Advice from Third Graders in Ms. Bruzzano's Class at Holmes Elementary

ADVENTURING THROUGH

the Art Museum

Advice from Students in Ms. Bruzzano’s Third Grade Class at Holmes Elementary

A D VENTURI N G THRO U HG the art museum

Ms. Bruzzano’s Class

Advice from Students in Ms. Bruzzano’s Class at Holmes Elementary

826 National’s Commitment to Inclusion

As an organization committed to encouraging youth in their creative expression, personal growth, and academic success, 826 National and its chapters recognize the importance of diversity at all levels and in all aspects of our work. In order to build and maintain the safe, supportive 826 environment in which great leaps of learning occur, we commit to inclusion: We will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, English fluency, parental status, immigration status, military service, or disability.

826michigan Staff

Megan Shuchman Executive Director

Catherine Calabro Cavin Education Director

Megan Gilson Program Manager

Denise Ervin Program Manager

Caitlin Koska Volunteer Manager

Kinyel Friday Operations Manager

Ola Faleti Institutional Giving Strategist

Kayla Chenault Interim Program & Volunteer Coordinator

Paige Bennett Teaching Artist

Eli Sparkman Teaching Artist

826michigan Board

Maria Montoya (President)

Christopher Ankney

Sean Emery

Abby Fanelli

James A. Hiller

Holly Hunt

Monica Rodriguez

Matthew R. VanWasshnova

Phil Weiss

The U-M Museum of Art puts art and ideas at the center of campus and public life. We create experiences that enrich our understanding of one another, foster joy, and build a more just future. Through exhibitions, programs, research, and community partnerships we are redefining what a campus museum can be.

Copyright © 2023 by 826michigan and Blotch Books.

All rights reserved by 826michigan, the many whims of Dr. Thaddeus Blotch, the illustrators, and the authors.

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to any people or events, real or imaginary, is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced without express written permission from the publisher, except for small excerpts for the purposes of review or scholarly study.

Many thanks to the University of Michigan Museum of Art and our volunteers for their participation in this field trip.

By purchasing this book, you are helping 826michigan continue to offer free student programs. For more information, please visit: 826michigan.org

With gratitude for our supporters

826michigan gratefully recognizes the incredible generosity of its Board, individual funders, and foundation and corporate partners that make its work possible in providing free quality writing programs to the students of southeastern Michigan. In particular, we wish to acknowledge the supporters of our Washtenaw County based work: the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, the Hawkins Project, the Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor, the James A. and Faith Knight Foundation, the May Family Foundation, and the Poetry Foundation.

UMMA is committed to providing access to the Museum and its programs for the breadth of our communities. UMMA’s K–12 engagement program strives to support teachers and students by providing flexible and creative experiences including free admission, layered instruction, teacher resources, and transportation stipends for qualifying schools. The UMMA K–12 program is generously supported by Michigan Medicine, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, and the Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor.

What would happen if you could jump inside a work of art?

This isn’t an ordinary trip to the museum! During this field trip program, students imagined that they were shrinking down to the size of a paper clip and then jumping inside of different art pieces at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. They worked with volunteers and museum educators to write creative survival guides, giving advice for how readers might survive inside of these different art worlds. Students’ writing was then published in a book—the one you are now holding. Students toured the museum and saw the art that they wrote about in real life, reading their newly-written survival guides in front of the art.

This field trip is offered each year to every third grade class in the Ypsilanti Community Schools district. The program is a partnership between 826michigan, a local youth writing organization, and the University of Michigan Museum of Art to highlight the connections between art and writing.

We hope you enjoy reading these guides to survival in some very unusual settings!

How to Survive Alice

Florencia Pita

Alice, 2007

Polymer foam, PETG, urethane

Gift of the artist

Ms. Bruzzano’s Class

First, you grab some slimy pieces of the art. Throw them down and jump on them. You will get your feet stuck in the slimy pieces.

Then, you should grab a piece of the slime with your hand and eat it. It tastes like strawberry gummies. After eating all the slime you are eventually free.

Next, you should build a house out of little pieces of slime to protect yourself from rain and the slime monster. The house should be built of seven different layers, including bricks. If the slime monster finds you, it will try to eat you. Hide in the slime house until the slime monster goes away, or tell the slime monster that you are going to eat them.

