Autumn 2018 Artist in residence Lou Sumray - weeks 1-3. The following are extracts from Lou s blog after her weekly visits to school.

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Cecil Fox
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1 Autumn 2018 Artist in residence Lou Sumray - weeks 1-3 The following are extracts from Lou s blog after her weekly visits to school.

2 06/09/2018 Lou started off working at the easel. J: I gonna yellow now. and she did and carried on adding other colours to her painting.

3 J: I gonna yellow now. and she did and carried on adding other colours to her painting.

M and D took to drawing at the easel, M seemed

4 M and D took to drawing at the easel, M seemed to enjoy wiping his drawing off as much as making it and why wouldn t you? N drew too with zig-zags that travelled from right to left as well as up and down. N seemed very calm today. Sometimes he wanted to hold someone s hand as they drew.

I might make another one tomorrow. It s G s Mum.

(I was even more concerned about this statement M:

5 G: It s a bit weird innit? (I was a bit worried how F would react to this) F: I might make another one tomorrow. It s G s Mum. F to M about his drawing: That looks awful. (I was even more concerned about this statement M: Yes it looks weird. G: Yes, weird. G to M: Can you draw something for me? Me: What else does it need? M: A tummy, you inside. (I think to G) M: Yes, it s ruined. but he didn t seem crestfallen

7 M: You re weirdo, we are weirdoes. You re doing weirdoes. F: That s me, that s G. M: But I m bigger Is that being naughty? To me

I brought out my ipad-usually I wait until later into the term, but then I thought screens are part of everyone s everyday life so drawing on them can be too. A spent ages drawing on hers.

8 I brought out my ipad-usually I wait until later into the term, but then I thought screens are part of everyone s everyday life so drawing on them can be too. A spent ages drawing on hers. I have to admit that I do have some hand in how the drawings look- I tend to set the colours to be a little transparent so they aren t opaque on top of each other- I show the children the sliders but not always that one though of course they often find it- is that dishonest of me in terms of their drawings? A s drawing

9 This may be G s. G: I want spots now. when I asked her to type her name she wrote this Weerfzzppffmhyooiirree and for the title #990tyuddffbnxxza

M was asking to have a go and after I d said he had to wait until G had finished her drawing, G remarked, unprovoked Like B did?

10 13/09/2018 The ipad was asked for, or did I suggest it? By G and M. G recognised her picture from last week, not only that, she also remembered that B had to wait and wait until G had finished her drawing in order to have a go. M was asking to have a go and after I d said he had to wait until G had finished her drawing, G remarked, unprovoked Like B did? It initially surprised me that she remembered but then I know myself, mostly I have a bad memory EXCEPT when I make a drawing, and something about doing that makes me able to recall a huge amount of sensory information about that specific time, smell, feelings, sounds, place. This may or may not be the case for G here but if drawing helps me to have a memory, why shouldn t it also for children?

It did create some interest and F tried drawing whilst on her tummy.

12 Cassie suggested paper under the table- so we went for that, instead of setting it up beforehand, I wanted to involve the children so they understood what was happening. B helped. It did create some interest and F tried drawing whilst on her tummy. I suggested lying on her back, which we did together and that made it much more comfortable. The paper also lay across the top too, in one long piece.

We are continually surprised by children aren t we? I gave a cushion for F s head and somehow we got onto talking about how the cushion looked and felt. I said Fuzzy. F said Fluffy.

I was so excited that I brought the cushion later to Cassie- You won t believe what F has said about this cushion I may have been a bit too over excited about thiswhy?

13 We are continually surprised by children aren t we? I gave a cushion for F s head and somehow we got onto talking about how the cushion looked and felt. I said Fuzzy. F said Fluffy. Then she said something that I thought was a bit random Diamonds. I couldn t find her reference, but then I saw- the spaces in between the raised dots on the cushion were diamonds- this girl sees. I was so excited that I brought the cushion later to Cassie- You won t believe what F has said about this cushion I may have been a bit too over excited about thiswhy? I may have mentioned this before but it is about looking and seeing? I went to a talk once by the artist, Peter Randell-Page and he talked about how he sees thingshe happens to be dyslexic which means in his case when he looks at a newspaper, the white pattern in between the black type stand out for him more than the black and so the spaces in between are what he sees. I thought this was extraordinary. Now that I see a photo of the cushion, which flattens it out its more obvious.

the world- can we ever see it like that too?

