Elementary Classroom
Following your elementary classroom observation, describe how art materials, visual forms, images, or activities were used in the classroom by answering the following three questions (200 words total):
1. What form of arts integration or interdisciplinary learning units have you observed? In what ways were the visual forms investigated, learned, discussed, or produced in the classroom?
In my field classroom the teacher conducts weekly reading group meetings. The group begins each new book by going on a "Picture Walk." We spend the entire first day looking at only the pictures of the book, from cover to cover. This time is structured very similar to a VTS session. The kids look at the pictures and what is going on in them, they then make inferences to what they think is happening in the story at that point. Also, during writing time the students are encouraged to illustrate pictures that go along with their stories.
2. Was there a Big Idea or theme used? If so describe. Were students working with narrative, observation, imagination, and / or visual thinking?
I am in a second grade classroom and we do a lot of work on reading and writing. The themes that we have been working on are "Visualizing" the story and "Comprehension" of the actual story. We are taking the books that the kids read and breaking them into two parts. The kids are encouraged to use the pictures to help aide in their understanding of the story. As the kids read the story, they are also invited to create mental images, as well as their own representations of what they see in the story. In reading and writing our focus has been on the Big Idea of "Small Moments." The kids have furthered their skills in writing and illustrating small moments in their life, and showing how important they can be.
3. What suggestions would you have for integration and interdisciplinary learning for this unit or lesson you observed? Try to think how you could make the learning more meaningful, connected, and deeper. Be specific.
I think that some of the studios that we have done would be a great addition to what my host teacher is already doing in her classroom. The Rene Magritt Studio specifically would work excellent when paired with the current Big Idea of "Small Moments." In this studio, we made the post cards that would work as a great way for kids to get thinking about a specific small moment. I could have my students create postcards about a small moment that happened to them, or like in our studio have them create a random small moment on their postcard. This would be a different way to do writing for a day and get the students to think about how small moments happen all the time, but how they can be impactful toward us.
1. What form of arts integration or interdisciplinary learning units have you observed? In what ways were the visual forms investigated, learned, discussed, or produced in the classroom?
In my field classroom the teacher conducts weekly reading group meetings. The group begins each new book by going on a "Picture Walk." We spend the entire first day looking at only the pictures of the book, from cover to cover. This time is structured very similar to a VTS session. The kids look at the pictures and what is going on in them, they then make inferences to what they think is happening in the story at that point. Also, during writing time the students are encouraged to illustrate pictures that go along with their stories.
2. Was there a Big Idea or theme used? If so describe. Were students working with narrative, observation, imagination, and / or visual thinking?
I am in a second grade classroom and we do a lot of work on reading and writing. The themes that we have been working on are "Visualizing" the story and "Comprehension" of the actual story. We are taking the books that the kids read and breaking them into two parts. The kids are encouraged to use the pictures to help aide in their understanding of the story. As the kids read the story, they are also invited to create mental images, as well as their own representations of what they see in the story. In reading and writing our focus has been on the Big Idea of "Small Moments." The kids have furthered their skills in writing and illustrating small moments in their life, and showing how important they can be.
3. What suggestions would you have for integration and interdisciplinary learning for this unit or lesson you observed? Try to think how you could make the learning more meaningful, connected, and deeper. Be specific.
I think that some of the studios that we have done would be a great addition to what my host teacher is already doing in her classroom. The Rene Magritt Studio specifically would work excellent when paired with the current Big Idea of "Small Moments." In this studio, we made the post cards that would work as a great way for kids to get thinking about a specific small moment. I could have my students create postcards about a small moment that happened to them, or like in our studio have them create a random small moment on their postcard. This would be a different way to do writing for a day and get the students to think about how small moments happen all the time, but how they can be impactful toward us.
Art Classroom
Following your art room observations describe (200 words total):
1. The content of the lesson, written and spoken objectives, and resources used.
For this lesson, the teacher had challenged the students in the class the week before to think about their everyday lives. She wanted them to think of something in their life that they felt could be changed or improved upon by the creation of a new invention. For this lesson, the children "created" their new inventions. The students were given a sheet of blank paper to illustrate their invention on. There were markers, crayons, and colored pencils available to color with. The students were also asked to name their invention, tell some characteristics about it, pitch some reasons why people would want to purchase this invention, and tell who the target market would be.
2. The teacher, her / his teaching strategies and format / process of the lesson as presented.
At the beginning of the class the teacher opened up the front of the room for some students to come up and share art stories. The students are encouraged to find art in their lives and bring it in to share. Some items shared were a homemade rubber bracelet, a foreign coin with a family crest engraved, and a book detailing how the author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid began the illustrations of his books. After this share time, the teacher introduced the lesson for the day. She had the students recall what invention they had been brainstorming over the last week. She then went over the required pieces that each invention would need to include and encouraged the students to think outside the box! She then asked the students to their seats. She asked a few students to be helpers and get the supplies for their tables. As the students got to work, she wrote the instructions up on the board of what all needed to be included in the work. She circled the room to help assist when needed.
