Extra credit #2

Extra Credit #2- Art in the classroom
For an extra credit assignment I used art within my social studies lesson. The lesson was on Ancient Greece architecture and the Olympics. I first used technology to create a power point to show the students images of different architecture, the columns and all the different sports. I showed them how the images of the Olympic sports were painted on pottery and other places. The students were amazed at how tall the columns were in many of the buildings. The students were then given four questions and had to choose two to complete. The questions are written below. This lesson gave the students to take their knowledge and apply it to create something of their own. They took things they learned about the columns and architecture to create their own buildings.
1) Create a temple of your choice, using Greek Architecture. In three sentences or more, explain what the purpose of your temple is and how people would use it in Ancient Greece.
2) If you were a sculptor during Ancient Greek times, draw a sketch of something you might sculpt. Write what your sculpture is, what you made it out of, and why you made it?
3) Design your own Olympic sport that could be played at the Greek Olympics. This must be a sport that does not exist now or then. Draw what your sport would look like and write how the sport is played and why it would be important to do during the Greek Olympics.
4) Draw a picture of you playing your favorite Greek Olympic sport. Write why it is your favorite sport and why you think people enjoyed playing it or watching it during the Greek Olympics. What is dangerous about this sport during Ancient Greek times?

Extra Credit #1

Extra Credit #1- Art in the classroom
For one of my lessons I used art as a large portion. I do not have images of the student work because I had to turn them in with my lesson. The lesson was a social studies lesson. The topic was on Ancient Egypt. The students were having difficulties with the new vocabulary words. Their teacher would just make them copy the vocabulary words and look up the definition in the back of their text book. I could tell that this was extremely boring to them and they were not learning the words. In this 6th grade class, I decided to use art in my lesson. The students had the option to choose the vocabulary word that they wanted to do. The vocabulary word was typed on the top of their page. Below their was a space for them to illustrate what the vocabulary word meant and below they had to use that vocabulary word and write 3 to 6 sentences about it from a Pharaoh’s perspective. The students loved this lesson. They always have to do boring worksheets, and they truly enjoyed illustrating their vocabulary word. They were able to show what the word meant to them. It was interesting to see the different interpretations of the word the students had. The students shared their work with each other. By having the illustrations, the students were able to better remember what the words meant and it no longer was just text to help them remember.

Developing criteria rubrics in the art classroom

Developing criteria rubrics in the art classroom
One part about rubrics that I find very important is that they should not be used only by the teachers. I believe that the students should be given the rubric before an art assignment so that they have a clear expectation of what is expected of them. The students should also be able to grade themselves on their work, using the same rubric the teacher uses. This will give the students a chance to reflect on their work and to think about their strengths and what they can improve upon next time. I don’t think any rubric should have comments or words that are very negative, such as bad or weakness. Teachers should try to use positive language. For example, instead of saying a weakness, the teacher should say that something the student could improve upon.
When creating a rubric, it should be very clear to the students what the rubric means and the expectations. What should be on the rubric is exactly what you wanted the students to get out of the assignment. To be able to create a good rubric in order to know what to asses, the teacher should go back and look at his/her objectives. If the objectives are written correctly and they are measurable, then the teacher will be able to create a clear rubric.

Romare Bearden- Let's walk the block

Let’s Walk the Block

Romare Bearden’s art work is so interesting. It really shows how your life experiences, music and culture can truly affect your art work. It changes the way you look at the world, how to create art and what you want your art to express. I really liked how he uses so many different things in his art to create an image. By doing a collage type piece of work, it is so interesting to the eye. There is so many different things to looks at. I find it interesting how someone could use such different pieces to create something and how if someone was given the same pieces, it would be totally different. I find it amazing all of the places that he has been too. Every place can be seen as inspiration. I am jealous that he is able to live in St. Martin now to create his artwork. I sure could find that place inspirational!

Islamic Art and Geometric Design

I really liked the Islamic art articles. I think it is a great idea is to have students learn about different art and different art forms from other cultures other than their own. I like the Islamic art activity because it is simple to do and the students can all make their designs very different. It is so amazing to look at the designs and see all the different shapes in them and how they come together to create an amazing works of art. By adding different colors to the design, it can give the art a completely different look by enhancing certain shapes and designs. The introduction to Islamic art would be great for students to learn. As an extension project, students could research other cultures and their art, or explore ones that they had already learned a little about. Students can them create a larger piece of work to go along with the culture that they have been studying. At the end of their research and creating their art, the students can present about the culture and show their work. This is a great way to bring art into the classroom and to make the curriculum multicultural.

Graphic Novels

I find that the students that I have worked with love reading comics and creating them. I think it is a very creative and engaging ways for students to show their knowledge of the content through a comic strip. The comics made by the class could be put together into a book to create a graphic novel. Before reading the article I have not heard a comic book be called a graphic novel. I think for children, hearing that they will create a comic book is more exciting because that is the term they are familiar with but they can be taught the new term. Comics tend to make the content more interesting to the reader because you are not just reading the text and the pictures are able to help the students to make better sense of the material. This is very good for students because people are very visual learners.

Rube Goldberg

I really liked how the art teacher used Rube Goldberg’s ideas in his class. I have seen science teacher’s work with their students to create Rube Goldberg machines, while learning about different machines such as a lever or pulley, but I haven’t seen any art teacher work with their students on this. I think it is a great way for students to be very creative and different from their other peers. By drawing their designs on paper, they can think of anything, whereas if they were to actually create it, they may be limited due to materials.
In my science course a few years ago we created our own Rube Goldberg machines. This was so much fun because I was able to do anything I wanted. It really made me think about each piece of my machine and how the would all work together. Rube Goldberg’s machines amaze me and his drawings can be comical sometimes too. I enjoy seeing the chain of events that happen between the different parts, just like in the game Mouse Trap. I feel that designing these machines either on paper or actually doing it would be great for visual learners and students who are more hands on. It gives students such excitement when creating these contraptions to see everything work and the final, simpler task is achieved at the end.
One thing that I like to do is to go onto Youtube.com and see all the different intentions people have made using Rube Goldberg’s ideas.