Last week, in art class, I presented Mexican Celebration Week! 99.5% of the students enjoyed the idea. The only complaints I received were from two Hispanic students that said that it was dumb that we were celebrating cinco de Mayo since it's not a big deal in Mexico. I know that it's not a big deal for the majority of Mexican's but we can still celebrate. After all, it's a good reason to add in some Mexican culture to our art class!
The older students (4th, 5th, and 6th) have been begging to make masks ever since they saw the first grader's Korean masks. Therefore, I showed them
Juan Horta Castillo masks and discussed his fame throughout Mexico and the US.
The first through third graders made images of Market Day using colored papers and simple shapes to make complex shapes. I got the idea from
HERE. Then I added in my own flair by showing the students the
Visit Mexico poster and an image of a
Mexican market (pg. 40).
Finally, in honor of Mexican Celebration week AND Mother's Day, the Kindergartners made flower bouquets using
Dahlias, the official flower of Mexico. I drew the flowers and stems and had them copied for the Kindergartners. They then cut everything out and colored the flowers (the stems were copied onto green paper). Next time I will have the stems already cut out for them. It took too long for them to cut everything out and color it in within a 30 minute session.
