own radio plays. Most students are choosing to tell a scary story, but all stories are welcomed for this assignment. A large part of radio plays are the sound effects, so students will also become Foley artists and must provide their own sound effects to help the listeners visualize their story. Students who are working alone are able to voice all the characters themselves, or may employ family members or friends to help act. The radio plays I received last year (while students were all virtual) had a lot of parents and siblings (even cousins and grandmothers) perform and they reported back that it was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to hearing the recordings that students come up with this semester. Once the radio plays are completed, I'll ask students if they want to share their work with the class and I'll play some in the classroom and post some on their virtual art show. 

Happy Friday!

Orange and Purple classes got to share their hard work with their classmates today - we listened to radio plays! I am so impressed by all of the radio plays I have heard so far. Each story is unique and students demonstrated their creative sides through their voice acting skills and Foley. I have uploaded some of the radio plays to my virtual art show already - check them out! Next week Red and Blue classes will be finishing their radio plays, so I will add a few more performances to the slideshow next Friday.

With the time we had left, students played the Bob Ross inspired quick-draw game Happy Little Accidents, where they are given a word and a scribble, and must doodle the image in 60 seconds! Students always have a blast with this game, showing off their digital drawing skills and their innovative designs.

Spooky Radio Plays

 All four classes are on different stages of putting together their radio plays, but I have a few synopses to share from Orange and Purple classes. Students did not have to choose a spooky story, but horror seems to be the genre most students are leaning toward.  The plays are coming along so well, and I cannot wait to share them on my Virtual Art Show in a few weeks.

A waitress overhears a murder plot while working in her family's coffee shop. She has to find a way to solve the mystery and catch the killers without becoming their next victim. 

Our story is about a girl who gets kidnapped by a monster and they switched bodies. Everybody was very worried about her because she failed to show up at her friends house for a sleepover and thats when people start worrying about her.

A alien wants to make his dad proud and starts abcucting humans. The humans try to find how to escape.

There is a earthqauke in the city and starts making cracks in the ground. A monster comes out and trys to destroy everything in its path. but then....

Where there is magic there is food. A mystery to find the vansihing snacks in the magic knights hideout. to find the snack charmy to be a detective, an interogator, and a food finatic.

Francis' mom leaves for vacation and she thinks she'll have a fun and normal time with the house to herself. But then she starts hearing footsteps, voices, and creaking stairs. She then starts seeing things and falls down the stairs, but did any of this really happen?

Two boys, Tom and Jamal go exploring. They go into the woods and get lost, and get slowly hunted by Big Bohomb're, the big bad evil guy.  They have to escape the forest and Big Bohomb're.

Two kids try getting on a balloon early and they take of.  There is a thunderstorm in the distance and they don't know how to get down, then in an act of desperation the crash.

The radio play is about a boy who keeps lying for his entertainment until it come back to be a mistake.

Lila and her sister Kia went to a camp where there is ghost that make Lila can't sleep and doesnt lose enery and how one of her friend that can see a ghost and was hounted by it.

Red and Blue classes are in the beginning stages of putting together their radio plays, so I will share some of their synopses next week. I can't wait to hear the finished products!

Term II Recap

 It always frustrates me when I remember I forgot to post here and then realize it's been several weeks since I last shared any work! Since I last posted, students completed their Spooky Radio Plays and Synesthesia Artwork - both projects are featured on the Virtual Art Show (click the tab above). I was beyond impressed by the outcome of both projects. Students have been learning to think outside the box and be creative with the materials and supplies they have available to them at home. I especially enjoyed hearing the radio plays that featured family members - something we wouldn't have necessarily gotten to hear if we were currently in the classroom.

I'm sharing a few examples of the synesthesia drawings here, too. Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon that occurs in only 4% of the population. Their brain connects more than sense together, so people with chromesthesia actually see colors when they hear sounds. In order to simulate this experience, students chose a song and created an artwork showing what they visualized when they listened to it. Some students created an abstract artwork, combining lines, shapes, and colors that conveyed the emotion behind the song, while others created a more literal drawing with imagery from the song. All of the submissions were phenomenal!

In order to plan for their artwork, students had to listen to their song and brainstorm what images or colors came to mind. From there, they created 3 thumbnail sketches where they quickly sketched out any ideas they had for their composition. Next, they narrowed down their idea (some used one thumbnail, while others combined aspects from more than one), and created a rough draft. The student artwork featured below shows a student creating his thumbnails and rough draft on paper, and then he chose a website to create his final artwork digitally.

Currently, students are working on the Latin America Passport project. I am so excited for this one! This project I crafted up with two other creative arts teachers. Students got to choose which pathway they wanted to learn about for this project: visual art, music/dance, or theatre. Students who chose the visual art pathway learned about a few Mexican artists, looking at the artwork they created during the time of the Mexican Revolution. For their final product, students are creating an original artwork that conveys their feelings toward a current event or social issue, while using a similar style, technique, or subject as one of the master artists they chose to research. Students working on the music/dance pathway learned about the Cha Cha and created their own Cha Cha rhythm using a program called Groove Pizza, and are currently learning how to perform the dance. Their final product will be a video of them dancing the Cha Cha to the song they put together. Lastly, the students who chose the theatre pathway learned about alebrijes. They created their own alebrije and wrote a monologue for them to preform that tells the story of a dream they had involving their alebrije. 

Each pathway allows for extreme creativity. My favorite part of this project is that students were able to select which project they felt more comfortable with and interested in. The submissions are due on Wednesday, so I will try to update the virtual art show during winter break. 

If I don't get a chance to post again before the new year - have a wonderful and relaxing winter break!

The End of Term 1

 Today is the last day of Term 1! I am seriously so pleased with how well students have adapted to virtual learning. I miss being able to see my students every day, but we are covering a lot of great stuff in our few sessions each week, and I've been trying to craft up virtual lessons that are both meaningful and fun for students.

I wanted to show off some of the incredible Draw Something! artworks students have produced over the last few weeks. This is a drawing activity that I gave to students often in person, and I recently discovered a digital tool that allows students to draw! Using Kami, students were able to use the lines that I left them and turn them into creative drawings! This is an activity I introduced on our Wednesday Doodle Days, so this is what students were able to come up with in the 30 minute class - here are a few highlights from the submissions:

Recently, students have been working on a spooky radio play project. We listened to some examples of radio plays, like Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, and students are working on creating their own short stories. I have been so impressed while reading through the scripts students are working on, and I can't wait to hear the final product! I am hoping to share some of the recordings on our Virtual Art Show once they are completed.

Wayang Kulit

During the first week of the new semester, my current I&I students presented their Indonesian Wayang Kulit they created during CA. I am so sad that I was absent the last two days of Term II, resulting in students not being able to present their hard work, but I know they all enjoyed the creation process. I'm including a few images from some of the performances below. Tonight I'm going to put together some short videos to share on Twitter, so stay tuned!

FCCS Theatre Group

For those 7th and 8th graders who are a part of Theatre Group - rehearsals will be both Tuesday & Wednesday starting this week. The rehearsals will be over at 4:15. Parents, please be at the school promptly at 4:15 to pick up your child.

Ms. Roper and I are looking forward to seeing this play come to life! More details on show dates are TBA, but keep your calendars open late November/early December.