#coreintegration

[monalisaliveshere]

“The illustrations in picture books are the first paintings most children see, and because of that, they are incredibly important. What we see and share at that age stays with us for life.” – Anthony Browne

Over the past few weeks, my fifth and sixth grade art classes have been reimagining book covers for their favorite books. We started by creating lists of up to ten books that had secured a place in our memories either through the story told, the images on the pages, or both. We then shared our lists and engaged in conversation with each other about the books. This activity will go down as one of my favorite moments this school year. I enjoyed the lively conversations, the reminiscing about early childhood stories, about memories derived from time spent being read to and learning to read at home and at school.

As book chatter filled the classroom, I couldn’t stop my own nostalgia for read aloud moments as a child and later as a parent and teacher. My mother had been a first grade teacher before she started her our family and relished read alouds. Many of my seven siblings and I would gather together around my mother on the couch or floor to listen to a story.

When there were five of us. I’m on my mother’s lap.

I especially remember these moments happening when one of us was sick and the house was more quiet than usual. Our books of choice were usually selected from our many Golden Books, which were both inexpensive and fairly predictable in content. Affordability was key with a large family in the 1960s.

My two sisters and I had one particular favorite, Three Little Horses by Piet Worm, 1958, which we read over and over together and acted out with our farm animals, Barbie (and Scooter and Ken) dolls, and our brothers’ Tonka trucks.

We took turns “being” the different horses, identified by color, although I remember being Blackie most often. Oddly enough, all these years later, we have three alpacas in the same array of color on our little farm. And I’m the one who chose them from hundreds of alpacas when I purchased them for my husband for Christmas several years ago. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, this was probably not a coincidence. Here they are in our photo from this year’s holiday card:

No, alpacas don’t have antlers.

As a former regular education teacher in third then fourth grade, I know kids love books and I’m always amazed by the effect a good story has on them. Read alouds unite and sometimes divide, leading to thoughtful and passionate discussion, ihich is what happened when my students made their lists of favored books and then shared them at their table. Such rich discussion!

Reimagined Book Covers

The next step was to choose one of the books and try to rethink the illustrations (if there were illustrations). Students who chose chapter books had a chance to fully invent the drawings. Students who chose picture books had to first remember the illustrations enough to change them completely. Imagine the Cat in the Hat without his tall red & white striped hat! As one child in class said, “He could be wearing a fedora!” Indeed.

After preliminary drawings and some demonstrations by me on block lettering and margins (yes, a little math integration) once students’ planning drawings were approved, they took a sheet of 11 x 17 chipboard and began ruling it up for the book cover. I find my students have little exposure to learning typography, yet they attempt it regularly on posters for their other subjects.

The next demonstration was on painting with this medium. We used tempera cakes for the paint and Sharpie as an outliner where needed. Rather than mixing colors on a palette, the challenge was to create new colors by layering different colors. For instance, blue plus orange and a little white  = sand color.

Layering paint rather than mixing it

The covers took a while to create (about 6 classes), but I think you’ll agree that the time spent was worthwhile.

Here are just twenty-four of the book covers, which are on display in the school lobby. The artist of each Reimagined Book Cover is identified in the lower right hand corner. Click on the first photo to see them all in a slideshow. Fabulous!

Estella Soares

All the rest of the Reimagined Book Covers are on display at Artsonia here. Please stop by the Miscoe Hill lobby and the virtual gallery to see all the work!

Digital Reimagined Book Covers

Many students were able to translate this project digitally using their choice of either Canva or Vanilla Pen for the graphic design component. They then did some “appsmashing” by creating drawings in Autodesk Sketchbook to import to the graphic design layout. This extension brought the creativity to a new level.

Alesandria Carneiro

Alexa Ladd

Siena Miller

Logan Didio

Madelyn Weibe

Owen Richie

Luciana Pereira

Samantha Crotty

Travis Miller

Emma Langner

Brooke Palmer

Taylor Ferlo

Jacob Poirier

Calliope Vallee

John Desmond

Ella Vanasse

These fantastic digital artworks can be viewed on Artsonia here.

