Online Summer Camp

Join me on a trip around the world as we create cultural art from different places as far away as Greece, China, and Mexico. We will undertake all sorts of art projects -all the while gaining insight, building confidence, expanding critical thinking skills, fine-tuning hand-eye coordination, and growing self-expression through drawing!

A peek into the world of these fascinating critters. ART will weave its way through the session, while we also listen to thematic bug books, learn some interesting facts and trivia about these creatures, and play some games with a bug theme.

A journey into authors and their art style. Each day, your child will be introduced to a different author and engage with a few selected pieces of literature.  We'll follow it up each day, emulating the style of the author, using a variety of art materials. 

Animals are fascinating creatures and they lend themselves to creative expression using a variety of materials like watercolor, oil pastels, collage, torn paper art, and even a weave. On land, in the air and under the ocean.... come and explore art with these animals.

Structure of class

10:30-10:40: Hellos/Disclaimers
10:40-10:50: Presentation of topic
10:50-11:30: Daily challenge
11:30-12: Critique/discussion

I’d like to set up a class Discord server in order to share files faster & have students post their work, as well as give them an easy means of referencing the day’s material.

I’m alright with students working digitally if they already have a program to do so, but otherwise I’ll have them work traditionally.

Presentations are in progress!

BASIC MATERIALS

Note -- some materials overlap between classes. If I didn’t include a link to a product, it’s because I’m assuming kids will have access to these at home.

• An 8.5”x11” sketchbook or stack of paper
• 2 light blue col-erase pencils
  • https://www.dickblick.com/items/20512-5540/
• Mechanical pencils & lead (.05)
  • https://www.dickblick.com/items/20672-2005/
• Micron pens in black — any size is fine
  • https://www.dickblick.com/items/20702-0359/
• Thick sharpie OR large brush with black paint
  • https://www.dickblick.com/items/21383-2020/
• Ruler (at least 1 ft)
• Preferred coloring medium (pencils, crayons, pens, watercolor, acrylic, etc — whatever floats your boat)

Day 1: Shapes & Proportion

Presentation

Challenge

1. Have every student come up with a short list of themes/categories (at least 3). These can be anything — a particular location, a type of thing, a group of something, etc.
2. Once every student has come up with a short list, I’ll post the full list on Discord.
3. Each student should then pick a theme and draw 10 characters or more that fit into that theme.

Critique*  I want them to practice on my work on day 1. They will need to contribute one successful comment and one constructive comment on the work. I’ll give them an example of each. After this, we’ll discuss any errors to prevent poor critique. They will be able to critique each other’s work online or during the next class.

Optional Homework

1. Draw some squiggly shapes.
2. Turn them into faces, bodies, figures.
3. If you can get a second person involved: take turns adding one feature to the shape until you consider it complete. (And name it when you’re done)

Day 2: Silhouettes

Presentation

Challenge

MATERIALS NEEDED: large black markers OR a decently sized brush with black paint,

1. Take a big marker or brush and make blob shapes in a dark color. Fill a page with these.
2. Obverse those shapes and turn them into character silhouettes — communicate a figure or head without any interior detail.
3. Now take a lighter color and make shapes — do the same, but this time interior details are permitted.

Optional Homework

Take a favorite pop character and play with their proportions in silhouette — how much can you push it before the character becomes unrecognizable? Do a few different versions.

Day 3: Turnarounds & 3D thinking

Presentation

Challenge

MATERIALS NEEDED: ruler or straight-edge

1. Simple turnaround practice — take a stack of basic shapes (a cube, a cone, a pyramid, a sphere, etc). Draw it from the front at the far left of a page.
2. At intersections and major points, take the ruler and draw a straight line across the whole page.
3. Next to the initial figure, draw it at a ¾ view.
4. Next to that, a profile view.
5. Back ¾ view
6. Back view. This completes the simple turnaround!
7. Now translate this idea to any character. Draw them at a front view, ¾ view, profile, back ¾, then back view.

