OBJECTIVES

Welcoming works of art and associating them to one’s repertory of sensorial languages

SKILLS

 Assessing, arguing (explaining one’s process, expressing oneself in the face of others’ productions, justifying one’s emotion, mode of expression, techniques, theme)

MATERIALS

 Natural elements gathered or proposed
 Scissors
 Camera

REFERENCES

 RUTILY, A., Matières et couleurs avec les 5/6 ans. Paris, Nathan, 1991.
 RUTILY, A., Esthétique et environnement. Paris, Nathan, 1994.
 Fatali Gallery. (en ligne) : http://www.fatali.com
 Nils-Udo - Photos. (en ligne) : http://www.bartschi.ch/nu
 Ephemeral installations by Nils-Udo.
 "Écritures végétales" by Joël Paubel. (« Vegetal writings »)

PROCEDURES

 Weather ad time permitting, visit the garden and gather natural elements. If not, the teacher will bring flowers, plants, seeds twigs, straw, stones… (only gathered elements, nothing torn off !!)
 Suggest a brainstorming on the children’s associations on the word « garden ». Ask each of them to find in turns a word which evokes the garden.
 Note down the propositions on the board
 Present creations by Nils-Udo, who works with about and in nature. Have the pupils spot 3 natural elements, and one unusual or ma-manipulated element .
 Choose a natural prop and lay out the equipment, adapting it to the prop.
 Present and explain one’s process and choices.
 Take a picture of one’s production.

FOLLOW-ON-ACTIVITIES

 Suggest the children to work in pairs in order to allow a exchange and a most stimulating creation for the word-production phase.
 Impose the type of writing (cursive or print) and the size
 Play on the permanent rather than the ephemeral character (for example by drying the elements before sticking them on an appropriate sheet of paper)

TRANSPOSITION

With older pupils create a small text and include words about the garden, illustrated with natural materials.

ASSESSMENT

It checks the ability to write the chosen word

 With materials related to its meaning
 in a environment related to what it evokes
 in relation with artists who work « with » landscape.

Anne-Marie Monceau et Christelle Lison, students in Sciences of education, catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve Belgium.