Sequence and Organization of the Unit:
Unit Topic Taught:
Have you ever been to a zoo? Perhaps you wonder if all the animals in the zoo are living in peace or utter sadness. Well my fellow teachers and I decided to create a unit where the students could design their own humane zoo. Thus the title "Building a Humane Zoo" was born. In the unit, students consider what kind of creature to create, it's environment, it's situation in the zoo according to other students creatures and what humane considerations were taken to ensure a happy life for their creature. Students work with two-dimentional materials such-as pencil, marker, and paint in developing ideas, then they transferred those ideas three-dimensionally into clay and mixed media. The main focus of the unit is "Representation". "How does form and manipulation of materials represent artistic intention" become questions students begin to consider.
Lesson 1: Breaking Ground
To begin, students get their unique imaginations rolling by sketching ideas for their creature/ mystical animal in their sketchbook. After a bit of brainstorming, Students will look through books that focus on natural biology while sketching down their ideas and building upon previous knowledge. Research done by each student will depend on the creature they choose. The students will be able to use traditional resources for ideation of new art. One visual element we will ask students to focus on is how the texture of their creature is influenced by the environment it lives. We want students to understand how physical features of their creature are related to the environment they live in. This art lesson is focused on developing ideas and showing students the importance of understanding your subject matter when creating a work of art. To assess what the students have learned, the teachers will collect a ticket out the door consisting of a quick write that explains what the creature eats, where it lives, and how big it is.
Lesson 2: Feeling it out
This lesson focused on visual elements of 2-D texture and how they relate to creating texture in a 3-D form. This lesson is also geared towards getting the students to experiment with and explore the new material of clay. Whether they are building it up, scratching away at it, or imprinting things into it, students will work towards replicating textures they recognize from the world around them with. Through this process, students will explore a variety of tools that can be used with clay. This will be one of the guiding steps towards figuring out which direction they want to take their zoo enclosure. This time will also be spent thinking about connections between the creatures physical traits and their environment. For example a creature that is purple and scaley probably would not live in the arctic.
Lesson 3: Art of planning
The overarching theme of this lesson is how to take an idea in your head and bring it to life by creating an art object. In this lesson we will look deeper into the planning process by focusing on how artists use 2-D mediums to create 3-D works of art. Students will look at how several artists plan for 3-D production by drawing from several perspectives. Students will then plan for their own 3-D production by drawing their enclosure from 3 different perspectives: that of a zoo visitor, of the creature they created, and of a bird flying overhead. After creating 2-D plans for their creatures environment students will bring their ideas to life using a wide variety of mixed media materials. Once they have finished their individual enclosures we will talk about the importance of presentation by putting the enclosures together to prepare for the “big opening” of their zoo. Students will reflect on their design decisions by putting together informational brochures that are intended to let visitors know more about their animal.
Have you ever been to a zoo? Perhaps you wonder if all the animals in the zoo are living in peace or utter sadness. Well my fellow teachers and I decided to create a unit where the students could design their own humane zoo. Thus the title "Building a Humane Zoo" was born. In the unit, students consider what kind of creature to create, it's environment, it's situation in the zoo according to other students creatures and what humane considerations were taken to ensure a happy life for their creature. Students work with two-dimentional materials such-as pencil, marker, and paint in developing ideas, then they transferred those ideas three-dimensionally into clay and mixed media. The main focus of the unit is "Representation". "How does form and manipulation of materials represent artistic intention" become questions students begin to consider.
Lesson 1: Breaking Ground
To begin, students get their unique imaginations rolling by sketching ideas for their creature/ mystical animal in their sketchbook. After a bit of brainstorming, Students will look through books that focus on natural biology while sketching down their ideas and building upon previous knowledge. Research done by each student will depend on the creature they choose. The students will be able to use traditional resources for ideation of new art. One visual element we will ask students to focus on is how the texture of their creature is influenced by the environment it lives. We want students to understand how physical features of their creature are related to the environment they live in. This art lesson is focused on developing ideas and showing students the importance of understanding your subject matter when creating a work of art. To assess what the students have learned, the teachers will collect a ticket out the door consisting of a quick write that explains what the creature eats, where it lives, and how big it is.
