Inquiry-based Arts Integration
Teacher Name:Lissete Plaza Artist Name: Gwendolyn Terry
Big Idea: Chasing your Pearl
Inquiry Question: How can our combined strength help us achieve our desires? Due to pandemic and remote learning it’s changed to: How can our individual strength help us achieve our desires?
The initial idea for our curriculum unit was to have the students in each class create a large-scale Chinese styled Dragon to be performed in (3 Dragons total) and a fiery pearl which they would have attempted to attain. However, due to COVID-19 and having to revert to remote learning, we had to modify our project. Students were no longer able to work as a community to build a dragon (1 per class: 3 total) that represented them as a whole. Instead, we opted to first focus on having students explore inquiry questions about symbolism in literature and art. We referred back to novels that we had read during our ELA class (prior to remote learning) and then we used colors to draw ideas of what feelings and emotions they could convey.
We then went on to explore what dragons represented in Asian culture and then asked students to explore what dragons symbolize in other cultures around the world.
From there we went on to have students really explore themselves as individuals. We had them think about their character traits (positive traits and traits that they felt they wanted to work on).
*Continued on slide 2
The project was completed with the students creating/building a dragon using a combination of shapes to define it’s silhouette that they’d identified as representing aspects of their personality. Due to the limitations the virtual classroom created with access to materials and resources the students were given the choice of what form they’re dragon would take. The only requirement was the identification of their shape language and implementation of them in its creation. They were also expected to detail and decorated their dragons using the same shape language.
Our inquiry process changed from our initial idea due to the Pandemic and the subsequent remote learning. It morphed more into a dialogue with the students shown in their engagement and investment in the process which can be seen in the recordings from the class as well as through the evidence of their work.
Link to Bulb Page:
https://www.bulbapp.com/u/boone-2019-2020-plaza-terry
Kayrhianna Jackson’s CAPE Project Reflection
(6th Grader/Room 213)
Click play to listen to Kayrhianna’s reflection.
By: Kevin C. (Room 213)
“The shape language I chose is 50% circle, 50% triangle. I chose to cover it with the Peanuts because I've been a fan of the Peanuts for a LONG time, and It's a big part of my childhood. What the dragon is trying to protect is the Peanuts, because the Peanuts have not only been there for a lot of my life, but I feel The Peanuts represent a big part of the innocence I have left in me, and the dragon is basically protecting that. It desires preserving the past, and in my case, the Peanuts are what represent my past.” Gavin G. (213)
“My dragon means and symbolizes me. It is purple because it is loyal to what it has; family, friends, etc.
The shape language: triangles and circles. Triangles because myself can be mean or not as nice sometimes. Circle because I can also be nice. These feelings are like a rollercoaster of emotions.
Blue teeth because it represents sadness. Sadness for times that can be hurtful to me. All these colors are not only of these emotions , but my dragon is different. Most dragons are represented or colored like all extra, royal, and nice. I wanted to do something different, like 1970’s-90’s. With all this going on, the pandemic, protests, people dying, etc. I wanted to do my dragon as a memory, for the teachers, not that i’m calling you guys old haha.. A memory of good times, where some dates in the 19’s were good, also 2000’s-10’s for us kids. Also yes, i know..my dragon looks like a fish hehe.”
“I made a sheep dragon. I made it because I like sheep and I never saw someone combine a sheep and a dragon. The sheep dragons personality is quiet and creative until someone makes it angry. Then it becomes furious.
I think I am 90 percent circle and 10 percent triangle. my sheep dragon is made up mostly of circles. The wings are kind of creativity, and having fun and I think that is like me. I did not use squares because I think square means you are organized and I am not organized.
I used the colors white, black, brown and gray. My sheep dragon is white because white can mean innocent and young and I’m still a kid. Black can mean artistic and I think that describes me. Brown and gray can mean earthy and natural and I like farm animals like sheep.”
“The scales are meant to be circles but I didn't want to make it look like a mess, so I did normal scales. There is a few triangles and the feet were meant to be squares, but it doesn't really look right.
This dragon is protecting my sister (Giovanna). I do love my other siblings, but Giovanna is the one I love the most. She has ASD, which means I have to take care of her at all times. I really just want her to have a bright future full of new insights.”
“The shapes are circles and triangles. There are circles on the legs. There are triangles on the wings, nose and tail. I chose green because it is a nature color and orange for the wings because it is kinda a sunny color.”
“My dragon is Made up of 50% circles, 25%squares and 25% Triangles. My dragon is mostly yellow because yellow represents positivity. I’m positive most of the time, but sometimes I’m not nice because I’m mad so the color is purple. Sometimes I’m just Calm and I draw and I chose green for that. The shapes on top represent why I’m happy, why I’m mad , and why I’m calm.”