Reflection

I’m so glad we did this project for so many reasons. As I mentioned before, I loved the conversation about books the project generated. I loved that every student could arrive at a favorite book without resistance or hesitation. I enjoyed integrating literature  into the art curriculum in a meaningful way. Lastly, the personalization of this project that builds on the interests of the child makes it an empowering platform for self-expression.

Admittedly, sustained work like this can be a challenge for fifth and sixth grade art students who are typically accustomed to one or two class directed projects. Aside from the required use of typography, margins, and the skill set of mixing color by layering, the only other creative constraint was the 11 x 17 chipboard. Students were able to choose the orientation for their book cover and 99% chose portrait orientation. The ruling up of the board was also challenging, with many students possessing only rudimentary ruler skills. I did a lot of ruler holding while the kids traced and also reminded them to measure from the end of the ruler (zero), not the one inch mark.

In a sustained project like this, success skills abound, including perseverance, design thinking, taking time to plan, problem solving, ideating, reimagination, and critical thinking. Technology skills include learning to photograph artwork in a rectangular form (not a trapezoid), editing, and uploading. Students also wrote reflective Artist Statements on Artsonia.

On personal level, I had read many of the books as a third and fourth grade classroom teacher, but certainly not all of them. Thanks to this project, I’ve added to my reading list.

  Reimagined Book Covers "The illustrations in picture books are the first paintings most children see, and because of that, they are incredibly important.

[moms4health]

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A post shared by Amy Slater | Nutritionist | Trainer | Mom 👊🏻 FAFS, FDN-P, CPT (@amyslatercoaching)

🙋🏻‍♀️Do you look forward to your workouts? . 🙋🏻‍♀️Do you feel awesome during the day after your training session? . I look at movement/exercise sessions like this, make every bit count towards building a stronger and more resilient me! . Today, as a mom to two 7 year olds and two 3 year olds, resilience and strength have a different meaning than when I was training for athletic performance. . My physical structure is different, so training must be different! . Training with the @3actslide is fun, purpose driven and effective. . Here I am attaching a different pattern to the end of each slide. My body needs to react, reorganize and perform the movement. . Getting off the slide my whole body feels great, and ready for the next part of my workout!! . 💪Stay tuned today for more @3actslide patterns!! . . . . . . #moms4healthusa #trainforpurpose #functionaltraining #momfitness #health #womenshealth #postpartumfitness #pelvicfloor #3actslide #coreintegration #trainlikeagirl #collagen #tensilestrength #fascia (at Holly Springs, North Carolina)

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February 26, 2018 at 01:02PM

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— Mvng Cmpny Studio CA (@mvgstudiocityca) February 26, 2018

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[moms4health]

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A post shared by Amy Slater | Nutritionist | Trainer | Mom 👊🏻 FAFS, FDN-P, CPT (@amyslatercoaching)

ESSENTIAL MOM MOVEMENT STRENGTH 💪 CIRCUIT: Exercise 5️⃣ . Once you have reestablished proper breathing. reconnected with your pelvic floor and healed your diastasis (which does not always mean closure 🤗)...you can safely add in some loaded movement training. . This is NOT an early postpartum exercise with the @viprpro flip. It is a progression. . Here I am working on challenging my core and pelvic floor by adding in the momentum of the ViPR swing into a multiplanar lunge. . 🙋🏻‍♀️MY lifelong compensation...I am a rib thruster! 😂 . Not good for pelvic floor and diastasis healing. My challenge here is ribs down throughout with a consistent breath. . This exercise fits great after the TRX rows with a multiplanar step. Challenging your core and subconsciously training the pelvic floor in both exercises! . Stay tuned for exercise 6️⃣ tomorrow!! ❤️ . . . . . . #moms4healthusa #diastasisrecti #womenshealth #pelvicfloor #pelvichealthmatters #twinmomtwice #core #viprpro #vivobarefoot #femalechainreaction #giftfellow #coreintegration #postpartumhealth (at Holly Springs, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/BmGQ2TGBAfX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1wli5xyb443gr