Optional Homework

Draw turnarounds for objects in your house — observe them carefully.

Day 4: Color

Presentation

Challenge

1. Pick any two colors from a medium accessible to you.
2. Develop a group of 10 or more characters using only these two colors. (Hue variations are allowed: ex “light blue” and “dark blue” are still blue. Don’t stray too far on the color wheel, however — maintain those two colors.)

Optional Homework

Taking the color wheel arrangements we learn about in class, make 1 character for every kind of arrangement. (Ex: one mono, one complementary, one triad, etc)

Day 5: Style

Presentation

Challenge

1. Take a character you have already worked on in any assignment, especially one you’d like to develop further.
2. Now find 3 visual styles from any piece of media: one you enjoy, one you really hate, and one that is very different from your own.
3. Post these styles into the Discord. Pick two more — one you’re familiar with and one you don’t know.
4. Translate this character into those five styles. Do your best to mimic the original style without tracing. Be sure to note inking, color choices, proportion and shape language.

Optional Homework

Take a pre-existing world from any piece of media and design some characters that would fit into that world.

Day 6: Expressions

Presentation

Challenge

Part 1:

1. Using a randomizer, I’ll assign a complex emotion to each student.
2. While this student acts out the emotion, the rest of the class has 1 minute to draw that emotion. Label it with a guess, but DO NOT reveal the emotion yet.

Part 2:

1. Using their initial drawings, students will draw an exaggerated version of it, pushing the features as far as they can.
2. Once these drawings are done, students can reveal what their prompts were.

Optional Homework

Fill out a complex expressions sheet with a character. How does one person expressing an emotion compare to another?/p>

Day 7: Poses

Presentation

Challenge

1. The plan is similar to yesterday, but I’ll allow students to come up with their own full-body action this time. (They will need to write it down beforehand.)
2. Draw these poses in 2 minutes and label with a guess.
3. Exaggerate & reveal

 

Optional Homework

Do a sheet of poses for one particular character. How does a costume interact with a pose? Try to communicate motion and feeling through line of action, perspective and line weight. Use reference!

Day 8: Tropes, Subversion and Complement

Presentation

Challenge

Part 1:

1. With 3 minutes per trope, I’ll announce a type of character to the class. They will need to draw what this character looks like. (Ex: a hero, a mother, a villain, etc)
2. After doing 5 of these, I’ll ask them to compare their drawings and look for patterns among the class.

Part 2:

1. Using the same categories as before, I’ll have them subvert their original drawings. The character will still have to be a hero, mother, villain, etc, but their design should not immediately indicate this. (Ex: Where a “villain” before was a vampire, maybe this one is a baby holding a laser gun.)

Optional Homework

Draw complementary characters — duos or trios where the designs contrast each other. (Ex: tall/short, color contrasts or similarities, etc)

Day 9: Costumes & Research

Presentation

Challenge

1. Similar to the theme experiment, students should submit 3 types of costumes or fashion. These shouldn’t just be Halloween — they can include weather-related looks, status related looks, period fashion, etc.
2. Once they are all submitted, each student should pick 5 that are all distinct from each other — they should pick at least one that they don’t know much about.
3. Draw a character in all 5 types of costume, but google the type of costume for inspiration and guidance. When these drawings are turned in, I also want them to turn in their research images.

* Important to note about this challenge — I want to be very clear about stereotyping and harmful representation. I trust that they won’t do anything intentionally harmful, but I want to emphasize the importance of history and culture in relation to costuming and research.

 

Optional Homework

Take a type of fashion you enjoyed from the day and develop a group of characters that fit into that type of fashion. Furthermore, do some research on the background of that fashion! What does it say about your character to dress a certain way?

Day 10: Worldbuilding & Casts

Presentation

Challenge

We’ve reached the finish line! Taking any idea or world you enjoy, develop a cast of 5-10 characters today. Keep in mind everything we’ve learned up to now. If they are in color, it is okay to do 3 or more. Regardless, shoot for as many as you can.

