Problem solving

We are a work in progress it seems. A work that will never be complete until we leave this earth.

Sometimes we start out with an idea of what we want out of life. What we think we want. As we go through the living out of this life, relationships are built, crushed, ignored, restored. Events take place that change the direction of our lives, some resulting from the choices we made while others happen because of the choices others make for us, despite us, or because of us.

Like this journal entry that I don't really know where it's going, but I have an idea: I want to share yet another art project my fifth graders have been working on for a very long time it seems. For those who stayed with it, for those who had even an inkling of an idea of what they hoped their final product would look like, completion is at hand. Satisfaction is their reward for staying the course, for coming in early before school started, to finish painting their totem animal before the school year ends (on the tenth).

I wish I could have showed you the face of the boy who finished this sculpture. You'll have to settle for looking at his hands on his work. The one in the back right, not the one in the foreground. 

                                   

Here, you see two animal Totems being constructed from tape and foil. The materials were applied to a gallon milk jug. The young man I want you to follow is the one in the background, the one with the box of foil inside the milk jug.

I told them from their first day in my class that I wanted them to see the class time as a problem solving class more than an art class. Yes, we'd be making things that belonged in the category of visual arts... but as any artist or craftsman (or any field that takes specific skills and training to master) knows, along with the talent they are blessed with is a greater skill: creative thinking is not as much about making art as itis recognizing a problem, naming it, then finding a way to solve it. Or many ways.

The boy's problem at first is how to make a snake totem. He wants to represent a snake, and his first inclination is to ask me to show him how. Faced with showing each of 25 students how to make the animal they had chosen, I decide to avoid my problem (one of me, 25 of them, about 25 minutes to work) right away.

After demonstrating some technical tips about using tape and how to shape foil, I tell them they are on their own. I want them to answer their own question..."How do I do this?" which usually comes out sounding like "I don't know how to do this." or "I don't get it."

As you can see, he eventually solves his problem of making the snake.

His next problem is "My milk jug keeps falling over. It's hard to work with like that. How can I keep it from falling over?"

"Why does it keep falling over?" I ask him.

"Umm... because the snake head is heavy. It makes the jug lopsided. But I can't help that," he adds.

"So if it's heavy on one side, what can you do to keep it from falling over on that side?"

His eyebrows wrinkle. "Huh?"

I demonstrate how it falls over. His hand shoots out to right it.

"Why did you put your hand there?" I ask him.

"To keep it from falling over, but I can't work with it if I have to keep holding it with one hand like that."

"That's right, so what can you do to keep it from falling over?"

The light comes on in his head... he picks up his box of foil and drops it inside the jug. The jug remains upright. If you'll look in that first picture, you'll see the foil box inside the milk jug. A little problem solved all by his own thinking.

Afterhe paints the snake totem (a process that took about two sessions), I suggest that we spray the thing with fixative to protect the tempera paint exterior. He follows me outside, and I explain the dangers of using spray fixative. He stands some distance away while I spray. Then we walk back inside. As we pass some kindergarteners in the hall, one of them asks, "What is that?"

"What does it look like to you?" I ask him.

He smiles. Two other kinders join in, curious and impressed by this purple and green creature with the scary fangs.

                           

"I think it's a dragon," the one child says.

"I think it's  snake," another chimes in.

"That's cool!" says another.

The fifth grader is pleased with their remarks, but it is time for him to get back to class. He leaves his snake/dragon behind and returns to his homeroom.

I slide his snake on top of the other totem animals for the final picture below. He hasn't seen it this way yet... when he comes back Monday he'll see it for the first time.

                                                                                 

The purpose of the project was to learn to use the materials to make a sculpture while learning about Native American Indians. They learned the purpose of the totems, where they were found, and learned what the different animals symbolized. I'd found a list of animal symbols on the internet, made copies of a  modified list, and let them pick the animal which had qualities or characteristics they wanted for themselves, or saw in themselves.

The snake represents "impulsive, shrewdness, rebirth, transformation, initiation, and wisdom".

Yeah, I agree with that kindergartener... that's pretty cool!

 

Thanks, Marie, for the idea! The kids loved it. It just took a little longer than I'd thought it would. Next year, we'll start earlier, and I'll make sure they bring in only 3M or Scotch Brand masking tape. The lower priced brands did not stick well at all.

 

 

Tags: tape and foil sculpture, Native American totems, animal totems, fifth grade art project