Lesson 2: Feeling it out
This lesson focused on visual elements of 2-D texture and how they relate to creating texture in a 3-D form. This lesson is also geared towards getting the students to experiment with and explore the new material of clay. Whether they are building it up, scratching away at it, or imprinting things into it, students will work towards replicating textures they recognize from the world around them with. Through this process, students will explore a variety of tools that can be used with clay. This will be one of the guiding steps towards figuring out which direction they want to take their zoo enclosure. This time will also be spent thinking about connections between the creatures physical traits and their environment. For example a creature that is purple and scaley probably would not live in the arctic.
Lesson 3: Art of planning
The overarching theme of this lesson is how to take an idea in your head and bring it to life by creating an art object. In this lesson we will look deeper into the planning process by focusing on how artists use 2-D mediums to create 3-D works of art. Students will look at how several artists plan for 3-D production by drawing from several perspectives. Students will then plan for their own 3-D production by drawing their enclosure from 3 different perspectives: that of a zoo visitor, of the creature they created, and of a bird flying overhead. After creating 2-D plans for their creatures environment students will bring their ideas to life using a wide variety of mixed media materials. Once they have finished their individual enclosures we will talk about the importance of presentation by putting the enclosures together to prepare for the “big opening” of their zoo. Students will reflect on their design decisions by putting together informational brochures that are intended to let visitors know more about their animal.
Methods for Integrating Literacy, Numeracy, Technology and Other Relevant Subjects:
Lesson 1: Breaking Ground
This lesson was focused around literacy. Students started off by reading books that related to their creature. Then they took notes and began to sketch ideas in their sketchbook. It was important that they labeled with words, what attributes or characteristics their creatures had. Then they began to draw proportional (numeracy skills) drawings of their creature as it related to their environment. This lesson helped students practice 21st century skills of identifying materials that enhance learning. In order to thrive into today’s society, one must be able to identify a problem and/or question, and then know where to look to learn how to solve that problem and/ or question.
Lesson 2: Feeling it out
This lesson incorporated technology at the beginning of the lesson in the form of a PowerPoint on the smart board. The presentation depicted ceramic animal artwork. Then the teacher gave a demonstration on certain techniques (slip and score, armature, and coil and slab building) that involved a set of steps (numeracy skills). If one step was out of place, then the techniques were not effective. During this time, students had the ability to use literacy skills and write down the procedures in their sketchbook. Then the students were free to experiment with the materials. During this time the students showed their findings with clay examples and a few words to describe the textures they created. While the ideas and processes were still relevant, the teachers had the students write down (literacy skills) what they discovered in their sketchbooks. Some of the 21st skills students learned was to explore ideas and to create methods that worked for them. Over the years students will begin to understand what works for them, by experimenting and letting go of expectations.
Lesson 3: Art of planning
This lesson incorporated many examples of the use of literacy, technology and numeracy. In the planning process of their environment, students were required to imagine their environment from many points of view. To present birds-eye, peoples eye and creatures eye view the teachers used a PowerPoint. Then the students were placed in the different sections and planned their approach for their environment with diagrams and words depicting their intentions. The students used numeracy skills throughout the lesson by determining the layout of their environment and the proportion of objects in their environment. Some of the drawings students encompassed showed their animal then a picture of a full-grown person next to it representing the proportion of their creature. Students encompassed 21st century skills by making connections of artist statements to zoo descriptions. They realized that people like to know what is going on and the ability to describe those intentions/depictions need to be present when talking about many things. Another 21st century skill students used was the ability to problem solve. Throughout the unit, students missed lessons or were stuck in a spot. Their ability to problem solve determined whether or not they finished the project. This is a very important 21st century skill and it will continue to show up throughout their lives.
This lesson was focused around literacy. Students started off by reading books that related to their creature. Then they took notes and began to sketch ideas in their sketchbook. It was important that they labeled with words, what attributes or characteristics their creatures had. Then they began to draw proportional (numeracy skills) drawings of their creature as it related to their environment. This lesson helped students practice 21st century skills of identifying materials that enhance learning. In order to thrive into today’s society, one must be able to identify a problem and/or question, and then know where to look to learn how to solve that problem and/ or question.
