People In Action: Levels 1 - 4

Ready... Set... Go! The Importance of Feet

Level One: Grade Prep

Discussion
All sports require some motion by one or more body parts. List the sports that require the feet to move, e.g. running, jumping, football, tennis etc. Have a list of the sports included in the Commonwealth Games and tick whether they require the feet to move.
Through this exercise you will see just how important the feet are to most sports. Ask students to act out the action required in different sports. Make it a game where the class has to guess what sport is being demonstrated without props such as tennis rackets. Just by the movement the class can tell what sport it is.
Look at the soles of different shoes, are they all the same? What is different about them?

Materials
Multi Purpose Paper 250 x 380 mm, Zart Drawing Blocks, Permanent Markers Black, Glue Stick, Display Paper Black & Posca Marker White

How to create a class mural to celebrate people in action:

1. Draw a self portrait on to a sheet of Multi Purpose Paper using a black Permanent Marker. Cut around the drawn image.
2. Use Zart Drawing Blocks and another sheet of Multi Purpose Paper to take a rubbing of the soles of children’s shoes. Cut around the two printed images.
3. Glue the printed shoes on to the drawn portrait.
4. Glue the completed images on to a long length of Display Paper and use a Posca Marker to write in the names of the competitors.

Discussion
Ask a student to demonstrate their running action in slow motion in front of the class. Discuss the action, what moves and when? Is the head on an angle, are the arms bent, what are the hands doing? Watch a video of athletes running and focus on the actual movement of their different body parts.
Video the students running and play it back to them in slow motion, zooming in on the running action. Use a manikin to demonstrate different running styles.
Use the Internet and magazines to find images of people running and use these images to make up a class collage of runners.

Materials
Chenille Stems 15 cm, Acrylic Wool, Permanent Marker Black, Wooden Bead Natural 25 mm, Supertac, Polystyrene Blocks, Dressmaker Pins & Oil Pastels

How to create a figure running

1. Take 3 Chenille Stems to create the athlete. Insert two Chenille Stems through the hole in a Wooden Bead for the head. Bend the Chenille Stems at the top of the head to stop the bead from sliding off. Twist together the Chenille Stems under the head to create the body. Separate the remaining length of Chenille Stems to shape the legs.
2. Take the remaining Chenille Stem and wrap it around under the head to create the arms of the athlete.
3. Wrap the Acrylic Wool around the Chenille Stems to create a costume for the athlete. Use Supertac to glue the wool in place when cutting and changing colours.
4. Draw on the facial features with a Permanent Marker.
5. Shape the arms and legs to demonstrate that the athlete is running.
6. Athletes might be displayed by pinning each one in place on to Polystyrene Blocks, decorated with Permanent Markers and Oil Pastels.

Level 3: Grades Three and Four

Discussion
Two of the elements of art are Space and Shape, they work together to form a work of art. There are many shapes but only two kinds of space: positive and negative. Positive spaces are those occupied by the main subjects of the work. The Negative spaces are the areas around and behind the positive spaces. Negative space can also be referred to as the background. Stencil work is an excellent way to explore positive and negative space.
Show examples of positive and negative spaces in artworks. Look at Rubin’s vase in which the negative space around the vase forms the silhouette of two faces looking at each other.

Materials
Cardboard People in Action, Mungyo Pastels, Cartridge Paper A4, Cover paper Assorted A3, Supertac & Polystyrene Sheet

How to create figures in a race using negative and positive shapes:

1. Select a Cardboard People in Action figure to use to create a collage.
2. Create a positive and negative image by using the selected figure and sheet it was pressed from and smudging dry pastels into and around each of the stencils. Use a finger to smudge the dry pastel around the positive shape and then inside the negative stencil.
3. The negative stencil will create a positive shape of colour and the positive stencil will create a negative shape of colour.
4. Use the negative stencil to colour additional figures on to Cartridge Paper to be cut out and used for the collage.
5. Arrange all figures on to the background using off cuts of Polystyrene Sheet to lift the foreground figures away from the background.
6. Use assorted colours in Cover Paper to display the work.

Exploration of Movement: Language of Sport

Level 4: Grades Five and Six

Discussion
Choose a sport and brainstorm all the words associated with that sport, e.g. blocking, defending, dribbling, catching etc. Students might choose their favourite sport and make up a list of words and try to stump their classmates into guessing what sport it is.
Ask the students to research a sport they know little about and make up a list of words associated with that sport. They might present to the class the information they have collected about it and share their thoughts about why it would be a great sport to be involved in.
Ask them to note the position the body needs to form in order to complete the action or actions required for this sport.

Materials
Cardboard Human Mannikin, Zart Drawing Blocks, Multi Purpose Paper 38 x 51cm, Cover Paper Black 38 x 51 cm, Signo Pens White, Stripe Display Paper & Zart Glue Stick

How to explore movement

1. Explore poses used for particular sports noting the position of arms, legs and torso.
2. Manipulate a Cardboard Human Manikin to show the appropriate placement of limbs and the torso for the chosen sport.
3. Take a rubbing of the Cardboard Human Manikin with Zart Drawing Blocks on to the Multi Purpose Paper. Cut around the print and glue it on to a sheet of Cover Paper.
4. Cut around the Cover Paper leaving a black border around the printed figure.
5. Explore movement words associated with the chosen sport. Write the sport and movement words around the figure with a Signo white pen.
6. Glue the figures made by the class on to Stripes Display Paper for a mural to be displayed in the classroom or corridor.