We live outside a city that has a large and diversified skyline. We see it all the time, up close or even, on a clear day, from Oak Park. Adrienne McMullen, local architect and coordinator for OPEF's Architecture Adventure programming, used this local treasure trove of architecture as a springboard into student-designed and -created skylines.

The first step for the Hatch 5th graders was a field trip downtown for the Chicago Architecture Foundation's Skyscraper Tour. Students then viewed photos of other skylines and learned to identify a "landmark structure," such as a bridge, a waterfront, or a unique building, that stands out as a sort of focal point of the city.

In their classes with art teacher Molly Burns and Ms. McMullen, the students then began designing their own landmark structure, and then around that, they created their own skylines. For instance, Sam K's skyline included buildings for different types of activities: "Eating [called "The Big Soup"], economics, library, hang-out building, courthouse (where lawyers work) grocery store, apply-for-jobs building."

The students worked for 3 weeks on idea generation, sketching, and the final drawing on corrugated cardboard. On this particular day, they were finishing their sketches on the posters and cutting out the skylines. By cutting them out, they achieve the effect of a real skyline up against the sky. X-Acto knives ruled the day, so plenty of parent volunteers were on hand to help do the cutting! The next step will be to paint the skylines.

Sarah B.'s landmark structure was a circus behind the tall buildings. She did this in response to Ms. Burns' suggestion that they not have any gaps between buildings. She likes the circus and it would fill in the background well.

Joanna G's skyline included a building shaped like a cello. Joanna is an avid cello player. "I think it's interesting how everyone has different ideas. Some have symmetrical buildings and skylines. Some buildings are flat on top and some are slanted. And some people included cool shapes and even faces."

As parent Emily C. observed, "They can explore what they want to do and let their personalities come out."

Monika K. explained, "I based this building on the one with a diagonal top in Chicago. Adrienne said it was too similar to that so I made two of them and connected them together with a bridge." She also had a clock tower that she said is "kind of like Big Ben in London." So in addition to their own ideas the students picked up ideas from viewing many different skylines.

Thanks to Oak Park photographer David Kindler for this slideshow of photos from Hatch.



 

It's common knowledge that kindergartners like to move. Asking them to sit still in a classroom for long stretches is a tall order.

Enter Corey Nagel. As part of OPEF's Art Start program, this dance and preschool instructor had Mann kindergartners movin'. But not willy-nilly movement. Instead she subtly encouraged them to think about how they are moving and what their movement can express.

With shoes and socks off, the kindergartners in Ms. Whitley's class at Mann one April morning were experimenting with difference types of movement. Ms. Nagel says she calls it "movement" not "dance" with the kids so as to avoid any stigma associated with the latter. She encouraged them to "really feel what is going on around you," as they did their own skipping, crawling, walking, and jumping.

The students experimented with 7 different movement activities that day, all accompanied by instrumental music. In one activity, the kids teamed with a partner to experiment with "highs and lows" so they had to watch what their partner was doing: "If your partner is high, you are low. . . Use your eyes."

In another activity, a sort of freeze-tag game: "Whoever is 'it' is full of energy. Everyone else is frozen." The kids explored how to move in space and to be creative in that moment when they were "it."

"She is so creative--we wanted her to do what she does best," said kindergarten teacher Allyson Smith. Ms. Nagel used plenty of kindergarten-appropriate concepts and themes--shapes, numbers, and the like--to make connections with the kids.

Jackie Beljung, another kindergarten teacher, added, "They are also learning new concepts as they do it--opposites, shapes, symmetry. It complements concepts we do in kindergarten, and it's a nice way of differentiating [how we're teaching those concepts]."

Ms. Nagel's good chemistry for the kids was evident when Kyle C. said he "likes that she is fun and funny!" Sam W. likes that "we can take our shoes off and go barefoot and move a lot." When asked if he liked positive or negative sculptures, he said, "I like both. It makes my legs feel good."

The kids had a chance to create a shape machine in which they connected to each other but had to keep those positions while passing blocks from one person to the next. It created a fascinating mix of movement and stability as the blocks were passed. The kids learned that in order to keep the machine running smoothly they needed to move carefully and also pay close attention to their neighbors' movements.

In Ms. Smith and Ms. Beljung's kindergarten classes, the students also experimented with what Ms. Nagel explained were "positive and negative shapes." Using a student as an example, she said "where she is is positive. Where she isn't is negative. Negative shapes have lots of holes," a jumping jack formation, for example. Positive shapes are solid, such as being enclosed in a ball or scrunched up. Kids moved into groups to create negative sculptures, those with lots of holes, and at the same time, to use the different levels in space Ms. Nagel had talked to them about-- highs, mediums, and lows.