El perro
“My dragon represents the characters Upin and Ipin(A Malaysian cartoon). They are twins, intelligent, and they are very helpful.
The eyes represent how open minded and thoughtful they are. The color yellow of the dragons represents their personality which is
colorful and shows happiness.”
Jack M. 213
“I was thinking about shape language and I had an idea pop into my head. I colored each different shape a different color. It has three heads, all of which are triangles (angry). The body and joints are all circles, showing that they (the joints and body) are happy and in good condition. The rectangular limbs signify that the bones are hard and sturdy. I call it the Geometradon.”
“My dragon includes the shapes, triangle and rectangle, but mostly triangles. The triangles represent me being creative because I like to make my own things and do new things and also I am very energetic. The rectangle represents me being honest and I can be trusted one hundred and ten percent.”
“My dragon is not like other dragons. The dragon is the king of all dragons. He is very powerful. Also he has a poison tail. If you touch it, you will die.”
My dragon has a shape triangle.Triangle represent me as focused. I'm also organized. He also wants to protect his family and innocences.
“My dragon represents sorrow (of How I'm feeling). The shape language I used is mostly all triangles and I guess squares .How it represents me is how I'm feeling and mostly I feel sad all the time. It makes me wanna cry for no reason.
The Colors I used were blue and yellow because I thought it would be different from others and maybe the blue would represent something else.
The blue means the sadness and sorrow people are feeling.
My dragon is protecting the people from being dull and from bad people that tore apart their happiness. The one they had before but they instead stole it.
The dragon will have the power of blue fire and earth. Also, the blue fire can become a barrier if my dragons want.” - Elizabeth V. (215)
La piña
Tehuti 215
“I made this dragon from an app called IBIS Paint. The dragon was inspired by a red dragon. The shape I used was mostly oval and some circles. The colors for my dragon were mostly dark red, some black and some yellow/gold. The clothes were inspired from mixing a Japanese school uniform with dragon scales to make a type of armor - it's a super productive armor, plus it can also be used as an everyday outfit. Something about my dragon - her name is Ritsu Haruto. Her favorite color is dark red. She protects her loved ones. Her age is unknown and her birthday is also unknown. Aso, she can turn into a dragon but her shadow shows her wings.” - Emily L. (215)
Bicycle
“This is my dragon. It is composed of squares and circles. The circles show positivity and the squares, toughness.”
I think that I have grown and learned from mistakes. Blue is meant to be a form of confidence. It’s meant to remind myself and others that it’s good to be confident and to think back on our moments. “some shapes are sharp while others aren’t so sharp. The sharp ones are meant to represent all of the bad things that have happened in my life. while the kind of rounded ones are meant to represent all of the good things that happened in my life. The colors I used were red, green, blue, and some purple. The color red is meant to be a form of showing bravery. In my life i have had to be brave and face some fears. The color green is meant to be a form of growth. Purple is meant to be peace. I think that everyone should always take a moment and be at peace with ourselves at least once in awhile.. The dragon is meant to be the protector of our mind because sometimes we allow things to get in our way of how we think when we really shouldn’t let small things distract us. it’ll also help keep us in check. That’s what my dragon represents.”
- Alondra Q. (206)
Bicycle
Aya J. 213
It depends which dragon because yesterday during class I sent you a different one which represented aggression. It was fierce and never gave up. It was made up of circles and triangles. The first one I sent thinking it was a must to do a face mask instead of a drawing. That dragon represented me. It was peaceful,friendly and shy. It had all three primary shapes so it had multiple personalities. The drawing of the dragon was blue for water and the mask was orange,yellow and pink etc because to me it represented all the different colors/personalities that I have.
Michael Jaimes 215
Description:
Ayesha K. (Room 215)
Description: This dragon is called a Tian long and is from china! I made my dragon with metallic sharpies, and used metallic paper for the flames! I used these colors because blue makes me feel safe and joyous, Green reminds me of energy and silver because it gives me peaceful vibes.
Anthony O. (213)
“I choose the colors of the dragon to be green and red because those are the colors of a Chinese New Year dragon and because the colors green and red are some of the colors on the Iraq flag.” - Mehdi H. (215)
Sketch
Haniya U. (213)
Haniya U. (213)
“I selected the rainbow and the sun because they show happiness. The blue shows sadness and the red shows love. The shape language is a circle and that shows that I’m sweet sometimes and shy.”
Arkady 215
Description: The Dragon is made up of triangles and circular shapes. These shapes represent how I’m stubborn a lot. This dragon is a shadow puppet.
Muhammad A. (215)
Description:
By: Del O. (215)
Description:
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The dragon represents me and how I protect my family. The cap is damaged because it shows that no matter what I will still protect my family. The dragon color is white because it represents hope and the only color I had. The tissue was mostly cut in squares since most of my shape language is square.
