Cypress Park Primary: Personal Passions
Arts Education, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
School: Cypress Park Primary, West Vancouver
Teacher: Krista Koke, Darren Elves, Kim Grimwood, Bea Sedgwick, Andrea Anderson
Class: K - Grade 3
Artist Collaborator: Scarlett Bruns, Young Actors Project
Overview
Drawing inspiration from Giants, students learnt to understand who they are and that they are unique. They inquired into the nature of self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships; different cultures; rights and responsibilities; and what it means to be human. They also inquired into how they can use their strengths and abilities in their families, relationships, and communities.
Connection to the Vancouver Biennale Exhibition
Through the visit to the Vancouver Biennale Giants and artist studios on Granville Island, the students experienced and reflected on how the personal strengths and the passion of artists contribute to their communities.
Inspired by the Vancouver Biennale theme of Open Borders / Crossroads Vancouver, throughout this project the students from different classes worked together to explore how they could share passions with each other, families, school, the community, and globally. Students were each given an adult mentor from the school to work with who was not their classroom teacher. This helped to build connections and relationships within the school. Many of the students also worked with community members and sought out experts in their fields to interview, for example Nancy Greene and Dave Tomlinson, furthering the idea of Open Borders.
BIG IDEAS
Passion helps you understand who you are and what makes you wonderfully you.
Guiding Questions
What are your personal passions? What lights a fire in your heart?
How do your passions contribute to society?
Learning Process/Inquiry challenges:
Explore and describe project concepts – personal, passions, identity, shape.
Inquire how Giants come to be in Granville Island – Vancouver Biennale, the artists, the site
How the artists use their passion to “beautify” the world.
Discuss other ways we can express/share our passions with the world.
Students to explore their own passions and develop a plan to share in exhibition format.
Cross-Curricular Access
- Language Arts: As students began to explore their personal passions they were challenged to create lines of inquiry and their own guiding questions to guide their projects. Students conducted research on how others have become successful in their fields in small groups based on their choices of careers. Students learnt to communicate their learning through writing stories and scripts for their presentations.
- Arts Education: Students learnt to express themselves and their passions in new ways with visual art pieces, original songs, musical performances, and power point presentations.
- Career Education: Students developed an awareness of their own interests, strengths, and learning styles by understanding who they are and that they are unique. They inquired into the nature of self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships; different cultures; rights and responsibilities; and what it means to be human.
- Science: Students shared their passions in science and the important roles scientists play in research, teaching, and application of various subjects to further our understanding of nature
Student Creation
Students shared their passions through an exhibition at the Cypress Park way. At the exhibition the students presented their choices of careers and their research on how others have become successful in those fields. The presentations covered the performing arts, visual arts,sports, and biology. A video about the BIG IDEAS learning process was produced to share with the school, families, and community.
Reflection
Vice Principal – Kimberley Grimwood
Students thoroughly enjoyed exploring peoples personal passions and learning how they came to understand their passion, express it, and share it. The provocation for this process began with an artist study (OSGEMEOS) and a visit to Giants on Granville Island. The students were then asked to explore the island to find other artisans and artists exploring their passions. The discussions that followed were rich and vibrant. Working with Scarlett allowed the students to not only stretch their dramatic skills, but it gave them tools and opportunity to express themselves and their passions in new ways.
As students began to explore their personal passions students were challenged to create lines of inquiry and their own guiding questions to guide their projects. They worked in small groups to establish a plan for presenting the information they had gathered to the larger school community. The students choose to write scripts and orally present their information, some groups supplemented this with visual art pieces, original songs, musical performances, and power point presentations.
The students reflected that they learned a lot about themselves, their topics, and their peers. Some of the students said that this was the best inquiry they have ever done, and one student commented “I loved come to school, it didn’t feel like work, and I got to share with everyone something that I was an expert about.