Last, you should jump off and get a ride from a nearby rat. If you can’t jump, find a ladder and climb down.

How to Survive Future Cache

Courtesy of the artist

Andrea Carlson

Future Cache, 2022

Gouache on paper

Group 1

First, you use a giant pencil to catch a giant fish. You can go into the woods and find a deer and a bunny. You should use a diamond ax and chop down trees to use for firewood.

Then, you can clean up the beach and use the clothes you gather to build a sail for a boat. You need a house. It needs to be heated because it will be cold. You should make a log cabin and build it on the beach.

Next, there will be a big Great White shark in the water. You need one person to distract the shark. The second person should wrestle the shark. You can make him your friend and teach him to bring you fish. You can name him Sharky.

Last, after your long day you will be hungry and tired. You could cook yourself dinner, and finish building your beds and your house. You should go play fetch with Sharky and swim with him. Then go to bed, and do it all over again tomorrow.

How to Survive Lion Dance and Monkey Dance

Unrecorded, Japanese

Top: Lion Dance Under Red Plum Blossoms, 1730-1740

Bottom: Monkey Dance Under White Plum Blossoms, 1730-1740

One of a pair of 6-fold screens ink, color, and gold pigment on paper

Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund

Group 2

First, you enter the house through the front door. You see that everyone is having a good time.

Then, you see that someone is blocking the door and there is no way to get out. Look in small spaces for a key. You find the key in the window cage, and you get out.

Next, you follow the river. It will lead you to where all the people are, having a picnic. There are chicken nuggets, fires, and lemonade. Everyone shares their food with each other.

Last, you see spiders crawling out of the tree. They are giant and poisonous. You make a trap out of screws to trap the spiders and it works.

How to Survive

Nevelson Dark Presence III

Louise Nevelson Dark Presence III, 1971

Painted wood Gift of Bobby Kotick

Group 3

First, you land in a chimney, climb down the chimney and walk down a hallway until you find a door. You feel hungry, so you start to look for the kitchen.

Then, you walk down the steps to the kitchen. Make sure to avoid the grinders, they have sharp teeth and will smash you. Also, make sure to not jump too far down.

Next, you find the kitchen! There are five fridges. You will discover old fruit, mud, old water, apples, and watermelon. You need to drink water to stay hydrated, but it makes you have to use the bathroom.

Last, after using the bathroom, you see an old elevator. You have to jump to make the elevator go down. Something jumps out of the shadows and scares you! But you realize it’s your friend Amaya, and you go home together.

How to Survive Ngoromera

Masimba Hwati

Ngoromera, 2020

Brass, iron, copper, carbon steel, and plastic

Museum purchase made possible by the University of Michigan

Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and the Director’s Acquisition Committee, 2020

Group 4

First, you should find the monster earthworm. It is 100 feet long, but it has no eyes. It eats earth if it wants to; it could eat the whole Earth with its big old mouth. It can’t close its mouth. It can sense movement.

Then, you should play the trumpet to scare it. You should climb out to the very tip of the spear and break it.

Next, you should fill the tubes with lava. You push a button and it shoots through the tubes of the inside of the instrument.

Last, the lava would force the earthworm out. You could blast the earthworm monster at the end of the trumpet and eject the earthworm monster into the desert where it dries out.

WRITE YOUR OWN SURVIVAL GUIDE!

Author Name:

How to Survive:

First, Then,

About the Author

inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities.

Our writing and tutoring programs uphold a culture of creativity and imagination and support students in establishing strong habits of mind. Through publication and community engagement, we provide students with an authentic and enthusiastic audience for their writing. Our programs provide an energizing creative outlet for students and meaningful volunteer opportunities for community members.

SCHOOLWORK SUPPORT

We organize trained volunteer tutors to work with students one-on-one with their homework after school. Homework support is available for all subjects, for students ages 7–18.

WORKSHOPS

We offer a number of free workshops taught by professional artists, writers, and our talented volunteers. From comic books to screenplays, bookmaking to radio, our wide variety of workshops are perfect for writers of all ages and interests. One of the most popular workshops we offer is our weekly Weebots program for elementary-aged writers.

