PS 7 Photo Essays Part II!

09 Mar 2009, 6:56 PM by caitlinmeissner

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... And now we get serious!

Ok, folks, we're back. After our goofy "practice" photo essays, the students are ready to declare their messages to the world! Here is our process:
 

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1) ME-WEBS!

Students created their own personal "me-webs," a Ms. Caitlin creation that colorfully explores what we are each care about in the world, from homeless issues to... candy. (I mean, who doesn't like candy?) Check out the awesome explorations below!

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2) POEMS

As an exercise in exploring these topics, students wrote poems. Basing their work off of Barbara Ras's brilliant poem, "You Can't Have It All," students were asked to write their own version and must include each item on their list. Here are a few examples. I was blown away!

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You Can't Have It All
by Pearl Baxter

but you can snuggle up with some hot chocolate
you can't have it all
but you can have a good friend to talk to
you can't have it all
but you can have a heart to keep you moving forward
you can't have it all
but you can have music to match your mood
you can't have it all
but you can have a significant other to turn to
you can't have it all
but you can have a sour candy to get you through it
you can't have it all
but you can have a mother's shoulder to cry on
you can't have it all
but you can have an A on a test to get a reward
you can't have it all
but you can have a school full of friends to tell jokes to
you can't have it all
but you can have a favorite animal to talk to
you can't have it all
but you can have a past relative relive the last
moments you spent together
you can't have it all
but you can have food to fill you up
you can't have it all
but you can have a warm slice of pizza with your family

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You Can't Have It All
by Katiria Altruz

But you can have your family
after a bad day at school
you can have love
when you feel left alone
you can have art
to show how you feel
you can have a freedom of speech
when you think something is wrong
you can have music
to make you feel better
you can have world peace
if you speak up
you can have a God if you believe
and go to church
you can have an elder
like your grandmother or grandfather
right next to you when you're going to sleep
you can have global warming
if you don't help the earth
you can have pizza when you want
something tasty and good

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You Can't Have It All
by Esther Gonzales

but you can have someone to protect you
you can hear classical music and relax
you can have the delicious strawberry ice cream melting in your mouth
you can have the freedom of going to your church and praising your God
you can have a school in which you can learn many subjects
you can have lots of food that fills your tummy
you can have a pack of M&M's and taste and share
you can have good health and watch what you eat
you can have delicious pizza from the shop on the corner
you can have a father and a mother
in which to protect you and love you
you can have lots of love in which to give
you can have a home in which to sleep and live in
you can have a career in which to learn and know from

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3) GROUP WEBS

In two groups, the students created a giant web of all of their cares and concerns. From these lists, two groups chose a handful of topics they wanted to focus on in the creation of their next set of photo essays.

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4) HAIKUS

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In groups, students studied the haiku form and looked at the work of famous haiku poets, such as Basho. Of course, we wrote our own! Here are a few. We don't want to give it ALL away just yet!

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The world is a TV
it's like a messed up channel
when will the world change?
- Katiria Altruz

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I beg in the streets
I cry all I want is bread
a few cents is good
- Esther Gonzales and Pearl Buckman

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Some people love cash
family matters to us
what matters to you
-- Quetzy Escobar and Cathy Campos

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5) FINAL PROJECT

We're not ready to show you yet, so stay tuned! But I will reveal that they are artful photo essays based off of A Softer World's work. Example posted below. (Don't tell them, but I think ours are better.)

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Check back next week!

PS 7 Photo Essays

04 Mar 2009, 12:19 AM by UrbanArtsAdmin

The first half of the year PS 7's middle school students studied digital photography and poetry in relation to themselves. Artists start with what they know, right? After really (and I mean, really) getting to know ourselves, the second half of the year is focused outward, using the "My Message" curriculum. The students have some special projects in store for you, but first we'll show you a bit of our process.

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Behold! Our warm up exercise in photo essays, in steps:

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1) STUDY

The students were shown a variety of photo essays through each session. Most notably, perhaps, "What the World Eats," from the book Hungry Planet, which brilliantly illustrates consumption, culture and other huge concepts through the simple vehicle of food and family around the globe. (Find it here for your use!)

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Making our study a game, students were asked to make a silent guess on a piece of paper as to how much each family spent as we flipped through the photos. After discussing each photo's cultural significance, as well as it's photographic properties, we shared our guesses and learned the real answers to each family's spending habits. Below pictures the biggest disparity: Germany at $500.07 per week and Chad at $1.23 per week. Imagine the student's shocked responses! This opened up a broader dialogue about the importance of art, specifically in this case, photo essays, and their ability to create change, conversation and make a deep impact on their audience.

