Students at Chester Early Childhood Learning Academy have been learning about emotions. After teachers Jessica Barnes, Amy Tirrell and Tracy Schwartz attended the Joan Oates Arts Integration Institute, they developed ways to integrate arts into emotional learning activities.
Throughout this school year, CECLA students created books with photos illustrating different emotions and drew various emotions as they practiced recognizing happiness, sadness, excitement, fear and anger in themselves and others. This aligned with Virginia instructional guidelines for young learners about social and emotional development, literacy, creativity and more.
The school gathered May 8 for Emotions Art Day so students could show their families what they have learned. Families moved through creative activity stations where children demonstrated their understanding of emotions.
At plexiglass face tracing, students explored how facial features change with different emotions.
At chalk body art, students added facial expressions and details that represent different emotions to chalk body outlines.
There was a gallery so families could view student art and a reading corner so families could read emotion-themed books together.
At mini figure creation, students created small figures and their emotions.
There was a station for dance and emotion musical chairs, and another for expressing different feelings through sound and rhythm.
At another station, students used pieces of wood to create faces showing different emotions.