Art Express

ARTE 482

Art Express is a Saturday Program offered at Northern Illinois University where children have the opportunity to explore the value of arts. I co-lead the level of the program for eight and nine year old with Meagan Kirkwood. Through game play with Numeracy Legends and the Gluttony Dragon, students were able to appreciate the value of working collaboratively as an alliance. Students used this foundation concept to individually create three-dimensional characters that helped combat a global issue they discussed and selected together. After constructing their characters, students broke into two groups and learned about plot lines and narrative to create their own play. Students infused the play with dialogue and created props to support the play. At the final exhibition, students performed their plays for their families and their classmates.

Playing the Game

On the first day of class students played the game Numeracy Legends and the Gluttony Dragon. Through game play, students were able to learn the value of teamwork to defeat the gluttony dragon.

Global Issues and Character Development

Students brainstormed global issues, characters and character qualities that are depicted in the mind maps below. These global issues supported the characters students created to defeat the global issue selected by the class. After using various brainstorming methods, including brainstorming sheets, student created characters out of a large variety of the mediums provided. Students then stuffed these characters to bring them to life and used animations in the play to give enhance their purpose.

Narrative and Plot Development

Students learned about narrative and the structure of a plot line which is depicted below. Students split into two groups and created their own narratives using the plot line to guide their ideas with the support of the teacher. These narratives were transformed into plays where students incorporated dialogue and made props to enhance the play.