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New and Notable:

What's going on in the Art room at Lindbergh!
Posted Monday, January 24, 2000
Happy New Year Everyone!!! I finally had time to figure out how to submit news to my web page(thanks to Jim Norwood's easy-to-understand directions!!!! Hopefully this could lead to great things like on-line student art shows and some student-generated discussions about art. Maybe we could even answer some of your questions about art related subjects!
Everyone at Lindbergh is excited to have Elizabeth Kingi, our world resource teacher from Kenya, Africa, with us through February. She spent her first week with "specials" classes. In art class she told our fourth and third grade students about the arts in Kenya. She also explained how each cultural group or tribe has their own art specialty. The Maasai people of which she is a tribal member are known for their beautiful beaded jewelry or "ornaments" as Mrs. Kingi called them. Some students will be doing some beading in various classes.
Our fourth grade students are generating their own ideas for a clay mask that will incorporate their research of their own cultural heritage with the style charachteristics of Afican masks. ( Abtsraction, Simplification, and Exaggeration) They are coming up with some great ideas!!
Our fifth grade students are are currently learning about M.C. Escher and the art of creating tesselations. It's a great way to see how Math and Art can work together in creating beautiful designs and incorporate very recognizable objects into complex patterns!
The third grade students are designing their own African walking stick. We were told that the walking stick is a very important part of the Maasai attire. ( functional and beautiful ) Our students will be modeling an animal head from taxidermy clay and mounting it on a 48" dowel. The stick will then be painted and decorated. The students are all deciding which animal they will sculpt for their stick. They will be writing a short paragraph explaining the significance of the animal they chose.
In second grade, we have been busy painting the wild animals of Kenya. Colorful giraffs, zebras, elephants, lions, and wild boars fill the individual paintings and the large group mural in the art room!
The first graders are winding up a unit about color. They not only reviewed how colors mix but also how colors make us feel! After making very "hot" sun collages, they are now finishing their very "cool" snowy day pictures. These artworks will all be part of the first grade art calendar that will be ready to take home the night of the Lindbergh Art and Talent Show on Monday, April 17th 7:00 p.m.

Exciting news..... After alot of sadness over the fact that our State Arts Board Grant was not funded for this year, the parents of Lindbergh kids have come forth to fund Arts Alive Week!!! We are so appreciative of our PTSA for this financial support and are now in the process of securing artists for the week of April 10-14th.... I'll let you know more about it when we have more information!!!!

Well, that's probably enough from Mrs. Ratzloff for now.... Hopefully I'll learn how to to more with this page in the future!!

Artfully yours, Mrs. Ratzloff