#GiraffesCAN CAN-paign

How can you tell a giraffe they CAN'T? As artists we can draw giraffes doing anything they want to do. Let's make sure that our Giraffes can live theirdreams to DANCE! 

Giraffes Can't Dance Book

Second graders hear the story of Gerald the Giraffe. We think about how we can help giraffes dance as artists by learning how to draw them in any pose we choose.

Drawing practice

2nd graders spent the rest of art time drawing along with these youtube videos to become familiar with giraffes while cuddling with my class set of adorable plush giraffes that I picked up a Kohls when I bought the book. (click to enlarge)

Starting our #giraffesCAN can-paign with 2nd graders today#giraffescantdance #artsed #drydenrocks pic.twitter.com/1w1sVQbfVV

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) August 29, 2019

Process: dancing giraffe

Drawing a giraffe in a dancing pose uses problem-solving skills as children transfer what they know about a giraffe's body and how it might look in this imaginative way. To avoid some common issues with young artists, I made one oval tracer for the body, one oval tracer for the face, and passed out 4 tongue depressors each. These shapes will help them concretely plan the placement of the head, body, and legs before they begin.

Trace the ovals and place the tongue depressors where the legs will go

Reference my handout to see some fun giraffe poses

Students used ovals and popsicle sticks as aids to concretely pose their giraffes. 

Made by Second Graders (2MA) Click to see the gallery

View Giraffe Sketches

Painting

2nd graders working on their #giraffesCan campaign today.
Painted the bodies and added the #uv paint to the night sky - watch it glow at the end #steam #artsed #k12artchat #drydenrocks pic.twitter.com/kgZus2601P

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) October 8, 2019

Dancing with the stars

The painting can be embellished with transparent UV painted stars that glow under black lights

I’ve been on a personal #giraffesCAN CAN-paign lately as I figure out how to teach my 2nd grade artists to draw their giraffes dancing. I think I had a breakthrough today! So I celebrated by embellishing the final painting with UV paints that light up with #blacklights pic.twitter.com/uvgxwMIN4l

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) August 28, 2019

2nd graders viewing their #UV stars ⭐ #GiraffesCAN dance @KO2news #steam #artsed #k12artchat #drydenrocks #k12artchat #artmatters pic.twitter.com/CZoukhoZxK

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) October 11, 2019

Finished Giraffe Paintings

Click the image to see the gallery of finished paintings

Students had a chance to see #augmentedreality happen from a handout and an iPad today. #giraffescan dance right of the paper! @eyejackapp #edtech #artsed #drydenrocks pic.twitter.com/tYg336Horh

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) October 18, 2019

Other things #GiraffesCAN do

Giraffes CAN swim

Giraffes CAN knit

Giraffes CAN broadcast

Giraffes CAN drive

Giraffes CAN rap

Giraffes CAN meditate

Giraffes CAN waterski

Giraffes CAN dress up

Giraffes CAN cheer

Giraffes CAN model glasses

Augmented Reality Book Cover

View my growing collection of book covers that come to life with augmented reality.

Look what I did! While my #drydenrocks second graders are on a #GiraffesCAN CAN-Paign to use their artistic abilities to make giraffes dance, I used @eyejackapp #keynote and @brushesapp to make the #giraffescantdance book come to life with #AugmentedReality #arvrinedu #edtech pic.twitter.com/L0rDqCZrQF

— Tricia Fuglestad ☕ (@fuglefun) September 20, 2019

Giraffes CAN Dance Video

Every 2nd grader used a digital photo of their giraffe painting to make a dancing animation using both Superimpose (to erase the background) and Do Ink animation app to give it an animation path. Each of the five classes had a different "digital dance move to contribute. Stay tuned to the end to see some super cute faces sharing their work.

Erased background saved as PNG

Composing an animation path

Giraffes CAN Dance from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.