14 I m not saying that F is dyslexic but we need shaking up sometimes about looking and seeing.. Later on I had some lovely conversations with Morag and Julie about how a child with autism may see the world- can we ever see it like that too?- It s obviously very complicated but opening our eyes and brains can be a start. Morag and Julie obviously try to, in order to support their children. By Peter Randall-Page

Nicola talked about focussing on the amazing sunflowers outside - I did start by making an observational drawing along with B on a piece of paper.

15 Nicola talked about focussing on the amazing sunflowers outside - I did start by making an observational drawing along with B on a piece of paper. She became interested in the insects around them. M has become a lot more involved in drawing. I didn t see him make this but Nicola I think did.

Close, which means for me that people are full of suggestions and ideas.

16 20/09/2018 I walk in- What shall we do? Blank tables waiting-help! I think and probably express, but it doesn t take long with the atmosphere at Strong Close, which means for me that people are full of suggestions and ideas. M loved to be able to draw big, and this child didn t seem to mind that his pen was nearly not working, because for him it was?

- I bounce back and forth with this question. I drew a shape which I hadn t particularly thought of as a square and A had wanted to copy my shape.

17 Again, a lot of conversation with adults about scaffolding modelling showing drawing alongside children. It also brings up the ongoing conversation for me- should I draw a figure how I think a child would draw it or how I would? Is it patronising to make so called childlike figures? - I bounce back and forth with this question. I drew a shape which I hadn t particularly thought of as a square and A had wanted to copy my shape. It took me a little while to realise he saw it as a square and wanted to make that. A square is a lot harder to make then a circle. I found myself giving verbal instructions as I made another- Up, across, down, across. A seemed to really appreciate this and he repeated it too making a perfect square.

Using the ipad to take photos was of interest to quite a

camera, especially as we mostly use phones these days to

Here s a flood of sunflower photos, taken by the children

I showed her how she could import a photo into the

The end one, is one of the leaves that I thought would

- Thinking about the light box and maybe including things

18 Using the ipad to take photos was of interest to quite a few. It would have better if I could have offered my camera, especially as we mostly use phones these days to take photos and it s a bit unusual to use a camera. Here s a flood of sunflower photos, taken by the children and myself These last 2 images are one I think by F, when I showed her how she could import a photo into the brushes drawing app and draw on it. The end one, is one of the leaves that I thought would look nice laminated for the light box. - Thinking about the light box and maybe including things that aren t necessarily bespoke light box resources I ll try and bring some acetates and other things in next week.

He cut little strips of tape very neatly, precisely, knowing exactly how much he wanted and accurately placed them along the papers edge.

19 In the afternoon I had the most amazing time with A and masking tape, scissors, then coloured glues (PVA and powder paint). I extended the paper covering from table to the floor, A wanted to help me use masking tape to secure the paper. He cut little strips of tape very neatly, precisely, knowing exactly how much he wanted and accurately placed them along the papers edge. Interestingly (to me anyway) A not only placed the tape horizontally but also vertically along the edge- I thought this was mathematical and quite unusual. We spent ages at this activity.

a small piece of work but it was precious and for his Mum.

20 I don t know how it came about but we moved onto glue. At first A wanted to work with bottle tops, he stuck tape on one side and filled it with blue glue on the other- this may have been a small piece of work but it was precious and for his Mum. Then, maybe encouraged by me he starting mixing the coloured glues together to change the colour. It was all done very delicately and A asked for more and more different colours. Just get one yellow he stated. I m sorry I haven t got more photos of this time spent- it was so lovely.

LESSON INTRODUCTION. Reading Comprehension Modules Page 1. Joanne Durham, Interviewer (I); Apryl Whitman, Teacher (T)

LESSON INTRODUCTION. Reading Comprehension Modules Page 1. Joanne Durham, Interviewer (I); Apryl Whitman, Teacher (T) Teacher Commentary Strategy: Synthesize Sample Lesson: Synthesizing Our Thinking in Fiction Grade 2, Apryl Whitman, Teacher, Arden Elementary School, Richland One School District, Columbia, SC Joanne Durham,