Pyrtle Elementary School fifth graders made the worlds of art and history collide this winter by carving bars of soap into woodpeckers, turtles and flowers.
All fifth grade students at Pyrtle capped an Amplify CKLA curriculum unit on the Renaissance Era by copying the sculpting talents of Michelangelo, Donatello and Andrea del Verrocchio.
Hannah and Mabel both said they enjoyed the chance to sculpt like Leonardo da Vinci.
“Honestly, it was last minute because we only had two minutes left on the clock,” Hannah said. “I thought once I looked at it that it was really pretty and it would be impressive once I made it.”
“I made this because it expresses my personality,” Mabel said.
Emily Wesseln smiled as her fifth grade class eagerly scraped off soap particles bit by bit. Students spent the unit learning how the Renaissance has impacted everything from music to mechanical engineering.
“It’s one thing to sit and read about something, but it’s another thing to experience it firsthand,” Wesseln said. “It’s fun for them because it brings to life what they’re learning. They’re making those connections by doing projects like this.”
Mabel said the hands-on activities made an educational impact in class.
“Overall I thought it was really cool how we could explore history and notice why art is what it is today,” Mabel said.
LPS K-6 English Language Arts Curriculum Specialist Lisa Oltman said the links between reading, history and art came alive during the unit.
“The fact that students have the opportunity to make connections to things they have learned in a different subject area and continue to grow their knowledge on that topic is really exciting,” Oltman said.
Wesseln said she feels students will create many more bright academic frescoes from their time studying the Renaissance.
“It’s so much fun to see them take the material to heart and think about it on a deeper level,” Wesseln said. “They’re going to remember this for a long time.”
Do you have a story idea? Share it with the LPS Communications Team by filling out this form!
