Teacher involves families in pupils' creativity

Sandra Ciminero encourages her pupils to think like Leonardo da Vinci.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
CHAMPION -- Art teacher Sandra Ciminero wants pupils to do more than create pieces of artwork. She's hoping to lead them to a better understanding of the creative process and to be able to talk about their art as well.
Ciminero, who says she has received some ideas for advancing her pupils' work in art from her graduate studies at Ohio State University, invited parents and other relatives to the school this week so they could interact with the children on projects they have worked on since last year.
"We want them to do more than just make artwork, to be able to talk about it," she said as the children and their parents gathered in the school cafeteria for the half-hour session.
For instance, each child worked in a group to build a cardboard castle. "They had to put themselves in the project," Ciminero said, explaining that it had to be relevant to the children in some way and they had to write a story about it.
One castle was a modeling studio and runway, where models could display fashions. The studio was complete with seats for spectators and a ball light to put the models in a good light. The girls named it Hollywood Studios.
What family did
Part of the job of the family members present was to have a discussion with the children and ask them to explain the project. Family members were required to write down their child's responses.
Though Ciminero said she believes this type of higher-level thinking on an art project might sound complicated for a third-grader, she believes it will pay off. "They might not get it now, but it will come to them later," she said. "They'll remember, 'We did that in Mrs. Ciminero's class,'" she said.
She noted that some things the pupils will talk about were things they noticed after the project was complete -- an unintended byproduct, but that's OK.
More traditional paper art projects were also included in their portfolio but with a twist -- the children were keeping projects there dating to second grade. The idea is to allow for evaluation of artwork over time.
The children were asked to discuss their favorite artwork from second grade and from third grade, and to organize the projects according to which ones are the most successful. Discussion with the parent allows the child to grow and improve, she said.
Broadening interests
Ciminero said she believes art should cross into many areas of a child's life, so she has taught the third-graders terms like symmetry. Next up for the pupils will be inventions, she said, explaining that Leonardo da Vinci was not only a great artist but was also ahead of his peers enough to create drawings for the helicopter and tank.
"If your kid is a Renaissance kid, they'll be interested in everything, and they'll be good students," she said. Such an approach can help children grow into careers as varied as painter and engineer, she said.
Laura Cirillo said her son Kyle has been very enthusiastic about his art projects this year, and she credits "the very energetic Mrs. Ciminero."
"He comes home and goes on and on. He's excited about it," she said, adding that Kyle regularly sketches animals at home just for fun.