Lesson 2: Feeling it out
This lesson incorporated technology at the beginning of the lesson in the form of a PowerPoint on the smart board. The presentation depicted ceramic animal artwork. Then the teacher gave a demonstration on certain techniques (slip and score, armature, and coil and slab building) that involved a set of steps (numeracy skills). If one step was out of place, then the techniques were not effective. During this time, students had the ability to use literacy skills and write down the procedures in their sketchbook. Then the students were free to experiment with the materials. During this time the students showed their findings with clay examples and a few words to describe the textures they created. While the ideas and processes were still relevant, the teachers had the students write down (literacy skills) what they discovered in their sketchbooks. Some of the 21st skills students learned was to explore ideas and to create methods that worked for them. Over the years students will begin to understand what works for them, by experimenting and letting go of expectations.
Lesson 3: Art of planning
This lesson incorporated many examples of the use of literacy, technology and numeracy. In the planning process of their environment, students were required to imagine their environment from many points of view. To present birds-eye, peoples eye and creatures eye view the teachers used a PowerPoint. Then the students were placed in the different sections and planned their approach for their environment with diagrams and words depicting their intentions. The students used numeracy skills throughout the lesson by determining the layout of their environment and the proportion of objects in their environment. Some of the drawings students encompassed showed their animal then a picture of a full-grown person next to it representing the proportion of their creature. Students encompassed 21st century skills by making connections of artist statements to zoo descriptions. They realized that people like to know what is going on and the ability to describe those intentions/depictions need to be present when talking about many things. Another 21st century skill students used was the ability to problem solve. Throughout the unit, students missed lessons or were stuck in a spot. Their ability to problem solve determined whether or not they finished the project. This is a very important 21st century skill and it will continue to show up throughout their lives.
Strategies for Classroom Management Relevant to Lesson Taught in the Unit:
Lesson 1: Breaking Ground
This lesson took place in the library, so we had to establish expectations and proper behavior. Things we addressed right away, were appropriate volume levels when talking and a work ethic that is productive. When going to the library we had a teacher in front, in the middle and in the back. For the most part the students behaved great. They were at a level, where they each respected each other and the teachers as well. Students were engaged in the research part and they all participated. To get some students on track, teachers helped the students find resources relevant to their creature.
Lesson 2: Feeling it out:
To begin, we talked with the students on proper clay techniques. They were old enough and mature enough to know that throwing clay was not appropriate behavior. Before we began, we reiterated appropriate behaviors and checked for understanding with thumbs up or thumb down. We did not begin till everyone had his or her thumb up. To ensure that the classroom wasn’t a mess, teachers came in prior to the lesson and set up. Tables were covered and in certain areas, the floor was covered as well. As time progressed teachers reiterated the importance of keeping the clay on the table. When it came to time to clean up, the teachers designated jobs for each student. Some students went around picking up scraps of clay that made it onto the floor whereas others wiped the desks down. Designating “jobs” to each student was very important in the clean up process and management of the classroom. It put the power in the students’ hands and showed them they could be respected with authority.
Lesson 3: The art of planning
As time progressed, our management skills began to evolve. With these particular lessons, we would get on the students level and talk about the day’s objectives so they had a goal in mind. This also helped students realize there was a purpose to the lessons. For example, when Lindsey taught her lesson, she talked about birds-eye, peoples-eye, and creatures-eye view before hand and showed them examples. These examples helped them make connections and keep them on track. The more in depth their projects became, the more we had to think about ways to ensure the classroom was not destroyed. For instance, when working with plaster for their environments and/or parts of their creatures, it was important to have an extensive cover on the floor. The same goes when painting. We set up areas before the lesson to ensure clean up was effective. Throughout the lessons, if students were mis-behaving, the teachers would take them out of class and have a discussion with them. This simple discussion allowed the student to get back on track and focus their energy towards productive art making. Right from the beginning, using the students with set up parts and mainly clean-up was incredibly effective and allowed for them to work longer on their projects.