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2) PLAN

Time to plan our own photo essays! Using the school as their backdrop, students are asked to create a short story in just four photos. You know what this means... story boarding, galore! The kids got silly, as middle schoolers often do, but for a small exercise in creating a photo essay before they begin their serious, message-driven work, I let 'em go hog wild!

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Click the photos below for the larger versions of each:
 

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3) CREATE

And finally, the finished versions! After critiquing the work, I let the groups pick one extra photo to add to the batch. I was so impressed by their integrity and skills that I wanted to see more of their work showcased! Next came the captions. Please take note how Ms. Caitlin subtly appears in not one, but TWO of the essays. What? Can't a teacher feel cool, too? Kidding, kidding, I'm just terribly proud. You can catch the work live displayed on Ms. Cassidy's bulletin board!

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School Alone On a Saturday
by Esther Gonzalez and Quetzy Escobar
 

Caitlin enters the quiet school.

She sees the hallways empty and soundless.

As she walks in the hallway, all she can hear is her footsteps.

She enters the classroom of her first period. What a strange day of school, she thought.

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Stay tuned for our next project! We're taking all the skills, dropping the silliness and working towards meaningful work that communicates messages that are important to us (from love to world peace to homeless issues and lots in between!)

'Till next time...

Animals in the Rainforest

17 Jan 2009, 12:51 AM by UrbanArtsAdmin

We have been learning about animals in the rainforests of the world.  We researched different rainforests and found animals that we are now drawing on murals in their natural environment.  We have learned all sorts of fun facts.

Did you know...

Some Gorillas live in the Congo.  98-99% of their DNA is exactly like humans!

Red-bellied Piranhas can be found in the Amazon River Basin.  They are known as the most ferocious of the freshwater fish.

Poison Dart Frogs can be found in tropical rainforests around the world.  Unlike most frogs, Poison Dart Frogs are diurnal rather than nocturnal.  This means that they are awake during the day when most frogs are sleeping!

Toucans can also be found in tropical rainforests.  In large species, their very colorful bills are half the size of their entire body!

The Anaconda is a large, non-venomous snake.  They are one of the largest snakes in the world!

Bengal tigers live in tropical rainforests in Asia.  They are solitary hunters.  There are only about 1,300-1,500 left in the wild in the Indian Subcontinent.

Here are some examples of our murals.  They are works in progress so we decided to take the pictures while we were working on them.  It's like you are in the studio with us!  We would love to hear what you think!

Science and Visual Arts-Who Are We?

13 Dec 2008, 12:50 AM by UrbanArtsAdmin

Hello!  We are Ms. Takigayama's Science Class.  In our class this year, we are working with Eliza from Urban Arts.  For our first project, we are learning about different tropical rainforests throughout the world, from Madagascar to the Amazon! We are researching and then drawing the plants and animals that one would find in each rainforest.  Before we get to that though, we thought that we should tell you a little about ourselves.

1.     Joshua

2.     Fabulous, nice, nice dresser

3.     I’m fabulous because of me.  I love looking in the mirror.

1.     Bianca

2.     Puffy hair, friendly, I like to play handball

3.     I’m friendly because I’m funny and because I like to help people.

1.     Maranda

2.     Happy 24/7, I love ice-skating, I love singing

3.     My godfather taught me how to ice-skate.  When I went ice-skating on my cousin’s birthday and I fell!

1.     Amanda

2.     Basketball, dodgeball, skating

3.     I practice basketball all day.  I like to jump and float to the basket.

1.     Christopher

2.     Born in the US, half Puerto Rican, I’m the Vice President of MS 131

3.     I just found out this morning that I won the election.  I’m happy to make more changes for the school.

1.     Terrence

2.     Gamefreak, crazy, playful

3.     I have a lot of friends.  A lot of people know me.

1.     Guo Fu

2.     Smart, silly, funny

3.     I’m smart because I do well and I study.

1.     Chen Xin

2.     Funny, nice, playful

3.     There are so many games I love.  I play a lot of games.

1.     Victoria

2.     I like Iron Man, cars, and I like to be nice to everybody.

3.     It’s important to be nice.

1.     Sheldon

2.     Nice, funny, I love drawing

3.     I love drawing because I love doing art.  I want to be an artist.

1.     Wilson

2.     I’m funny, I like Jackie Chan, I’m good at doing dishes.

3.     Jackie Chan is so good at Kung Fu.  He’s my hero.