Starting very soon, and continuing through the end of the semester, we're going to try something new for "Fine Art Fridays." Rather than trying to coordinate art/music/poetry/etc. with our history studies, we're going to focus on modern Latin American art/music/poetry (thus, my daughter has re-named the day "Fiesta Fridays"). We will continue to study the Medieval arts during history.

Since we're all usually dragging by the end of the week, we needed something lively and fun to look forward to, a break from our usual routine - hence this rather unconventional idea. The idea is that we'll study and discuss a piece of art, read a little about the artist, have some dessert (inspired by Latin American flavors), read some poetry, and then do an art or craft project (while listening to music, of course!). Once in awhile there will be a video segment to watch as well.

I haven't worked out all of the details just yet, but my plan is that we'll have two primary artists to study: Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo (not going into their lives too deeply since certain aspects wouldn't be suitable for children); we'll also touch on Pre-Columbian art, Jose Guadalupe Posada and study Mexican folk art (a source of inspiration for both artists), especially that pertaining to Our Lady of Guadalupe and Dia de los Muertos.

Below are some of the initial ideas I've compiled; I'll also be borrowing from the resources listed in my posts Fiesta de la Virgen de Guadalupe and El Dia de los Muertos. My hope is that we'll be able to further enhance this unit by a road trip to New Mexico to view some folk art first-hand!


Books

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera:

• Getting to Know the World's Great Artists: Frida Kahlo by Mike Venezia
• Frida Kahlo: The Artist in the Blue House by Magdalena Holzhey
• Me, Frida by Amy Novesky
• Frida Kahlo (Artists in Their Time) by Jill A. Laidlaw
• Frida by Jonah Winter
• Frida: Viva la vida! Long Live Life! by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
• Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: Their Lives and Ideas, 24 Activities by Carol Sabbeth
• Getting to Know the World's Great Artists: Diego Rivera by Mike Venezia
• Diego by Jonah Winter
• Diego: Bigger Than Life by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
• My Papa Diego and Me by Guadalupe Rivera
• The Journey of Diego Rivera (Art Beyond Borders) by Ernest Goldstein

Folk Art:

• Folk Treasures of Mexico: The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection by Marion Oettinger
• Posada's Popular Prints by Jose Posada
• Mexican Folk Art Coloring Book by Marty Noble
• ABeCedarios: Mexican Folk Art ABCs in English and Spanish by Cynthia Weill
• The Crafty Chica Collection by Kathy Cano Murillo
• Guadalupe: Body and Soul by Marie-Pierre Colle

Art Projects

• Retablo-Style Self-Portrait
• Self Portraiture with Pets
• Parrot Paradise: Drawing Project
• Mexican Folk Art Projects: Lots of great project ideas
• Art of Mexico: Projects from Incredible @rt Department

Lesson Plans and Miscellany

• Studying the Biographies of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
• The Legacies of Mexican Artists, Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo A really excellent set of lesson plans
• The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo: Teacher's Guide from PBS
• Frida Kahlo Artist Study: How one homeschooling mom handled teaching Frida Kahlo
• Feeling Like Frida: A story about how one elementary school art teacher taught about Frida Kahlo
• Frida Kahlo WebQuest from NYLearns (worksheet here)
• Frida Kahlo Study (.PDF) based on the book Frida by Jonah Winter
• "Self Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States" Lesson Plan from PBS
• "The Two Fridas" (.PDF) Lesson Plan
• Frida Kahlo Notebooking Pages: (.PDF) A gorgeous free set from Jimmie's Collage 
• Frida Kahlo Cursive Copywork Pages: (.PDF) Also from Jimmie's Collage
• Fruits of the Earth by Frida Kahlo: Coloring Page
• Roots by Frida Kahlo: Coloring Page
• Diego Rivera: A Three-Week Unit for 3rd-5th Grade Students
• Diego Rivera's Murals (.PDF)
• "The Flower Carrier" Diego Rivera Lesson Plan from Garden of Praise
• "Agrarian Leader Zapata" Diego Rivera Lesson Plan from MOMA
• "Flower Festival: Feast of Santa Anita" Diego Rivera Lesson Plan Diego Rivera Lesson Plan from MOMA
• Latin American and Caribbean Modern and Contemporary Art: Handbook for Teachers from MOMA