3. Student engagement of the lesson, classroom atmosphere, and environment.
The students really enjoyed this lesson. Most of them had a fun time inventing a thing that could aide them in their everyday lives. Some students struggled to think of things that they could invent but after discussion with the teacher and classmates were able to come up with an invention that they could use.
4. Classroom behavior management.
The classroom was split up into color tables (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.) Certain students were assigned to sit at a designated color table. The art supplies that each table could use was in a corresponding colored tub. This made it easy for students to find the supplies that they could use and not argue over whose supplies were whose. The students were asked to talk in a "1" voice, this means an inside, normal voice. If the room got too loud the teacher would indicate that they students had lost the ability to talk and they were asked to go to a "0" voice, or no talking. Also the teacher used a few songs to get the kids attention or indicate that they needed to be doing something, such as the sitter song, the cleanup song, and the line up song. Each of these were good ways to get the students to behave properly.
5. Compare the art classroom to the regular classroom in regards to the teaching strategies, lesson presentation, student engagement, classroom atmosphere, environment, and behavior management.
Both the regular classroom and the art classroom employ many of the same strategies to manage the class. The art classroom has its walls covered with ideas, reminders, and inspiration for art. Similarly a regular classroom does the same thing but for many subjects. Both teachers must use many behavior management strategies such as songs, indicators, and discipline techniques. Also, both an art teacher and a classroom teacher must give instructions, write them down, and then walk around to help students who are struggling with the concepts. Art teachers must deal with the added work of making sure the art supplies are being used correctly and appropriately. Much instruction time is needed for this. It was beneficial to see how an art classroom operates as opposed to a regular classroom.
1. The content of the lesson, written and spoken objectives, and resources used.
For this lesson, the teacher had challenged the students in the class the week before to think about their everyday lives. She wanted them to think of something in their life that they felt could be changed or improved upon by the creation of a new invention. For this lesson, the children "created" their new inventions. The students were given a sheet of blank paper to illustrate their invention on. There were markers, crayons, and colored pencils available to color with. The students were also asked to name their invention, tell some characteristics about it, pitch some reasons why people would want to purchase this invention, and tell who the target market would be.
2. The teacher, her / his teaching strategies and format / process of the lesson as presented.
At the beginning of the class the teacher opened up the front of the room for some students to come up and share art stories. The students are encouraged to find art in their lives and bring it in to share. Some items shared were a homemade rubber bracelet, a foreign coin with a family crest engraved, and a book detailing how the author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid began the illustrations of his books. After this share time, the teacher introduced the lesson for the day. She had the students recall what invention they had been brainstorming over the last week. She then went over the required pieces that each invention would need to include and encouraged the students to think outside the box! She then asked the students to their seats. She asked a few students to be helpers and get the supplies for their tables. As the students got to work, she wrote the instructions up on the board of what all needed to be included in the work. She circled the room to help assist when needed.
3. Student engagement of the lesson, classroom atmosphere, and environment.
The students really enjoyed this lesson. Most of them had a fun time inventing a thing that could aide them in their everyday lives. Some students struggled to think of things that they could invent but after discussion with the teacher and classmates were able to come up with an invention that they could use.
4. Classroom behavior management.
The classroom was split up into color tables (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.) Certain students were assigned to sit at a designated color table. The art supplies that each table could use was in a corresponding colored tub. This made it easy for students to find the supplies that they could use and not argue over whose supplies were whose. The students were asked to talk in a "1" voice, this means an inside, normal voice. If the room got too loud the teacher would indicate that they students had lost the ability to talk and they were asked to go to a "0" voice, or no talking. Also the teacher used a few songs to get the kids attention or indicate that they needed to be doing something, such as the sitter song, the cleanup song, and the line up song. Each of these were good ways to get the students to behave properly.
5. Compare the art classroom to the regular classroom in regards to the teaching strategies, lesson presentation, student engagement, classroom atmosphere, environment, and behavior management.
Both the regular classroom and the art classroom employ many of the same strategies to manage the class. The art classroom has its walls covered with ideas, reminders, and inspiration for art. Similarly a regular classroom does the same thing but for many subjects. Both teachers must use many behavior management strategies such as songs, indicators, and discipline techniques. Also, both an art teacher and a classroom teacher must give instructions, write them down, and then walk around to help students who are struggling with the concepts. Art teachers must deal with the added work of making sure the art supplies are being used correctly and appropriately. Much instruction time is needed for this. It was beneficial to see how an art classroom operates as opposed to a regular classroom.