Totem Poles with Sarah

Sarah was really excited about her Totem Pole project, and we were too!

At the beginning of our class Sarah had the kids do a mini project focused on creating simple symbols using common images (star, apple, circle etc.) and then asked the kids to repeat those symbols to create patterns. Sarah used motivating questions on her worksheet for this mini project asking kids what images come to mind when the think of specific colors (blue = water, red= heart, etc.). After the kids were done their mini project Sarah introduced her students to the idea of creating a Totem Pole using not only the symbols that they had created but facial expressions as well. Sarah drew her students into the project further by showing them symbols of things that she had seen the kids use in the previous weeks that they had been working. The demo Q&A time was lively and the kids were really engaged.

Sarah then asked the kids to create their part of the Totem Pole using this Instructions & Check List. I thought the combo of the 2 on one piece of paper, along with a finished Totem Pole head was a great idea.

The kids and staff always knew what the were supposed to be doing.

Sarah will be taking the finished pieces home to create one large stacked Totem Pole, and I can't wait to see what the finished product looks like!