Friday, August 31, 2012

A MONTESSORI MURAL

This fall the Montessori School that I am currently working at as a Paraprofessional Teaching Assistant, has moved to a very amazing old public high school building named after one of the founders of our city (Milwaukee, WI) Solomon Juneau, which has been combined with Montessori High School and renamed to become MacDowell Montessori k-12.

For those unfamiliar with Montessori, it is a style of learning that focuses on intrinsic motivation and independence within a community. The materials are conceptual, exquisite, beautiful, and promote the natural unfolding and deeper understanding of concepts through the visual presentation of mathematical and language functions.

Milwaukee Wisconsin is top in the country for both its Montessori program and Montessori teacher training.

I was asked to bring my personal skills in art/design/murals to the walls of our new cafeteria with drawings inspired by Montessori materials. I was charged with the duty of creating a composition based on these tools of learning. The process entailed drawing materials, inking them via light table, scanning the inkings, converting them to both color and black and white, and finally rearranging the black and whites into compositional arrangements to be projected via transparency onto the walls.

Below are the images that I have created in connection with our program. All of the rights to these images belong Vanessa Devaki Andrew. If interested in using these images, please contact madamchino@yahoo.com

BEAD BOWL
Abead bowl

ONE BEAD
1squareCOLOR

TWO BEAD
2squareCOLOR

THREE BEAD
3squarencubeCOLOR

FOUR BEAD
4squarencubeCOLOR

FIVE BEAD
5squarencubeCOLOR

SIX BEAD
6squarencubeCOLOR

SEVEN BEAD
7square

EIGHT BEAD
8cubeCOLOR

NINE BEAD
9squarencubeCOLOR

TEN BEAD
10squarecubeCOLOR

BEAD CHAIN TICKETS
multiplication7thru10COLOR

BEAD CHAIN TICKETS
multiplication1thru6COLOR

PRISMS
prismsfunCOLOR

SHAPES CABINET
shapescabinet1COLOR

TRIANGLES SET
trianglesetCOLOR

BINOMIAL CUBE
binomialcubeCOLOR

BARS
barsCOLOR

PINK TOWER
pink towerCOLOR

STAMP GAME
stampgame2COLOR
stampgame1COLOR

BELLS
bellandmallotCOLOR

MUSIC NOTES
musicshapesCOLOR

WORD SHAPES
wordshapesCOLOR

WORD SHAPES BOX
grammarbox2COLOR

GRAMMAR BOXES
grammarbox3COLOR
grammar box1COLOR

SANDPAPER LETTERS
ABCboxfinal1boxesCOLOR
abcfinal2boxesCOLOR

SANDPAPER BOX
isandCOLOR

The final image will have a Montessori quote made out of sandpaper letters and a beadchain boarder! It will be completed with the children. In the mean time, we took advantage of General Electrics Volunteer Day and used their employee volunteers to commence with the project.

These are the transparencies that were created:
wall1awall1bwall1cwall1d

The day of installation:
Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

The mural is currently waiting for further quotes and student involvements! In the mean time, please visit my other more frequented blog: www.madamchino.blogspot.com