Think of each character’s role in the world. Are they a villain? A protagonist? A friend, sidekick, animal companion, pet, beast, mythical creature, etc. What purpose do they serve in the world you’re building?

Structure of class:

10:30-10:40: Hellos/Disclaimers
10:40-10:50: Presentation of topic
10:50-11:30: Daily challenge
11:30-12: Critique/discussion

I’d like to set up a class Discord server in order to share files faster & have students post their work, as well as give them an easy means of referencing the day’s material.

I’m alright with students working digitally if they already have a program to do so, but otherwise I’ll have them work traditionally.

Presentations are in progress!

BASIC MATERIALS

• An 8.5”x11” sketchbook
• 2 light blue col-erase pencils
• 2 red col-erase pencils
  • https://www.dickblick.com/items/20512-3080/
• Mechanical pencils & lead (.05)
• Micron pens in black — any size is fine
• Ruler (at least 1 ft)
• Preferred coloring medium (pencils, crayons, pens, watercolor, acrylic, etc — whatever floats your boat)
• Google slides, prezi or powerpoint — some kind of presentation software
• Brush pen
  • https://www.dickblick.com/items/21044-2022/
• Awl
  • https://www.dickblick.com/items/12843-1000/
• Needle and thread
• Cereal box
• Elmer’s glue
  • https://www.dickblick.com/items/23810-1204/
• Scotch tape or masking tape

Day 1: Structure & Theme

Presentation

Challenge

1. Break down a well-known story into graphs. The x axis should always be time, from the beginning of the story to the end, but the y axis can be anything else in the story. (I’ll give them a few examples.) Mark major events in the story on that graph.
2. Together we’ll discuss what makes these stories work.
3. Now write out your own story in a list of major events. Translate that into multiple graphs, focusing on different character perspectives, the overall narrative and the viewer’s reaction to it. 

Critique*  I want them to practice on my work on day 1. They will need to contribute one successful comment and one constructive comment on the work. I’ll give them an example of each. After this, we’ll discuss any errors to prevent poor critique. They will be able to critique each other’s work online or during the next class.

Optional Homework

Go in-depth on your own idea! What happens in-between points? Are there any gaps in your story, loose ends, or unsatisfying ideas? Tell your story to someone and get their feedback.

>Day 2: Pitching

Presentation

Challenge

1. Taking your work from yesterday, each student will pitch their own story. Each student has 5 minutes to present. If a student would rather not present their own work, they are permitted to take a popular story and use that.
2. Referencing the example I will give them at the beginning, their pitch should very briefly explain the characters, world, and problems to solve. It should walk us through the story event by event.
3. If there is no time to critique in class, I’d like students to critique each other’s work online, giving feedback on the stories they tell and how they presented them.

Optional Homework

Edit your story! Taking the critiques given to you by classmates and others, how can you make your story even better? Can you cut out any events or characters?

Day 3: Format & Timing

Presentation

Challenge

1. Tell a story in 4 panels. It can be any simple story — nothing too dialogue heavy.
2. Now tell that story in 3 panels.
3. 2 panels.
4. 1.
5. Discussion in class: what works best for each story? How much information can be communicated in a single panel?

Optional Homework

Start planning out your own comic! Using your list of events, start thumbnailing your pages and writing out a script.

Day 4: Sketching & Perspective

Presentation

Challenge

Necessary materials - col erase pencils & rulers

Part 1

1. Using the blueprint method & 1 point perspective, draw the room you’re in in simple detail. (10 min)
2. Now draw from your point of view — keep details to a minimum, just block out shapes and try to communicate space. (10 min)

Part 2

1. Place a character in that space. How do you communicate a space to a viewer?
2. Test out some multiple thumbnails — when you’ve found one you like, develop it. Don’t worry about making the character perfect, a stick figure is fine. Focus on the perspective.