Ms. Nagel also discussed symmetrical vs. asymmetrical shapes with the students, a concept the kids have learned in kindergarten math. She explained how standing with the parts of your body in an asymmetrical position is not "very comfortable but it's interesting" and then had the kids experimented with that as well.

Ms. Beljung appreciates Ms. Nagel's work with these kids since "this gives the kids that outlet to have that movement in the middle of the day."

The students did several movement workshops in their six weeks with Ms. Nagel in order to get movements and ideas in their "toolboxes" for the "Imaginarium" program they performed in May. They used props such as balls, lycra body bags, nets, giant scarves, black lighting, masks, and flags along with expressive movement to create their "-ariums," a series of imaginary worlds based on a theme. For instance, a real "aquarium" is a place centered around water life, but they might come up with a "webarium," a place centered around webs.

The props help the kids define their movement and express their skit's theme. For instance, in the "scarium," the kids wear white masks and white gloves and move like ghosts in black lights. In the "macaronarium," they move inside long thin, netted tubes to bend and mix like a bowl of macaroni.

Ms. Smith noted, given that it is April, "these kids are ready to go to first grade. They are comfortable with each other and the way these kids move [at this age] is so unexpected, so fun to watch."

Watch a slideshow of Emily Opalski's photographs here.



 

The 5th-grade science curriculum in District 97 focuses on the various systems in the body. But what if you could have some of those systems actually brought into the classroom to see?

Dr. David Hines, M.D., a veteran of OPEF's Global Village program and a specialist in infectious diseases at Rush Medical Center, has done just that. In the past couple of months he brought the skeletal system to Ms. Yigzaw's classes at Holmes in the form of human and animal bones, and the cardiovascular system in the form of a sheep's heart.

During his first visit in April, Dr. Hines showed deer and human spines and asked the students to look for the differences. The students could see that the vertebrae on a deer are all about the same size, while those on a human get larger further down the spine. As one student noted this is "because deer have 4 legs and their spine is horizontal," so weight is evenly distributed. Humans, however, are upright and the lower spine has more weight to carry.

Another student asked "Is it fake?" Dr. Hines told the kids, "I only bring real stuff here." An avid bird-watcher, he said he finds deer and other animal skeletons while bird-watching in Thatcher Woods. Jack W. enjoyed carry the human spine up and down the rows to show his classmates. The 5th graders were captivated by the good-humored Dr. Hines.

Dr. Hines also showed students a real human skull. He asked them "Why do skulls have sutures [the seam down the top of the skull]?" One student responded "because the skull isn't all one bone." Students went on to piece together the clues of how our skulls are formed and why they are formed that way. The kids were able to examine various specimens of animal skulls as well as delicate fish cartilage.

Dr. Hines also showed the 5th graders an x-ray, holding it up against the light of the window. He explained that x-rays work because the calcium in our bones causes the x-rays to bounce off. The light can't get through, so the shapes of the bones show up--a bit like a shadow in the sun.

On a subsequent visit from Dr. Hines in May, the 5th graders got up close and personal with sheep hearts, as they dissected them in small groups. Savannah S. said, "It is nasty but educational." To demonstrate she noted, "If you put a toothpick [into one of the blood vessels] and move it, it looks like the heart is working!"

Ryan M. agreed: "It's nasty but it's a good experience. It's not just the computer, but here in real life, so you can see how it works."

Ms. Yigzaw also emphasized this advantage. "It's nice for them to see it up close. We have a model [of the heart], but this is better. It's really nice to have Dr. Hines in here. He obviously really knows what he is talking about."

See a slideshow of photos by Holmes parent Michelle Gill.



 

Thank you to photographer Paul Goyette for giving 25% of the proceeds from all his family photo sessions through July, 2011 to the Oak Park Education Foundation. He takes beautiful photos and is great to work with. Check out samples of his work for OPEF and many area families.



  Read the TribLocal story about the "Future Philanthropists" who chose our Geared Up (LEGO Engineering) program as the recipient of a $5,000 grant.



 
Ian Parks (standing 2nd from left), Jesse Cornman (standing 3rd from left) and Luisa Vasquez (seated, right) are former members of -- and current mentors to -- the OPEF Vex Robotics Program. Bob Parks (center, standing) is a founding Vex Robotics team leader.

Three Vex Robotics alumni and current OPRFHS robotics club team members Jesse Cornman, Ian Parks, and Luisa Vasquez took 1st place in the Engineering category at the April 15 Illinois State University Research Symposium in Normal, IL. Their entry, built from scratch, was titled "A Robotic Arm with Myoelectric Control", enabling manipulation by thought. That same weekend, the team took first place at the Percy Julian Science Symposium over 48 high quality entrants in both pure and applied science.

Click here to see the video.