In Japan they say,
Cherry blossoms mean it's spring.
But it's not spring here.
-Shellie
Shellie embellished her tree painting with little bits of tissue paper.
With good reason, the Japanese flowering cherry tree known as "Sakura" is one of the
most loved trees in the world. Did you know over eight thousand Japanese cherry
trees grace Washington D.C.? The trees were received in as gifts of goodwill and
friendship from the people of Japan. Two American First Ladies were specifically
honored by the gifts: First Lady Taft received 3020 trees in 1912, and First Lady
"Lady Bird" Johnson received an additional 3800 trees in 1965. When the cherry trees
are blooming, Washington is especially breathtakingly beautiful.
ArtHouse provides a focal point for Language Arts projects at all grade levels from
pre-literacy through the middle grades. As shown here, ArtHouse provides a lovely
place to display short poems in an interesting, thematically appropriate context.
The students envisioned a Japanese garden in winter, and imagined viewing its
weathered trees from the perspective of the original haiku poet, Matsuo Basho, who
lived in a humble gardener's hut.
Every ArtHouse decoration tells a story - that's why we call them "storyboards".
Sometimes the visual art comes first. Viewing it, kids are inspired to interpret and
tell stories. Or, like storyboards in the film-making and advertising industries,
making storyboards can be a tool for students to test and develop creative ideas
from the brainstorming to the writing stage. A third scenario is demonstrated here:
students wrote haiku poems and created visual artwork to aid presentation.
ArtHouse is a great teaching aid for Language Arts - it makes lessons more memorable.
Visit The Haiku Poetry Page To See The Class Project Assembled
You're invited to submit art to the ArtHouse Children's Art Gallery!
Kids' Art Gallery Submission Instructions
Return To The ArtHouse Children's Art Gallery