…the expression on his face and the surprise in his voice made it all worthwhile

For the last week, and more I’ve been pulling prints with the grade 4s and 5s. Today all the 3s and 4s in the school were away on field trips and I had the luxury of working with the 12 grade 5 students that were left behind in one of the classes. This class has been particularly challenging just because of the shear size when combined with the grade 4s and because they are very social and chatty.

I decided to work with the chattiest of the bunch and those that were the furthest behind with their printmaking. Not surprising most of the six that I worked with were boys. I set up a printing station in the hallway and while I worked with small groups of 3 the remaining students were working on a drawing activity that required quite a bit of concentration.

This is the activity that kept the other half of the class busy while I worked with the printers.

This set up worked fairly well. The students that I worked with in the printing area were very excited about the whole printing process. My only regret is that I didn’t take pictures while they worked but I found I was very involved with the students and needed to keep a close eye on the their progress. The temptation to cover the walls, floor and each other with hand prints was too great. Luckily none of that happened.

My greatest joy came when I heard the oohs and aahs of the students as they pulled the plates away from the paper or their fabric. One boy in particular was especially surprised at how well his print turned out. It was probably the most focused he’s ever been in art class and it paid off. All the students today loved this activity so much that they gladly stayed behind to help me clean up and there is a lot of washing up when it comes to printing.

Sometimes, when an activity is messy and time consuming, teachers are reluctant to attempt it. The finished products, however, and the pride of accomplishment that the students feel make it all worthwhile.

Next week I’ll take some photographs of the finished projects and post them for your enjoyment.

These are similar projects, done by the grade 4s earlier in the week. The grade 5s designed Greek urns for their prints.