Adventuring

Last week was the introduction of Sand Art. We covered symbols, colors, and the students began making their own symbols. Today, we began the adventure of creating Sand Art.
I began today's lesson by reviewing what we had talked about last week. I reminded them of their symbols and let them know what we were going to be doing today. Before I let them start working with the glue and "sand" (it was really salt with food coloring), I wanted them to show me a rough draft of what they were planning on drawing with "sand".
I showed them a diagram of what their art should look like, the idea was to mimic the Sand Art of the Navajo Indians. To mimic their style, I reviewed the layout of the Sand Art. The symbols needed to point towards the cardinal directions of north, east, south, and west. I showed them a quick example on the board and then let them get to work on their rough drafts.
The rough drafts needed to be passed off so that I could make sure that they weren't creating designs that would not work using the Sand Art process. For instance, their symbols needed to be draw large enough that you could still tell what it was once they used the glue and "sand".
Once the roughs were passed off, the students were able to move to the glue and "sand" stations. There happened to be a few parent helpers that were able to help set up the station with and direct the students as I passed off roughs and gave them help with their projects.
The students were very energetic and excited to get up and work. They also did a great job of being careful as they worked to not get "sand" on the floors and share with their classmates. Before any of them worked with the "sand" I had also demonstrated how the process worked so that they could be successful in their art making. Glue was provided as well as toothpicks to help spread the glue over large areas. Mrs. Black had prepared the "sand" beforehand and there were several cups with different colors for the students to choose from.
Everyone worked hard and had a good time. Even the student that had had difficulty last week, was able to come up with a good design and nice symbols. I also made sure to praise his efforts with specific examples of what I liked about his work. It was a good turn around for him and I feel that he enjoyed the art project. In fact, I think all of the students enjoyed the art project. There were a few students that I was informed were a little slower in other areas, but really excelled in the art making process. It was a great way for them to see that they are good students and very capable.
As I am still getting a handle on logistics and classroom management, I did notice that there was one area that I could have improved in. That is, when students finished their art, I needed to let them know what activities were appropriate for them to do and how they needed to turn in their artwork. It was a little hectic near the end when all but a few students were done with their art. Next time, I will make sure that I inform the students the procedure for turning in their art and what they can or should do while everyone else finished with their art.
After the students left for recess, I helped clean up. Clean up was fairly easy since we had put down butcher paper on the tables so that the excess "sand" could be taken off by removing the butcher paper. I am excite to come back next week.

The Next Step

Having received some valuable experience last week, I used what I had learned to help put together the next lesson. I felt that I had rushed a little too much in my first lesson on landscape collages. Many of the students were working, but they didn't quite get the idea of what we were trying to accomplish.
Part of this was that in the first lesson, I didn't want to just stand up there and lecture to them. I wanted to let them make art. It was then that I realized that I could lecture longer and explain more if I would let them participate more. Then they wouldn't be bored with the instruction, they would be taking an active role in the process.
With that in mind, I started the lesson by introducing our activity, Sand Art. I then told them a little about what it was and some of the elements that went into making sand art. The first was that they needed to come up with symbols. Sand isn't very good for making fine details, so they needed symbols that would be read with simple shapes.
I lead the class in thinking about some symbols that they knew, the heart for love, the man for the men's restroom, the crown for a king, etc. I had the children come up and draw some symbols that they knew and everyone was excited to suggest symbols.
Next, the sand art would need to use color. The Navajo Indians who used sand art had specific ideas that were tied to certain colors. Using this as the basis of our art, I had the children name some things that they think of or are reminded of when they see red, blue, green, etc. Calling on the students in turn, everyone was able to offer some input.
I then was able to announce that they would need to make up their own symbols and what their colors would represent so that they could make sand art. The rest of the hour I was there, they worked on creating their symbols and attaching meaning to colors.
Next week, I will demonstrate how to apply sand to designs that they are going to make so that they can create their sand artwork. Using the symbols that they created they will make a composition and then apply sand like a paint by numbers to their work.
They are very excited and so am I.
There were only a few snags with teaching this time. One of which was making sure that I used the teacher's methods for getting student's attention and making sure that they are all looking at me before giving instruction. That way, I don't have to repeat myself as much and it helps them to be consistent in their behavior in the classroom.
One item to note was one young man who was having difficulty coming up with symbols. I tried to help him come up with ideas by asking questions and helping to lead him towards making something, but he seemed very distressed. I will have to take some time to think of how I might be able to help him next week.
One last item of business. I still haven't received all of the photo release forms, so I cannot post pictures at this time. I will go back and post them once I have those documents.

The First Steps

Today, I went to Alpine Elementary School for the first time. Mrs. Black and I had already agreed on the days art lesson, "Landscapes of Utah." As this was my first visit, I observed for the first hour and became acquainted with the layout of the room and was able to see how the students interacted with each other and with Mrs. Black.
Before starting the lesson, we played a quick "name game" to help me learn the student's names and let them move around a little. This was their first day back after a long weekend for Fall Break, so they were still in "vacation mode" a little. I was able to learn a number of their names, but I will still need to work on memorizing them.
The lesson was on Utah's landscapes. The students had been learning about Utah's early history and the different regions that make up Utah. To help them remember the different regions, we wanted them to make landscapes depicting their favorite place in Utah using construction paper to make a collage.
To begin the lesson, I talked briefly about perspective, diminishing size, overlapping, and horizon lines to help them as they constructed their landscape. For the words that were new to them, I wrote them on the board and we talked about definitions to aid in their vocabulary.
Once the instruction of what we were going to be doing and how was over, Mrs. Black reviewed the regions and habitats of Utah with the students to refresh their memory of the different types of landscapes that are found in Utah. We then set them free to gather the construction paper, scissors, and glue that they would need to make their landscape collage.
One of the challenges of the project was that some of the students wanted to draw their landscape. They didn't quite understand how to collage. For those that were having difficulty getting started because of this, I was able to go around and help them as needed. I believe that this may have been better addressed if I had been more clear with my instruction in the beginning. In hindsight, I should have provided some examples of landscape collages. By having an example of the type of work they should be creating, it would have helped the students to better understand what was expected from them.
Many of the students used diminishing size to help show perspective, but not too many used overlapping. Upon reflection, I now know that I should have stressed this more to help them understand how to create depth in their landscape. I mentioned the use of overlapping as a way to assess their learning in the lesson plan, but I failed to clearly state those expectations.
In the future, I plan to make sure that if I mention something as a means to assess the children, I need to make sure that they are aware of that assessment so that they can properly demonstrate their learning.
As this was my first attempt to teach elementary school, I made a few mistakes, but I will learn from them and continue to better myself through the practice of teaching and reflecting. This has been a great experience and I hope to utilize what I have learned to make my next lesson even better.
To view the lesson plan for Landscapes of Utah, you can go to Lesson 1 from the Home page.