3rd Grade Romare Bearden & Jazz
Mrs. Dittmer’s and Ms. Kane's 3rd grade classes learned about African American artist, Romare Bearden. Bearden grew up in the time of the Harlem Renaissance. His art, especially his collage art, was influenced by jazz music. Students learned about jazz in music class. The themes of improvisation, layering, and composition were applied to both their visual art and to music. Students created collages inspired by the art of Romare Bearden and the music of Branford Marsalis’ CD “Bearden Revealed”. Students then wrote poetry based on their collage art in English Language Arts with Mrs. Dittmer and Ms. Kane, employing a Diamante or Cinquain format. This project integrates visual art, music, and writing.
Writing in the Classroom
Collage Art
Students viewed the DVD "Visual Jazz" about Romare Bearden and took notes about the artist. We set out to create collages by first painting papers to use in the collages. The students worked in layers to create their collages: Background, objects, words and details. All collages had a musical theme. Students listened to the music of Branford Marsalis' "Romare Bearden Revealed" as they worked. Students wrote about the work of Romare Bearden, and about their own collages. We also created Venn diagrams to compare and contrast art, music and writing. Students used these and their finished collages to write poetry.