This lesson took place in the library, so we had to establish expectations and proper behavior. Things we addressed right away, were appropriate volume levels when talking and a work ethic that is productive. When going to the library we had a teacher in front, in the middle and in the back. For the most part the students behaved great. They were at a level, where they each respected each other and the teachers as well. Students were engaged in the research part and they all participated. To get some students on track, teachers helped the students find resources relevant to their creature.
Lesson 2: Feeling it out:
To begin, we talked with the students on proper clay techniques. They were old enough and mature enough to know that throwing clay was not appropriate behavior. Before we began, we reiterated appropriate behaviors and checked for understanding with thumbs up or thumb down. We did not begin till everyone had his or her thumb up. To ensure that the classroom wasn’t a mess, teachers came in prior to the lesson and set up. Tables were covered and in certain areas, the floor was covered as well. As time progressed teachers reiterated the importance of keeping the clay on the table. When it came to time to clean up, the teachers designated jobs for each student. Some students went around picking up scraps of clay that made it onto the floor whereas others wiped the desks down. Designating “jobs” to each student was very important in the clean up process and management of the classroom. It put the power in the students’ hands and showed them they could be respected with authority.
Lesson 3: The art of planning
As time progressed, our management skills began to evolve. With these particular lessons, we would get on the students level and talk about the day’s objectives so they had a goal in mind. This also helped students realize there was a purpose to the lessons. For example, when Lindsey taught her lesson, she talked about birds-eye, peoples-eye, and creatures-eye view before hand and showed them examples. These examples helped them make connections and keep them on track. The more in depth their projects became, the more we had to think about ways to ensure the classroom was not destroyed. For instance, when working with plaster for their environments and/or parts of their creatures, it was important to have an extensive cover on the floor. The same goes when painting. We set up areas before the lesson to ensure clean up was effective. Throughout the lessons, if students were mis-behaving, the teachers would take them out of class and have a discussion with them. This simple discussion allowed the student to get back on track and focus their energy towards productive art making. Right from the beginning, using the students with set up parts and mainly clean-up was incredibly effective and allowed for them to work longer on their projects.
Unit Lesson Plans:
Lesson 1: Breaking Ground
To begin, students get their unique imaginations rolling by sketching ideas for their creature/ mystical animal in their sketchbook. After a bit of brainstorming, Students will look through books that focus on natural biology while sketching down their ideas and building upon previous knowledge. Research done by each student will depend on the creature they choose. The students will be able to use traditional resources for ideation of new art. One visual element we will ask students to focus on is how the texture of their creature is influenced by the environment it lives. We want students to understand how physical features of their creature are related to the environment they live in. This art lesson is focused on developing ideas and showing students the importance of understanding your subject matter when creating a work of art. To assess what the students have learned, the teachers will collect a ticket out the door consisting of a quick write that explains what the creature eats, where it lives, and how big it is.
To begin, students get their unique imaginations rolling by sketching ideas for their creature/ mystical animal in their sketchbook. After a bit of brainstorming, Students will look through books that focus on natural biology while sketching down their ideas and building upon previous knowledge. Research done by each student will depend on the creature they choose. The students will be able to use traditional resources for ideation of new art. One visual element we will ask students to focus on is how the texture of their creature is influenced by the environment it lives. We want students to understand how physical features of their creature are related to the environment they live in. This art lesson is focused on developing ideas and showing students the importance of understanding your subject matter when creating a work of art. To assess what the students have learned, the teachers will collect a ticket out the door consisting of a quick write that explains what the creature eats, where it lives, and how big it is.
Here students are engaged in research for their creature and its environment. Books were the primary source of knowledge for the unit.
This is a picture of student work that gives some of the characteristics of the creature. For instance, it "eats mustaches, lives in New York and is ten million years old". Very imaginative student and likes to talk about his artwork with anyone he can.
