Middle Elementary Studies the Early Renaissance

During the first week back, the students organized their comments for inclusion in their progress reports.  Students were very clear about what they wanted to include in their self-assessments in all their subject areas. We also enjoyed having a student from St. Cecilia Academy working with our students that week as part of her junior year internship. She integrated beautifully with the students. They were excited to show her their work and just how smoothly they could run a classroom.

Students examine representations of Roman architecture they viewed in paintings at the Frist.

Our first field trip of 2015 was "Sanctity Pictured" at The Frist. We prepared by discussing the impact of the spread of Christianity on the history of Europe following the fall of Rome, the use of paintings and illuminated manuscripts in dispersing information during a time when few people could read, the time and dedication necessary to write a book before the printing press, and changes in artistic representation in 200 years of the Early Renaissance. Students wrote reflections on their impressions and experience and began practicing perspective in their own drawings. The exhibit sparked a deeper interest for some students who wanted to learn more about illuminated manuscripts and to practice their own handwriting.