Dassa McKinney students create 3-D state map with artists' help
WEST SUNBURY — Madison Kohlmeyer, 9, brushed pink and white onto her wooden mountain laurel.
“It's a really tiny flower that grows on little bushes up in the mountains,” Madison said about the state flower.
The mountain laurel she drew was transferred from carbon paper to a piece of cut and colored wood.
“I thought it was pretty fun,” she said.
From the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to Independence Hall in Harrisburg, third-graders at Dassa McKinney Elementary School, 391 Hooker Road, worked with professional artists Katy DeMent and Linda Van Gehuchten weekly since September to construct an illustrated 4-foot-by-8-foot recycled handmade paper map of Pennsylvania to demonstrate their knowledge of geographic tools and how those are used to organize and interpret information about people and their environment.
Not only does the map depict the topography and watersheds of the state, but it is embellished with wooden elements using wood found in the state's eastern forests.
Students worked with Van Gehuchten, a wood artist, to design and create three-dimensional wooden elements that demonstrate students' knowledge about state history and landmarks. They were guided by the artist as they transferred their illustrations on carbon paper to the wood cutouts shaped and sanded and decorated with a variety of techniques.
Madison's wood block is one of many that decorate the map and dot various locations across the state.
“Third grade just starts touching on Pennsylvania state history,” said DeMent, a certified teaching artist, papermaker and printmaker. “The end game is the hope that when these kids are in fourth grade next year, they're going to know all of this stuff and go into fourth grade knowing more about the state than the average fifth-grader through hands-on research using books and realia and engaging with different materials and ways to activate brain.”
During their first visit, DeMent and Van Gehuchten brought maps from around the world for students to compare their scales and sizes.
Students found they could follow the physical maps from town to town rather than see only a portion of a Google map, DeMent said.
Each class concentrated on a different topic, including energy and resources, fish, animals and plants, industry, state symbols and mountains, Van Gehuchten said.
Students chose what interested them about the state and what they wanted to learn, she said. Then, they drew their designs on carbon paper and Van Gehuchten cut them from wood with a bandsaw.
Under careful supervision, students used wood- burning pens to burn and texture their wood blocks and color them with paint, Van Gehuchten said.
Pine, hemlock, walnut, ash and oak — each wood has a different smell and hardness when sanded, she said.The class who researched forests transferred their designs to the actual piece of wood, she said.By making the map from beginning to end, students can better learn the information, she said.“Where does it fit into the whole picture of their lives and how its important to know,” is the lesson, she said.Third-grade teacher Melanie Olejar's class of 23 students formed the mountains by laying putty underneath their handmade paper because their focus was mountains and rivers.“It's been so hands-on,” Olejar said. “The kids got to actually paint with the pigments, from the mountains and make the paper over the top of the whole map, It's been really fun.”The third-grade curriculum highlights national symbols and mapping, including landforms and compasses, which align with the project's focus, she said.Most students had not visited the places on the map, Olejar said.“We're within two hours of a ton of things,” she said. “I hope it sparks some travel with our students and their families.”The 20 third-graders in Amanda Negley's class created the wooden state symbols.Negley was most interested to see students engage in hands-on learning rather than a textbook, she said.The project will prepare students for fourth-grade Pennsylvania History, she said.“I hope they have a better understanding of the basic resources in Pennsylvania — just knowing what makes up our state and what makes it unique,” Negley said.Third-grader Jaimee Klixpull stamped letters and drew a diamond on a stencil to create the Allegheny National Forest.Klixpull, 8, said her favorite part was building the map and learning about each piece that makes up the state.“There's many symbols in Pennsylvania,” she said. “It was fun.”
ArtsPath, a regional arts-in-education program in partnership with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that services a five-county region, involves placing high-quality, professionally active visual, performing, media and literary artists in educational settings for extended, in-depth residency activities.Throughout the 10-week artist residency, the artist partner with classroom teachers to support them with their goals through hands-on experiences.During this time, learners exercise creative control over their work.The artist’s role in such work is that of mentor and facilitator, leading students through guided self-discovery, and of technical adviser on important artistic concepts and skills.The program is made possible through the AIE Partnership of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. It is funded by the citizens of Pennsylvania through an annual legislative appropriation and administered regionally by ArtsPath through the College of Fine Arts at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
