Art and America, Session II Lesson 4

Being that the last day of Session III was the Wednesday before the Fourth of July (Independence Day) it seemed only appropriate that we have an American theme with our projects.

I also found it important to teach them about symbolism in terms of the 13 stripes, what they represent and of course the 50 stars. We also talked about the colors of Red, White and Blue and what they stood for.

Independence Day falls right smack in the middle of the summer, therefore kids aren't in school to learn this information specific to the birth of our country.

I showed them a map of the original 13 colonies compared to the map of the United States now. I also introduced the American symbol of "Uncle Sam". Most of the kids saw the picture of him before, but didn't know who he was or what he specifically represented. It was awesome to see their eyes light up when we talked about the connection between the "U" in Uncle means United, and the "S" in Sam means States.

Now that the kids knew a ittle more about American and American symbolism than they did when they arrived, we commenced the American Flag project.

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For those that finished their flags early (even though there was no rush), there was the Uncle Sam project that was reminiscent of Picasso's Cubist style of the Three Musicians from the first lesson of the session.

We even had an eagle in the works! How awesome is that?

Here are the results that would blow away any American Art Gallery!