Websites

• The Virtual Diego Rivera Museum
• Frida Kahlo Fans: Complete Gallery of Artwork

Desserts

• Alfajores Artesanales (Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies)
• Besos (Kisses)
• Banana Macarons with Coconut Cream
• Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate and Cinnamon
• Capirotada (Mexican Bread Pudding)
• Chocolate Flan
• Churros with Spiced Chocolate (Adapted here)
• Flan with Caramel Cream Cheese
• Guava Apple Crisp
• Mexican Ice Cream Sundaes with Cinnamon-Chocolate Sauce
• Oaxacan Chocolate Cake
• Oaxacan Hot Chocolate (Can also be ordered here)
• Pastelitos de Boda (Mexican Wedding Cookies)
• Pineapple Muffins
• Rose Petal Flan
• Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie
• Stuffed Pineapple
• Sugared Fritters
• Tres Leches Cake
• Virgin Banana Margaritas

Pablo Neruda:

• The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan, Peter Sis
• To Go Singing Through the World: The Childhood of Pablo Neruda by Deborah Kogan Ray
• When I Was a Boy Neruda Called Me Policarpo: A Memoir by Poli Delano
• Lesson Plans: Tribute to Pablo Nerudo, Part I (.PDF; 57 pgs), Part II (38 pgs), Part III (25 pgs)

Continuing with my "Fine Art Fridays" planning, I've finally compiled a schedule for our music/composer studies for the year.

Recently I was thrilled to discover a series of delightful, once out-of-print composer biographies written by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher. These will form the core of our music appreciation curriculum for both this year and next. The biographies can be purchased individually (study guides and companion CD's are also available), or in discounted sets at The Book Peddler ~ samples of all the books are available there as well. The titles in the series, in chronological order, are:

• Handel at the Court of Kings
  
• Sebastian Bach, The Boy from Thuringia
• Joseph Haydn, The Merry Little Peasant
• Mozart, The Wonder Boy
• Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells
• Franz Schubert and His Merry Friends
• Robert Schumann and Mascot Ziff
• Frederic Chopin, Son of Poland, Early Years
• Frederic Chopin, Son of Poland, Later Years
• The Young Brahms
• Edward Macdowell and His Cabin in the Pines
  

I've also purchased:

• Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music!
• M is for Melody: A Music Alphabet
  
• Introduce Your Child to Classical Music in 52 Easy Lessons
• Great Composers (Dover Coloring Book)
• Musical Instruments Coloring Book

My plan is to spend approximately 4-6 weeks on each of the composers in the Wheeler/Deucher series, beginning with Handel in September (I'll be posting more detailed plans shortly).

Here are some additional resources which may prove helpful:

• Classics for Kids
• M is for Melody: Lesson plans from Serendipity
  
• Composer of the Month: Archived discussion threads from 4Real Forums
  
• Composer Study Book List from Enjoy the Journey
• Famous Composer Notebooking Pages
• Classical Music Posts from Castle of the Immaculate
• Composer Study Schedule from Ambleside Online
• Sphinx Kids: A website for kids to explore
  

As I mentioned in this week's weekly report, we will be adding a study of Shakespeare to our Fine Art Fridays schedule this year. The basic lesson plans are posted at Serendipity, but I've made a few adjustments to better suit our needs. Our schedule will be as follows:

September: Biography of Shakespeare
October: The Globe Theatre
November: Macbeth
December: Twelfth Night
January: The Winter's Tale
February: Romeo and Juliet
March: Hamlet
April: The Tempest
May: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Here are a few helpful general resources:

• Shakespeare for Children from Squidoo
• Bardolatry from Mental Multivitamin
• What's So Great About Shakespeare from Higher Up & Further In
• A Charlotte Mason Minute: Shakespeare
• Resources for Teachers from Folger Shakespeare Library
• Shakespeare Illustrated
• In Search of Shakespeare from PBS
• Shakespeare from the BBC
• Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet
• Shakespeare K-12 Lesson Plans from Mr. Donn
• Quotations from Shakespeare ~ Excellent for copywork!
• Shakespeare 101 from Cay Gibson
• Shakespeare for Kids from Folger Shakespeare Library