Animals Everywhere

When I originally met with Mrs. Black about what lessons I could present for the students to aid in their learning, she had mentioned that they would be studying animal adaptations in January. Although I will not be able to continue to come in and provide art integration in January, we thought that a lesson on animal adaptations would still be a good art project to help lead into the curriculum later.
Children in general love animals, or at least Mrs. Black's 4th grade class does. So, I worked on a lesson that would allow the students to learn about animals and get creative as well. You can find the lesson under the Lesson 3 tab. The idea was to get them to sculpt an animal that they would create and then place that animal in a small habitat that they would construct using Jell-O boxes. I was inspired by the art of Peruvian Retablos. They are made of wood and have doors on the front that open outward to reveal a small scene in sculpture.
For our purposes, we will use Jell-O boxes instead of wooden boxes. The students will paint a habitat inside the box and sculpt their animal with Sculpey. After their animals are baked, the students will paint them as well.
Before we could get to painting and sculpting, I wanted to first get the students thinking about an animal they would want to make and draw it out. So today's lesson was focused on learning about animal adaptations and then using that knowledge to come up with an animal.
I started the lesson by asking the students, "Who likes animals?" They all raised their hands enthusiastically. I then went through the steps of my lesson plan by asking them about different adaptations that animals have. I explained how the shape of a bird's beak helps you know what it eats. We then talked about how animals defend themselves, hide, and get their food. I had the students participate the entire time by giving me examples and naming animals that they knew had those adaptations.
The students were excited to learn about animals and how the way they look was influenced by their unique adaptations. We also talked about the differences between predator and prey, carnivore and herbivore, and mammals and other animals. While this dialog was going on, I would draw examples of the aspects we were mentioning on the white board. This way, they had a visual reference for the topic we were currently on.
After going over the adaptations of animals and their different features, it was time to move on. I handed out a worksheet to help them brainstorm what their animal would look like and what it would be. As they were doing this, I also noticed that some of them were a little timid about making up an animal. So I went over some examples with the class. I showed them that their animal could have long legs or short legs depending on if they needed to run fast, reach high, or dig in the ground. I also showed them that their animal could have different defense mechanism, like horns, spikes, or camouflage. There was even an example inspired by a student that if our animal swims it could have webbed feet.
With this new understanding, the students got back to work and created their animals. It would occasionally get a little rowdy, so we would periodically remind the students to stay on task and not be disruptive. I walked around the room and helped out as needed, looking at their drawings and offering praise for their originality and creativity.
That was the end of today's work. Next week, I will go back and we will sculpt their animals. In the meantime, I have also asked that Mrs. Black enroll the help of the parents to get Jell-O boxes for each of the students so that in two weeks time we can paint their habitats.
Overall, the lesson was well received and the whole class enjoyed themselves. I am thinking of having them write a little biography about their animal to help tie in the adaptations portion of the lesson. I noticed that some were not really putting as much thought into the adaptations, but just making an animal that they thought looked cool. Part of that was because I wasn't as clear as I could have been on the expectation. I will remind them of this next week. They should be able to come up with reasons for why their animals look the way they do and have the features they do. I will take time to help them think that through as well.