[moms4health]

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A post shared by Amy Slater | Nutritionist | Trainer | Mom 👊🏻 FAFS, FDN-P, CPT (@amyslatercoaching)

ESSENTIAL MOM MOVEMENT CIRCUIT: Exercise 7️⃣ . Ground to standing patterns are especially important for moms! Check out the #instituteofmotion Platform App for tons of inspiration and education about ground to standing! . Here I I am working on my core with a rolling pattern. My focus is on not initiating the movement with my obliques which pulls at my diastasis. How do you know you are performing the movement correctly? Look for doming or a renting of the diastasis. That is not good. . Coming up to a standing position I use one of the #3dmaps movements that is a weakness for me. Opposite side lateral lunge with a two arm opposite side lateral reach at overhead really enhances mobility through my obliques and hips. Two areas that get very tight on me. . Here is the cool thing about ground to standing! You can mix and match. Choose the movement and combine. Find your movement deficit and work on that! . 🧐Moms: you can benefit from integrating mobility into your circuit as a time savings. Ground based movements are a great developmental pattern for the core! . . . . . #moms4healthusa #groundtostanding #reallifefitness #momfitness #functionaltraining #consistency #resilience #coreintegration #mom #personaltrainer #hiphealth (at Holly Springs, North Carolina)

[moms4health]

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A post shared by Amy Slater | Nutritionist | Trainer | Mom 👊🏻 FAFS, FDN-P, CPT (@amyslatercoaching)

Riding my bike is a privilege that I will never take for granted! In order to do it well and maintain great function all day #functionfirst I have to take care of my #pelvicfloor and maintain #coreintegration because I have a #diastasisrecti . * @reactive_training Coretex is just one tool in my arsenal! Here I am taking advantage of the reactive platform with pelvic drives. I also add an arm reach to integrate the thoracic spine. * Big #core load!! This one is great for cool down also after being clipped into the pedals for a couple hours. * If you are in #hollyspringsnc reach out and we can try it together. . . . . . #moms4healthusa #pelvicfloor #core #roadbike #womenshealth (at Holly Springs, North Carolina)

[moms4health]

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A post shared by Amy Slater | Nutritionist | Trainer | Mom 👊🏻 FAFS, FDN-P, CPT (@amyslatercoaching)

ESSENTIAL MOM MOVEMENT CIRCUIT: Exercise 7 . Ground to standing patterns are fundamental to my training program. . @toddwright_coach posted recently and used a term ACCUMULATION OPPORTUNITIES where one develops flexibility and mobility, strength and power, balance and coordination. He mentioned, specific to b-ball, how these opportunities ACCUMULATE over their season. Thank you @toddwright_coach ! . Well ladies, our season is motherhood and it is a long one...like years long! Incorporating theses complexes or patterns into your postpartum recovery or return to fitness program is key to reconnecting your whole body! . I am 3 years postpartum, one year after stopping nursing my second set of twins, so I consider myself in the later stages of rebuilding/reintegrating! . Couple these full range of motion patterns with a solid collagen building, low inflammation diet and you have a recipe for success! Without the nutrition piece, you will not realize full potential! . Thank you @jannyhutnan for the inspiration with your @evoprimefitness share! . I use this sequence as a part of a pre-ride 🚲 sequence or you can use it to break up periods of immobility. Integrate it somewhere into your day everyday and positive results though your hips and core will follow. . The fundamental pattern stays the same while each rep focuses on a different leg driver aimed to mobilize the hips. . With my hands fixed on the ground my scapula and ribcage are driven by my legs. Awesome, isn’t it!!! . Don’t forget to include that diaphragmatic breathing to load the pelvic floor! ❤️ . One more tomorrow...#8! . . . . . . #moms4healthusa #momfitness #connectivetissue #authenticmovements #learnfromthemasters #grateful #movementheals #pelvicfloor #coreintegration #momfitness #womenshealth #functionaltraining #garageworkout #twinmom #functionfirst (at Holly Springs, North Carolina)