Our elementary Grizzlies have a unique opportunity starting this year. Our visual art, music, and dance teachers are working together to teach our students cultural awareness through the arts. This means that each of their units will revolve around the culture of another country.

With our world becoming more and more interconnected it is very important that our children learn about other places, people and their way of life. The arts collaboration will introduce similarities and differences in American culture and those of places from the around the world. Using art as an avenue for this allows our Grizzlies to have fun and absorb lessons that will help them for years to come.

For their first culture the students get to travel more than 5,000 miles to Russia. Below is a synopsis of what our arts teachers have planned.

Visual Art

Our kindergarten and first grade Grizzlies will learn about Wassily Kandinsky, the father of abstract art and make their own Kandinsky inspired flower collage. Second and third grade students will learn about folk art and how the matryoshka (nesting doll) is a symbol of Russian culture. They will listen to a read aloud about nesting dolls, watch how the traditional dolls are made, and create their very own original matryoshka. Last but not least, fourth and fifth graders will learn how architecture is a field rooted in art and science. All this while exploring the history of St. Basil’s Cathedral, one of Russia’s most recognizable buildings. Their project includes creating their own domed version of St. Basil’s! Each grade level will enjoy orchestral music from Igor Stravinsky, a famous Russian composer as they watch the instructional videos.

Dance

All grade levels will learn about traditional Russian folk dancing including the iconic Russian squat dance. This particular dance step is found in many hip hop dances, Fort Nite dances as well as the traditional ballet, “The Nutcracker”. The step calls for the dancer to maintain their balance in the squat position with their arms folded across their chest and alternate kicking their legs out to the front in time with the music. Quite a challenging step! Check it out!

We are very excited about this new program and can’t wait to see what our Grizzlies create! Keep an eye out for updates on this program! #artsexplorers

 

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