Optional Homework

Try out 2-point and 3-point perspective.

Day 5: Characters

Presentation

Challenge

1. Similar to the day 10 challenge of character design, draw 5-10 characters that all belong inside the world of the comic you’ve created. Assign them a role — protagonist, side character, background character, antagonist, etc. Communicate their role through their design. 

Optional Homework

Do some turnarounds for a character of your choice! Familiarize yourself with their design and proportions — learn consistency.

Day 6: Backgrounds

Presentation

Challenge

Randomly generated landscape ideas~

1. Each person submits an adjective, a place-related noun, and a general noun. They’ll get put into this format: the [place noun] of [adj] [noun]. (Ex: The building of red ice, the planet of dusty rugs, etc)
2. Each student should interpret that landscape into a couple different panels — how can they show off this location with limited space? Don’t use color — focus more on what we learned about perspective and clean sketching to communicate ideas.

Optional Homework

Explore some environments within your own comic.

Day 7: Style

Presentation

Challenge

1. Draw out a basic 3-panel comic (Garfield timing) of anything.
2. Now translate it into a different style! See how it affects your perspective choices, your timing, your speech bubbles — style translation goes way beyond drawing. The tone should also change.
3. Do 3 more in varying styles — at least one in a comedic style and one in a dramatic style. They should all be distinct from each other, but tell the same story.

Optional Homework

Test out some varying styles on your comic — take note of your intended tone & theme when testing them out, but don’t be afraid to stray from your original intent.

Day 8: Inking & Color

Presentation

Challenge

1. Sketch out a simple series of comic panels — there doesn’t need to be much happening, but have enough shapes in a panel and difference between them.
2. Copy those panels onto two other pages.
3. On the first page, use only a pen to ink out the comic in black and white using shading and value techniques discussed earlier.
4. On the second page, use only color blocks to describe the image — no linework.
5. On the third, use grayscale.

Optional Homework

Take 5 sheets of 8.5x11 paper and fold each sheet in half, then putting them together. Start drafting out your comic on these sheets in order. (I’ll attach a guide) This is in preparation of something we’ll do on the last day. Keep it short! Try to contain your story in this set of pages.

Day 9: Covers

Presentation

Challenge

1. Make a cover for a story (yours, someone elses), capturing all the information in one image. Don’t forget about font work and placement

Optional Homework

Start finishing up your comic!

Day 10: Book Binding

Presentation

Challenge

I have resources for this I’ll need to collect — the point is to bind their comics together in an aesthetically pleasing way.

Students will explore five different issues in contemporary Israeli society through learning, discussion and debate. Issues will touch on the role of religion and state (should every Israeli citizen serve in the Israeli Defence Forces? Should stores be open on Shabbat?) Paths to peace (exploring the Israeli/Palestinian conflict) and Jewish identity (What is Jewish about being Israeli?). Optional readings will be given after each class.

We will dabble in a variety of artistic expressions and have fun creating a piece of art a day? Some of the topics may include pop-up art, weaving, dream catcher, popsicle stick box, puppets, painted rocks, tic-tac-toe game, and more.

This is a student centered course where each individual will have the opportunity to take charge of their own creativity. In this course students will explore their imaginations and capture their ideas on “paper” through different writing genres. We will explore model texts, consider words usage, and how to form interesting sentences all in order to express our best stories.

Knitting is a hugely therapeutic, stress-relieving, and inspiring craft to partake in! It allows for both creative expression and useful creation. In my online knitting class, I will teach students the basics of knitting: how to make a slip knot and do a long-tail cast on (begin a project), how to do a knit stitch, and how to cast off (finish a project). With this basic knowledge, they will be able to make their own garter stitch scarf! While we are knitting, we can chat and listen to music, podcasts or audiobooks together.

This 90 minute class will lead students through the various aspects of theatre, learning vocabulary concepts through a variety of games and exercises. Students will learn how to develop and play rich characters and how to identify and apply story-structure. The second half of the course will focus on working together to construct an original play, and culminate in a virtual performance of the class’s original work.