IN-SCHOOL PROJECTS

Our trained volunteers go into local public schools to support teachers with their classroom writing assignments. Based on the teacher’s curriculum, assignments range from writing tales to crafting college essays to exploring poetry.

FIELD TRIPS

Students come as a class to our writing lab to join a group of volunteers, interns, and staff in order to help solve a problem through writing—whether that is our editor Dr. Blotch’s insomnia, our looming story deadline, a mystery in need of solving, or one of the many others we encounter. Our field trips always end in a finished publication of original writing that students take home.

OUR STORE

Our Robot Supply Co. store is your one-stop shop for robots, robot owners, and enthusiasts alike. It’s designed to inspire creativity and bring awareness of our programs to the community. In addition, our online store is always open; visit the Robot Supply Co. at onwardrobots.com. All proceeds from our store directly fund our free student programming. Onward robots!

WRITING IS

A way to figure things out by ourselves

A way to help us connect to our world

We create a safe place to be ourselves and try new things

We support the ways that writers work (like thinking, sketching, talking)

We study the writing we want to do so we can try it

We learn how to change our writing for genre, audience, and purpose

We work with a group of writers who help and support each other

www.826michigan.org

A way to help us learn who we are and who we will become

A way for us to use our power to make changes and build a better world

inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities. Our writing and tutoring programs uphold a culture of creativity and imagination and support students in establishing strong habits of mind. Through publication and community engagement, we provide students with an authentic and enthusiastic audience for their writing.

Our programs provide an energizing creative outlet for students and meaningful volunteer opportunities for community members. We believe that with one-on-one attention from caring adults, students improve their academic performance, develop a sense of belonging, and discover the unique value of their voices.

We also believe that the more fun a student has, and the more directly we speak to a student’s interests, the more we can help students find the fun in learning. That’s why our programs are more than just extra homework. All of our programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in their individual voice.

AFTER-SCHOOL TUTORING

We organize trained volunteer tutors to work with students one-on-one with their homework after school. Homework support is available for all subjects, for students ages 7–18. Students are paired with a tutor to work on assignments for school and writing projects of their choosing.

AFTER-SCHOOL WRITING LAB

In 2021, we added this program to meet the interest of our many after-school students who wanted to go deeper into the writing process. Through breakout rooms, students are supported by volunteers as they brainstorm, write, revise, share, and publish their writing. Each week we focus on a different habit of writers (such as writers make plans . . . and change them).

WORKSHOPS

We offer a number of free workshops taught by professional artists, writers, and our talented volunteers. From comic books to screenplays, bookmaking to radio, our wide variety of workshops are perfect for writers of all ages and interests. One of the most popular workshops we offer is our weekly Wee-bots program for elementary-aged writers.

IN-SCHOOL PROJECTS

Our trained volunteers go into local public schools to support teachers with their classroom writing assignments. Based on the teacher’s curriculum, assignments range from writing tales to crafting college essays to exploring poetry. In addition, we hold regular Writers Clubs, in which small groups of students are able to work on a writing project over the course of a semester, culminating in a publication. We also partner with schools to hold Family Writing Labs: laughter-filled events in which families come together and participate in an evening of engaging writing activities and community connection.

FIELD TRIPS

Always full of surprises and theatrics (and usually a visit from our crotchety editor, Dr. Blotch), our Field Trip program is an experiential writing extravaganza. We welcome teachers to bring their classes in for field trips during the school day. Students join a group of volunteers, interns, and staff to help solve a problem through writing—whether that is Dr. Blotch’s insomnia, our looming story deadline, a mystery in need of solving, or one of the many others we encounter. Our field trips always end in a finished publication of original writing that students take home. Often the field trip writing is connected to a second leg of the students’ journey, whether a trip to a museum, library, or local record label, thanks to our many incredible community partners.

OUR STORE

Our Robot Supply Co. store is a one-stop shop for robots, robot owners, and enthusiasts alike. It is designed to inspire creativity and bring awareness of our programs to the community. In addition, our online store is always open; visit the Robot Supply Co. at onwardrobots.com. All proceeds from our store directly fund our free student programming. Onward robots!

UMMA puts art and ideas at the center of campus and public life. We create experiences that enrich our understanding of one another, foster joy, and build a more just future. Through exhibitions, programs, research, and community partnerships we are redefining what a campus museum can be.