Teaching Tools: Art (Charles River)
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Found It Collage (greenteacher.com)
Materials: Representative” trash” that you might (or actually do!) find along the river bank, like wood scraps, fabric, plastic, paper, rope etc. Paper or cardboard, glue, string, scissors. Use these "found" materials (from a field trip or that teacher collects) to create a Charles River collage on an environmental theme.
Draw Water
Take students outside to the nearest waterway (the local pond or creek on school grounds is fine, the actual River Charles would be perfect). Have them sketch or paint or draw a scene or image that includes the water. Remind them to look for all of the colors and textures and highlights and shadows in every stretch of the waterway.
Fashioning Fish
There are 20 species of fish in the Charles, from Carp, to Alewife (Herring), to Largemouth Bass. Using a field guide or other resource, have students draw, sculpt, or otherwise create images of these fish.
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Teaching Tools: Art (Lake Champlain)
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Rub A Leaf (Sunset)
Materials: Fallen leaves (have students collect them at recess), crayons with the paper peeled off, and paper.
Ask students to collect fallen leaves – all different shapes, sizes, and colors, and bring them into class. Give each student one sheet of paper and crayons (with the paper peeled off). Have them lay their leaves on their desks and place the paper on top. As they rub the crayons across the paper, imprints of leaves will appear. Talk about the veins of the leaf being like creeks, rivers and streams that feed Lake Champlain. Explain how different parts of the leaf get nutrients through these “streams.” Point out the similarity between veins branching out across leaves, and streams branching out across watersheds.
Champ
Whether or not your students believe there is a mythical monster named "Champ" inhabiting Lake Champlain, most of them have a mental image of him. Have students bring this mental picture to life using oil pastels, pencil, or papier mache.
The Color of Water
Everyone from Church to Monet to Homer has tried, but has any artist ever truly captured the color of water? Maybe. And that's part of the fun. So why not cut your students loose with a crayon resist exercise and a challenge: Show me the color of water.
Have them begin by crayoning a layer of color onto parts of a sheet of white or unbleached paper and then give it watercolor washes.
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Teaching Tools:
Arts & Crafts (Hudson River)
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| photo: Christopher Swain |
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Art/Music Combination Exercise
Materials: Water-based non-toxic paints, paper, easels (optional), a book of reproductions of Hudson River School paintings, a CD or tape of Alan Hohvaness’ second symphony (we like Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's performance).
Before playing the music, explain that this piece was inspired by paintings of the Hudson River Valley. Set up easels or a long sheet of butcher paper. Give each student a selection of water-based non-toxic paint.
Play a five to ten minute selection from the symphony. As the music plays, have students paint whatever images the music evokes for them.
As the paintings dry, have each child talk briefly about their painting.
Then, show the students some painting from the Hudson River School book.
Now, play another five to ten minute selection from the symphony, while the students paint a new painting.
Ask students to describe the second painting. Did they use any new ideas? Colors? Techniques?
(Optional: send us some of your favorite paintings, once you get permission from parents. We love to use them in our Hudson River student showcase. Click the "Contact Us" button to find our address.)
Council of All Beings (greenteacher.com)
Materials: papier-mâché ingredients, paper bags, natural materials like leaves, pine needles, sticks and plants, crayons, colored pencils, pastels, scissors, paints.
Hold a Hudson River Council of All Beings. This role-playing activity allows for an empathetic understanding of the role of different animals in the Hudson Watershed. Students make a mask of an animal they would like to represent. Masks can be constructed of papier-mâché or construction paper or paper bags and decorated with natural materials. Students then don their masks, assume the identity of the animals, and in a Council of All Beings, describe their lives and the difficulties they face in meeting their own needs. You may wish to include in the role-play a human who plays a passive listening role. You may also wish to have the animals comment on how they feel about pollution and human development taking away their shelter and their homes.
Staples Cookbook (greenteacher.com)
Materials: Have each student plan their cookbook and then gather materials and bring them to class.
Have the class produce an "Staples Cookbook" containing (hopefully organic) recipes that reflect their research in the Three Generation Food Survey (See Native & Social Studies section). Associated art activities might include illustrations, decorative borders, and photographs.
Design a Container (greenteacher.com)
Materials: used materials like boxes, wood scraps, fabric, plastic or paper, which are routinely found along the banks of the Hudson River. Scissors, glue, sewing supplies, hand tools.
Have students design and make a container that helps them to organize their personal belongings, such as a pencil case, book bag or desktop organizer. To promote the concepts of recycling and reuse, have students either make the containers from used materials, like boxes, wood scraps, fabric, plastic or paper which are routinely found along the banks of the Hudson River. Have them think of containers (such as a paper lunch bag) that they would ordinarily use only once, and propose a reusable model (such as a cloth bag) instead, and then build it.
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