Morah Edna will take this time to work with middle school students on their Hebrew reading, writing and speaking skills, improve vocabulary and get students practicing Hebrew during the summer.

Students will be exposed to the basics of philosophy and philosophical thinking. We will explore questions like: How do we know what we know is real? How do we distinguish from right and wrong? What is the difference between knowing and experiencing? We will engage in some fun philosophy games and exercises and end our week with a philosophy cafe. 45 minutes of class with optional reading every day.

In this 45 min theatre class, students will start to learn and apply the vocabulary of theatre, with an emphasis on story and character. Featuring set and costume building, song and dance, and lots and lots of theatre games; students will flex their creative muscles and cooperation skills while developing confidence. The class will culminate with students designing their own character and delivering a short original performance.

Books are so important. They give wings to our imagination. They fill us with knowledge, wisdom and joy. They take us on adventures. They are like best friends. We will engage with different books in a variety of genres. In addition, each day, students will have fun with a bookmaking project of their own.

Monsters can be scary but they can be just like people, only they look a little funny. We will delve into monster games, monster read-alouds, monster math, monster art, and just plain old monster fun. Are you ready to "CREEP it REAL?" and have a monstrous time?

An eclectic mix of both. Who says math and art can't be weaved together? We will explore mosaics, fraction quilts, logic problems, dice games, symmetry designs, negative and positive spaces, math games and challenges, line art, puzzling patterns and geometrics, as well as Sudoku. Come and join in.

This class will go behind the curtain to learn about the magic behind our favorite songs! We will look at all the tools in our composition toolbox including melody, harmony, rhythm, and lyrics and learn how we can use these to make our own compositions. With these tools, students will write their own original pieces culminating in a collective virtual performance.

This 45 minute class will take students on a journey around the world and through time as we explore the history of music and celebrate our favorite music genres, from classical and jazz to pop and rock! Through songs and games we will learn about the building blocks of music and how we can use music to express ourselves.

Poetry captures the essence of childhood. Poems are fun, they tell stories and they make us laugh. Poetry is also a great way to build reading fluency, new vocabulary, and an expressive voice. We will explore a variety of poetry writing styles, visit with authors who specialize in poems, and add art to each day's lesson. 

Explore the art of creative writing! Every week we will be using our imaginations combined with our writing skills to focus on a different type of creative writing. Sessions will include theme specific instruction, hearing and seeing professional examples, and time for guided practice with teacher support. By the end of the week students will have created their own original pieces. 

This 45 min introductory drama class includes music, games, minor art projects, and lots of fun! With an emphasis on developing character, students will learn how to use their bodies and voices to create different characters, animals, and ice cream flavors. 

This is not your typical yoga class! In addition to a physical practice, students will keep a daily journal of their experiences and form small group discussions to talk about what they're thinking and learning. Each day, students will learn and practice poses, write and discuss based on that day’s theme. Students will need a pencil and paper or journal. If a yoga mat is accessible, great but it’s not necessary.

Monday	Theme: Peace Context: Students will learn about the power of their breath and ways to use different breath practices. Students will discuss what it means to be peaceful and how they can carry that feeling during times of uncertainty. Physical practice includes sun salutations with an emphasis on forward folds.
Tuesday	Theme: Compassion Context: Students will write and discuss what it means to be kind and ways they receive and show compassion. Physical poses include gentle backbends.
Wednesday	Theme: Mindfulness Context: Students will learn about mindfulness tools and ways to use them. Physical practice will include standing balancing poses and arm balancing poses.
Thursday	Theme: Confidence Context: Students will write and discuss about times they feel confident. Physical practice includes a  warrior pose series.
Friday	Theme: Happiness Context: Students will have an opportunity to discuss times when they feel at their best and ways they can continue to create those moments. Physical practice will include a combination of the previous week’s poses with an emphasis on lateral movement.