Cold Spring School’s Art and Library departments teamed up for The Endangered Animal Project in which fourth-graders in Joel Orr’s and Linda Edwards’ classes researched endangered animals and then took their knowledge to the art room for a drawing and ceramic project. Each student chose an animal and found information about its appearance, habitat, diet and endangered status. In their art classes, they sketched the animal, then designed a ceramic cup and plate featuring their animal.
The lesson was aligned to the California State Standards in Science, developed skills in research and writing, implemented the principles of design and the elements of art, and encouraged students to develop individual aesthetics. Students used a wonderful Web site for their research; click here to view it.
The students’ work was then posted on both the Library Research Blog and the Art Program Blog. Once on the blog, scroll down to “Older Posts” to see all the students’ work.
This collaboration of art, research and technology was not only fun, but gave the students a chance to integrate many of their skills into a 21st-century presentation.
— Janet Pedersen is Cold Spring School’s librarian.