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Reflection:
"After observing and talking with the students, I realized how their (4th/5th graders) imaginations had not yet been tainted by becoming older and closer to middle school. I initially was a little worried that they were going to not welcome the idea for building a zoo. However all the students quickly participated and fed off of each others creativity. One of the highlights of the class for me was when Melanie asked a student what her creature ate and she said “swim team members”. Then Melanie did what a good art teacher does and asked “why it ate that” and the student replied “Because that’s what it eats” (simple as that) After witnessing all of their unique imaginations I became very optimistic. Due to their individual unique creativity and the direction they took the lesson we decided to alter our unit plan and focus it around these unique imaginations. Now they will be able to create their unique creature and their environments. By changing the idea from traditional animals to imaginary/mystical we are enabling the student to guide the route of the lesson and in turn it will create a more exciting and unique unit for both students and teachers." -Journal entry #2 Right off the bat, we realized we had to change up the lesson and had we not done that, I believe our Unit would not have succeeded near as much as it did. It is important for the teacher to realize what the students are interested in and take action to alter the plans to fit the students needs. "I believe the research lesson was essential for our project, however, students like [student 4] and [student 2] were more off track and harder to convince the importance of research. This particular lesson showed the diversity of the students thinking processes and which students took advantage of the time to enhance their creature through knowledge. Also the fact that they were not able to access the internet, hurt the learning processes of some students." -Journal entry #3 I believe in order for this research lesson to be totally effective, students should have had the capability of using technology (computers with internet access). This was one of the downfalls of the lesson and the sources used need to be relevant to the times. In the future I would have the option of utilizing both traditional books and new-age sources like internet and blogs. |
Lesson 2: Feeling it out
This lesson focused on visual elements of 2-D texture and how they relate to creating texture in a 3-D form. This lesson is also geared towards getting the students to experiment with and explore the new material of clay. Whether they are building it up, scratching away at it, or imprinting things into it, students will work towards replicating textures they recognize from the world around them with. Through this process, students will explore a variety of tools that can be used with clay. This will be one of the guiding steps towards figuring out which direction they want to take their zoo enclosure. This time will also be spent thinking about connections between the creatures physical traits and their environment. For example a creature that is purple and scaley probably would not live in the arctic.
This lesson focused on visual elements of 2-D texture and how they relate to creating texture in a 3-D form. This lesson is also geared towards getting the students to experiment with and explore the new material of clay. Whether they are building it up, scratching away at it, or imprinting things into it, students will work towards replicating textures they recognize from the world around them with. Through this process, students will explore a variety of tools that can be used with clay. This will be one of the guiding steps towards figuring out which direction they want to take their zoo enclosure. This time will also be spent thinking about connections between the creatures physical traits and their environment. For example a creature that is purple and scaley probably would not live in the arctic.
Reflection: "If I can teach anything to these students, I want them to understand the importance of practice and persistence. If Van Gogh would’ve stopped painting when he was in 4th grade I highly imagine Starry Night would’ve never been painted. Another thing that struck me was the students abilities to work with each other, yet make their processes their own. For instance, we had them create different textures. One of the textures they did was scales, and we had them give examples to put on a discovery bored. There were at least 10 examples of different student work that represented scales. As I walked around the room I could hear “Wow, how’d you do that”, followed by “Well i poked this thingy in the clay then used this thingy to squirt clay under it”." -Journal entry #4
This lesson emphasized exploration. This is a key concept that many artists figure out early on to develop methods or evolve existing methods into something more complex and bewildering. The only thing that could have made this lesson better would be to have some sort of recording device that was recording the whole lesson because there was constant creativity and experimentation. "While walking around it was clear to see some of the students getting frustrated with the building. Not only were they not able to make what they wanted but they were not using the techniques I demo’ed. This reminded me of the stage of development they were at: realistic stage. They were not able to make it look like how they envisioned in their mind. As I walked around, I got on the students level and started to ask questions. With one on one experience they began to understand the importance of the techniques. However, that barrier of not being able to create what they wanted still remained. Some students went with it and changed their animal to fit how it looked like, while others just began to play with the clay." -Journal entry # 5 This emphasizes something very important, and that is to not give up. Students need to realize they are not going to be perfect right off the bat. They need to understand the importance of persistence and practice. At their age, their skills need developing but their imaginations are exuberant. To enhance this lesson, I think we needed to touch on this topic much more than we did. To influence their creativity instead of their rendering of objects would have made a more effective lesson (in my opinion). This could be done by showing a wide variety of abstract creatures as well as real ones. That and showing artwork from early aged individuals to their artwork currently (for example: Salvador Dali's work as a kid to his end work). When one is able to see that progression, then one is able to see that it took years upon years to reach the level where they are at now. "Students are increasing their understanding of the clay building processes. This means they are starting to accept that their are some helpful processes out there in the world that are useful and relevant. With younger individuals sometimes, they think they know everything there is to know. There imaginations are much more vibrant and active than the typical adult but their are some things that are important for them to know, and clay processes are an example. Students ability to fit their creature to what it looked like shows that they are letting the artwork lead them, not letting their minds lead them. They are going with the flow. This is a beautiful sight to see because they are breaking down barriers of what it “has to be” to what “it becomes”. Many scientists stumble across something brilliant they never intended in the first place. This is the same case. The students are becoming more open-minded and willing to work with their artwork."-Journal entry#6 The ability to change the project to what it was becoming instead of what it "had to be" was why they unit was so successful. Had we as teachers not allowed them to adjust their plans, then their would have been many unhappy students. This is an example of a finished clay work where the student utilized mixed media to add texture and create a neck for the clay head.
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This picture portrays the discovery board of textures. During this time students had the ability to put their clay samples on the board as it relates to a certain type of texture.
This student incorporated a variety of techniques and textures he learned from his classmates or through exploration. He implemented the techniques of slip and score as well as armature.
This is an example of a finished clay work. The student also decided to add a variety of mixed media materials to transform the rough clay into something that portrayed a creature that could fly (she made connections that feathers are associated with flight).
This picture shows the process of the student hallowing out his clay structure so it would not blow up in the kiln.
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Lesson 3: Art of planning
The overarching theme of this lesson is how to take an idea in your head and bring it to life by creating an art object. In this lesson we will look deeper into the planning process by focusing on how artists use 2-D mediums to create 3-D works of art. Students will look at how several artists plan for 3-D production by drawing from several perspectives. Students will then plan for their own 3-D production by drawing their enclosure from 3 different perspectives: that of a zoo visitor, of the creature they created, and of a bird flying overhead. After creating 2-D plans for their creatures environment students will bring their ideas to life using a wide variety of mixed media materials. Once they have finished their individual enclosures we will talk about the importance of presentation by putting the enclosures together to prepare for the “big opening” of their zoo. Students will reflect on their design decisions by putting together informational brochures that are intended to let visitors know more about their animal.
The overarching theme of this lesson is how to take an idea in your head and bring it to life by creating an art object. In this lesson we will look deeper into the planning process by focusing on how artists use 2-D mediums to create 3-D works of art. Students will look at how several artists plan for 3-D production by drawing from several perspectives. Students will then plan for their own 3-D production by drawing their enclosure from 3 different perspectives: that of a zoo visitor, of the creature they created, and of a bird flying overhead. After creating 2-D plans for their creatures environment students will bring their ideas to life using a wide variety of mixed media materials. Once they have finished their individual enclosures we will talk about the importance of presentation by putting the enclosures together to prepare for the “big opening” of their zoo. Students will reflect on their design decisions by putting together informational brochures that are intended to let visitors know more about their animal.
This picture shows the different stations. To the far left there is the peoples-eye view station and to the right there is the creatures-eye view station (the birds-eye view station is not shown in the picture).
Materials such as yarn, puff balls, pip cleaners, paper of all sorts and other mixed media materials allowed for experimentation and creativity to flourish.
The student pictured above has a variety of mixed media pieces in his environment. During this time he was situating the layout of everything. The teacher had him return to his plans in his sketchbook for inspiration/guidance. The student was also able to understand that wet paint could be used as a glue. Some of the pieces were applied directly to the wet paint to keep them in place. This was something the student discovered.
