Arts-integrated Products

One of the products of our whole-school expedition during the One Cubic Foot Project was GCCS’s participation in the Global Water Dances Project, a celebration of waterways around the world through artistic movement.

The Genesee River is the cornerstone of our curricular framework and the inspiration of our school’s name. During the global water dance, Genesee students focused on the story of the river and its recovery through restoration projects that reduced erosion and agricultural and industrial pollution, allowing wildlife to return.

Each One Cubic Foot Crew (approximately 25 students per site) participated in performing the dance at each of the project’s six sites along the Genesee River. The dance challenged students to think critically about movement within a constrained space and in response to the environment while also communicating the theme of preservation and restoration of the Genesee River.

Standards and Learning Targets in support of arts integration:

During the 2017 One Cubic Foot expedition, students in all grade levels learned to observe and create scientific illustrations of a variety of invertebrates that lived in and along the Genesee River. Students used field sketches and reference images to draw high quality, scientific illustrations of the “bug” they came to study. In the youngest grades, students learned about insect parts and their role in the animal’s survival and they drew, revised, and drew some more.

Students were also introduced to the work of illustrator Simms Taback, whose whimsical drawings of flying insects provided inspiration for students to “break the rules” around illustration, notably around the position of legs, use of color, and the inclusion of anthropomorphized eyes in their own drawings. Nevertheless, students needed to attend to the precision of line and color in their work and the finished products are a joyful reflection of personal voice of Genesee's young artists.

Standards and Learning Targets in support of arts integration:

During our December 2016 Site Seminar, 4th, 5th and 6th grade classes collaborated with the arts team to present a lunchtime dance and music performance that reflected the civil rights content the classes were studying during their expeditions.

Starting from the vibrancy and diversity of African peoples, the performance traces the impact of European colonialism and the long road from enslavement to emancipation including the the 20th Century civil rights and 21st century Black Lives Matter movements.

Students created original pieces that told a story of resilience and hope and demonstrated the power of arts-integration.

Standards and Learning Targets in support of arts integration:

As part of their study of the geography and geology of the Genesee River Watershed, fourth and fifth grade students spend three days tracing the river from its source in the hills of Gold, PA, to its mouth at Lake Ontario in Rochester, NY. During this field study, students hike and study the gorge at Letchworth State Park and discover the power of moving water through hands-on demonstrations, small group discussion, complex texts, and direct observation and analysis. The waterfalls of Letchworth provide a spectacular study in erosion and students have the opportunity to notice and wonder the mechanics of waterfalls, particularly through the language of art.

After sketching the waterfalls and rock strata of the gorge walls, students create landscape portraits of the Genesee in acrylic paints, a new medium introduced to 4th and 5th graders. Using a primary color palette, they mix their own colors, demonstrate perspective, and include value and texture in their finished piece. They receive peer and teacher feedback along the way and finished products are displayed at exhibition night, and some of them become the artwork for the iconic note cards GCCS visitors and guest experts receive.

Standards and Learning Targets in support of arts integration: