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Students learn about facial expressions through ‘creepy carrot’ art

The West Godwin Fall Harvest event included several activities such as animal petting, pumpkin picking and hayrides

Godwin Heights — Kindergartner Lillian Martin wanted her carrot to be scary.

“It is why I made the eyebrows go up, and he has four teeth to make him scary,” Lillian said. “In the story, the one carrot has a tooth up here (she pointed to a tooth on the top right of her mouth) and he has one down here (pointing to a tooth on the bottom left) and that made him scary.”

Little girl with a paper carrot that has a scary face
Kindergartner Lillian Martin wanted four teeth to make her carrot scary

The story Lillian is referring to is “Creepy Carrots!” by Aaron Renoylds, which West Godwin teacher Dawn Soblesky used as part of an art project to help students learn about facial expressions. 

“This is an opportunity for them to be creative and do their own thing,” Soblesky said. “I want the students to take ownership of this project and do what they want to do.”

As the students read the book, Soblesky talked to them about how, if they placed eyebrows a certain way, they could make a character angry, happy, or silly. She also talked to them about how carrots can be any shape: skinny, chunky, squiggly or round.

“I lived on a farm and only the perfect carrots made it to the store,” she said with a laugh.

Kindergartners spent the week before cutting out their carrots, eyebrows, eyes, and carrot top (teeth were provided), with the opportunity to assemble the carrots together at the school’s annual Fall Harvest event. First- and second-graders cut out and built their carrots on the day of the event. 

Second-grader Josiah Preston, right, and Edmitcia Mustapha work on their ‘scary carrots’

Principal Mary Lang said the school has been hosting a Fall Harvest for the past several years, providing an opportunity for students to experience farm life. Mary’s Country Critters brought live animals for the students to touch and get up close. There was pumpkin picking on the school’s outside court, face painting done by Godwin Heights High School students and facilities director Philip Weaver offered hayrides through the school’s parking lot. 

Read more from Godwin Heights: 
Dot-o-mite: art project puts a fine point on, well, everything
Snacking healthy: TEAM 21 students learn about the power of good eating

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Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
Joanne Bailey-Boorsma is a reporter covering Kent ISD, Godwin Heights, Kelloggsville, Forest Hills and Comstock Park. The salutatorian for the Hartland Public Schools class of 1985, she changed her colors from blue and maize to green and white by attending Michigan State University, where she majored in journalism. Joanne moved to the Grand Rapids area in 1989, where she started her journalism career at the Advance Newspapers. She later became the editor for On-the-Town magazine, a local arts and entertainment publication. Her eldest daughter is a nurse, working in Holland, and her youngest attends Oakland University. Both are graduates from Byron Center High School. She is a volunteer for the Van Singel Fine Arts Advisory Board and the Kent District Library. In her free time, Joanne enjoys spending time with her family, checking out local theater and keeping up with all the exchange students they have hosted through the years. Read Joanne's full bio

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