This picture depicts "Chicken-zilla" (in red) and "Brain-zilla" (in black) coexisting. This student began by experimenting and creating new ideas, however as time progressed he wanted to remove "Brain-zilla". With more interaction with his teachers, and feedback from his classmates, he decided to leave "Brain-zilla". This picture shows his creative diversity by his ability to create a creature out of clay and out of mixed media. It also depicts his experimenting through the use of glue and sand. Instead of depicting trees realistically, he explored materials and incorporated other mediums to create unique tree sculptures.
This picture depicts two students creatures coexisting. They collaborated throughout the process and determined the layout as it related to each individual animal and as a whole. The pipe cleaner hanging from above was a creative toy the students thought to add to make their environment more animal friendly, thus humane.
This environment utilizes a wide variety of materials and exploration. She was the only one to do a realistic animal (turtle) and her planning was effective throughout the semester.
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Reflection: "This lesson helped us teachers see the multiple intelligence levels. Going from one angle to another was easy for some and more difficult for others. As a teacher I was able to see this and try to explain it in a way that made sense. For instance, when describing birds-eye view I said to them “imagine if you were on a chair looking down on me… all you would see is the top of my head (maybe baldness). Then they realized that the sides of the trees would not be seen and they re-edited their pictures. One student problem solved and started cutting out eye holes on her paper for the Persons-eye view. Then she told me it was for the people to look through when they were viewing her animal and habitat. I thought this was very imaginative and portrayed peoples-eye view beautifully." -Journal entry #7
This lesson went well because all of the students were engaged and eventually persisted long enough to grasp each concept. In the future I would utilize technology more, to increase understandings. Perhaps show videos (relate to the students) that show each angle from multiple perspectives. “Times are a changing”, and it is humbling to see young individuals want to work together and help each other out. I am continuing to shed my perceptions of students and be open to letting them prove me wrong. What I’m learning throughout this experience, in a sense, is to let go. Let the students guide the lesson. Of course one needs to be well prepared with a lesson but if the students take it another route, then let them. There were art forms being made that I would have never thought of, and because of the freedom of the lesson itself, it allowed them to be themselves and utilize their creativity. One thing that was important was the wide variety of materials we brought. This made the lesson a success and allowed different learning styles and imaginations to come forth. -Journal entry #8 Having a wide variety of materials for the students to use and/or experiment with one aspect that can take a work of art to the next level. For this particular day, students grabbed for their materials like they were tricker-treating. There were mixed opinions from the students to whether or not they liked it. Some students got what they wanted whereas some didn't. In order to make a more effective lesson, the could have had back-up supply's for the students who were unhappy with what they got. "My skepticism is vanishing and seeing students work together effectively and creativity makes me think how lessons in the future, can be enhanced when working in groups is an option." -Journal entry #9 Giving students the option to work in pairs was a great idea however some students like student 12 might have been able to explore more ideas if he worked alone. Either way, it was his option to work with another person. By giving the student choice with many things, one is empowering them to think for themselves. "When students understand the wide variety of uses of a process such as armature, then their understanding increases and they realize they can apply those methods to works in the future. Another thing I continue to notice is student are becoming more and more comfortable with our presence and that means they are more likely to talk about their artwork. In the beginning it was hard for me to get certain students to talk, that is no longer. The idea of “patience is a virtue” arises yet again." -Journal entry #10 Towards the end of the unit, students regularly transferred knowledge from beginning lessons to current ones. They were making connections with art and the outside world. One student referred to his friends cast for his broken arm as a type of armature that kept his bones from coming out of place. Their ability to reflect also increased as they grew more comfortable with us teachers. This could be enhanced by having more group discussions after each lesson. More time for one-on-one interaction also creates relationships that allow students to express themselves and talk about their artwork in more depth. This is an example of a students zoo diagram for his creature and it's environment. In this activity, students used their literacy skills of writing to describe their creatures and their environments.
This student created a white wonder land for her human eating owl. She utilized the materials in a creative way and made sure to fill her entire environment (key part of the creation and experimentation assessment).
This might look like a hodge-podge of materials or chaos, but if you were to ask each student whats going on, they would be able to explain every aspect in thorough detail. Every lesson they were engaged and adding or subtracting materials as it related to their evolving ideas.
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