Safvaan S 213
“Hi Ms. Plaza this is my history project. I am sorry if it’s not the best but I chose the shape circle because it reminded me of my neighbor’s dog and I miss playing with that dog. I actually had another one but last night my baby sister came to my room and spilled her cereal all over it and I had to do it over again. Hope you like it!”
- Gharsanai K. (215)
Jacob I. (213)
Description:
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Maricella W. (Room 206)
Juan P. (213)
Description:
By: Avahn T. (213)
Description:
“This dragon is a two headed dragon once tamed it changes color to what emotions you usually have it can be found in the mountains but don't look at it in the eyes because then it can control you some of these dragon can control the weather they can be dangerous or friendly you can tame it by giving its favorite which is cotton candy because to them it looks like clouds these dragons have a rarity of 5-7 and there element is air these dragons are usually called gemini dragons because they have two heads with two different emotions and even have the element of air they are omnivores they can even transform to a human to fool the humans even though they look hostile they usually try to be nice to people.”
Aileen R. (206)
Delilah C. (Room 206)
Description:
Dema O.(215)
Description:
Serenity S. (Room 213)
“The dragon is the universe’s protector. He protects the emotions that are based around the World word and the universe the emotions are very important they protect the people who live in the universe and keep the universe running and to the people the dragon is almighty and this relates to me because half of your life your emotions are the only things you have control of at birth and one of the things you will never be able to be able to control over a person and that’s the most truthful and honest thing you can’t control and that’s why it’s important and the colors are the emotions and the creativity it comes with because I realized that many people who are creative go through something in there life that was hard and they use creativity to help.”
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“This is my dragon. My dragon represents paranoia. I used a lot of triangles, because that is what I think represents fear and anxiety. I don't think it represents me because I'm not normally paranoid, but these times have got my anxiety spiking. I didn't use any colors because I just don't usually like working outside of just lines and shapes. My dragon is protecting it's safe space, because I feel like that's what I needed during times of uncertainty.”
Anaya S. (Room 213)
“Hey there! This is my dragon which seems goofy as you can see on the right. My dragon is named “Hope”. Hope stands for happiness and trust. We all know that every dragon is like a guardian, it protects something very special. And Hope here, protects a child's childhood. Most people think children are noisy and annoying, but they really are just being children. Hope’s goofy look shows us that she’s fun-loving, cheerful, and a trustworthy guardian. And Hope would risk anything to prove a child's innocence.”
Description:
Dragon name: Jeff
Jeff stands for funny and positive
Some dragons are a threat and some are protectors and Jeff is a protector and Jeff protects valuable items that are worth millions and Jeff is nice to human and acts silly and he is 10% circle and 30% triangle and 50% square
Enrique N 215 6th
By: Giovanny B. (206)
Description
By: Emmanuel C.
(Room 213)
Description:
“My dragon is mostly made of triangles but also a lot of other shapes like a rhombus and parallelograms and some curved shapes. My dragon represents fear because it might be one of the scariest dragons anybody can ever see.”
Alhassan A. 215
My dragon is protecting a part of someone's emotions this emotion I would say the emotions would be the bad ones since its shape is triangle which is connected with evil plus it’s a silhouette which means it’s all black and black in color language is scared mad depressed I also added the smoke to make the dragon look like it’s fading away telling you to lose your negative feelings
Nurhaida
206
Description: This is a unicorn dragon. My dragon is full of Circle, joyful and colorful . My dragon protect me for sadness.
What my dragon is protecting is the angry that equals the square and it is 10% triangle and 20% circle and 70% square
Ayan Khan 206
My dragon represents a sunset by a lake because I really like to watch sunsets by a lake or a beach. My shape language is 70% circle and 30% triangle. I used yellow to represent a sunset or the sun, the blue represents a body of water. My dragon is supposed to protect my family.
Christopher Perez
206
“It's a regular dragon that I decided to do. I saw it on Google and also I saw a dragon when I was watching Mulan. But I decided to do this instead.It might even be lie a dragon that I see in Anime movies.But It's not a chinese dragon with the whiskers.It's like the ones that were on Earth like billions or millions of years ago. I hope you like it Ms.Plaza I tried my best.I'm not really good.”
“My dragon represents me. It shows what I feel deep inside me. Every anger, calmness, ect. I used circular shapes, triangles, and squares to create this dragon of mine. I used black, grey/gray, yellow, orange, and red. The colors represent how I feel. The red and orange describes my anger. The yellow is my humbleness. The black the calmness that is what’s holding everything together. The fierce fire shooting out of his mouth is my bottled up emotions getting released. The dragon is trying to protect... me; the creator.
We are pretty much carbon copies with the same beliefs and behavior.”
-Yuan C (215)