Thinking in Glass at the Pittsburgh Glass Center

Silvia Levinson is teaching a class at the Pittsburgh Glass Center called “Thinking in Glass”. If you’re in that area and need something fabulous to do take this class! Take it for me! I love Silvia’s work and would love to spend time learning about thinking in glass. I think I do it most of the time but would love to hear her version of it.

Here’s a description from the site:

Silvia Levenson’s work is never based on technique or technical virtuosity, but rather on how to make visible her thoughts and her sense of perplexity about the world. In making objects or designing an installation, she does not begin by thinking of what she can do, but rather what she wants to do. In this workshop, she will accompany students in the realization of works using the same methodology she uses in her own studio. The basic glass working technique will be lost wax and open face kilnforming. The aim of this workshop is shifting boundaries in order to think new works and installations. We will discuss artwork and artists working in glass. We will explore the lost wax technique, mold making, firing schedules, and how to work on the idea of installation.

In our continuing exploration of lesser known holidays, let’s take a look at Terry Fox Day, which is probably one you know if you’re Canadian.

Terry Fox was a Canadian athlete who had a leg amputated at age 18 because of cancer and then did a cross-country run to raise awareness and funding for cancer research. He was born July 28, 1958, and the first Monday in August is celebrated as Terry Fox Day in Manitoba.

Fox is considered a kind of folk hero in Canada despite the difficulties of traveling across Canada on foot (no one on his team spoke French, for example, the weather was often bad and cars would force him off the road) and the low number of donations at the beginning of his run. He ultimately had to end his run after 143 days and 3,339 miles, or 5,373 km, because his cancer had returned and spread to his lungs, but he raised $1.7 million, and a telethon a week after he ended his run raised $10.5 million.

Check out some Terry Fox quotes collected by My Little Desire. You can learn more in this video from CBC Kids, and listen to the Terry Fox song illustrated by a first grade class.

Twinkl has a bunch of Terry Fox related activities in both English and French, including an activity pack with a maze and word search, a coring challenge, a fact sheet and coloring page.

Most of the resources I could find were at Teachers Pay Teachers, but you can learn more about the activity pack for grades 1-3 that Mrs. Bremer’s Class has made, which tells his story and has kids write things they learned and discuss why they think he is a hero.

Creative Classroom Core has a few paid resources include writing activities, reading comprehension and a Terry Fox fact book.

That Fun Reading Teacher has a K-2 singalong with a differentiated reader and activity to teach kids about him.

You can also celebrate Terry Fox Day by talking about what makes a person a hero and who the kids in your home or classroom think of as heroes. And if you’re Canadian, there are Terry Fox runs in more than 650 communities in September, so you can make plans to participate or cheer on the runners to remember his legacy.

Have you read?