Designing Dream Houses and considering the environment

This week I taught the concept of dream houses, where students can make floor plans of their buildings and construct at least one floor in 3-D. We only had one student this week, so she got extra attention from both of us. After starting with the opening ceremony, asking what she did that was creative this week, I explained that she would be making a dream house that could be for humans, animals or other beings. I wanted her to consider the environment and context for her house. Would it be communal or solitary? Who would live there and how would you consider the area around the house as affecting the design and function of the place? Then I showed my examples and emphasized how people would move from one room to another as well as energy uses in the house. After, I showed some slides about Erwin Wurm’s, Fat House in Vienna, the fanciful, automaton, Hellbrunn Castle in Germany, and communal experiment, Arcosanti in Arizona.

Originally in the lesson, I wanted students to write a story or narrative about their design for the viewer in the later exhibition we would have at the end, but since there was only one student, I let her spend more time on her 3-D piece because her usual buddy was absent today, so there was some time spent in focusing her actions. She might be there next week when she can completely finish her project and do the writing and exhibiting. She spent a good amount of time on the sketch, which I was surprised by, because in the other classes they all seemed to want to jump into 3-D instead of the drawing part. She made a great drawing and added details like a movie room and a special bedroom for her mom. I explained how to add symbols for doors and windows that architects use including labeling the floor plans.

I’m trying to focus on enjoying the act of teaching more; since there is so much prep time, sometimes you can lose focus on the actual teaching. In Michael Linsin’s, Classroom Management for Art, Music and PE Teachers, he talks about developing a love for teaching that affects student motivation and the artwork produced. If you love your lessons and are excited about imparting them, the students will be better engaged and behaved. Part of this requires knowing the interests of your students and giving choices as motivational factors. Knowing what excites them can give your lessons a lot of life.

Overall, I think this lesson was successful because the student made a complete product of a floor plan in 2-D and 3-D, considering the location and inhabitants of the house. I used formative assessment as the main tool during this activity since there was only one student, asking her questions about the considerations for her piece. I think in the future, I would also emphasize scale more, especially with older students and add in a math component using rulers. One final part to consider is if students want to use entire boxes, like she did, these lessons might require another class period. If they were just building one floor, it would take less time. Had she finished her story in time, this would have been a nice example of Stephanie Juno’s chapter in Artful Teaching, that describes “making learning visible” through additional artifacts of the process and accompanying text to help explain what she learned in the activity.

 

Rube Goldberg Machines with colleen

This week I helped out during Colleen’s lesson on Rube Goldberg machines. She started off by showing them Ok-Go videos and images of his sketches to get them intrigued and “get the ball rolling.” She engaged them by asking questions about Mousetrap the game and if they’ve ever heard of Goldberg or seen his inventions. We had two girls this week since one student was absent, and they really loved collaborating together at the beginning during the brainstorming session, and then ended up making two distinct machines.

Colleen instructed them to draw out their sketches and spent time talking with them about what machines they could invent such as ones for nail polish painting, applying make up and I added in some ideas as well. She showed them her 3-D example and told them they could make a machine that actually works or not.

The kids played around with the recycled materials as they were brainstorming to get their brains and hands moving which helped them generate ideas.

They surprised me by constructing really large machines that went from ceiling to table or table to floor. It was a physical process they were involved in and enjoyed being a part of. She also used a pop quiz with them towards the end and asked if they remembered the artist’s name we looked at as a kind of formative assessment.

 

Overall, this lesson was successful because she had materials prepared and organized, images for them to look over and discuss, an example which helped them visualize a possible machine, and engaged kids who produced well constructed and clear machines with an input and output.

 

Geological Abstractions

This week I taught a lesson where students observed and painted patterns and colors of rock samples that I borrowed from the geo-science department here at the University of Iowa. This lesson links geo-science with art, through the observation of crystals and minerals under a digital microscope where students enlarged sections with a partner or alone, and made a bigger, imaginary mineral formed through paint layering. Students learned about the types of minerals including metamorphic, sedimentary and igneous and how these are formed by viewing a PowerPoint.

Using analogous thinking, they used layering and the idea of structures and coloration as experimental methods to make abstract art, interconnecting the process of forming rocks with ways of painting. The observation part was interesting to me because as 4^th and 5^th graders, they’re moving into Lowenfeld’s pseudo-naturalistic stage of art and away from a more schematic stage, increasing detail and making things look as they are in reality.

I started off the lesson in our opening ceremony asking them what they did this week that was creative, then launched into asking them questions about different types of rocks and if they had a collection, to get them engaged. I spread the rocks out on the table with magnifying glasses, so when they came in, they had something to explore. From the last lesson I learned to keep the materials at bay until I had explained the lesson, gone over the slides and quizzed them about types of rocks. This was more successful. According to Michael Linsin in “Classroom Management for Art, Music, and PE Teachers,” if you give clear directions to students to start with, then there is less confusion.

I asked them if they had any questions about the activity and then demonstrated scumbling and under painting, including using sandpaper. I explained how they would make two circles on paper using a roll of masking tape and then using the digital microscope, take a picture of their stone. After each one had taken a picture, I put the three images up on the computer so they could all see them. I think in a full class of students, I would have a few kids use the microscope and then enlarge on the projector so everyone could see and choose one.

They completed their two small observation paintings and two chose to work together and one alone. After they finished drawing a circle on the large heavy, duty paper with a string attached to a pencil with tape, I explained to them that they would enlarge their small drawing by choosing either the pattern or the color as a starting point for their new rock. This seemed to go well and once they had paint in hand with a roller and brush it flowed out, in fact, too much. One group used a lot of paint, however, so next time I will mention to use paint sparingly. Together, we scraped some paint off the work.

Two girls completed both paintings together, and they came up with the ideas for the color and application as a team. They also asked themselves the question, “When is this finished?” which was great because I was going to pose that. Their response was: art is never finished and then I said you can both decide together when that moment is, based on what you want it to look like.

The other student finished her painting early and decided to free draw and work on her batik from a previous class as a sponge activity. Pacing seems to be variable, like in the other classes.

In “Formative Assessment in the Visual Arts,” Andrade, Hefferen and Palma talk about collaborative assessment that peers can do for each other as a useful tool. These two students played together with techniques, deciding what was working and what wasn’t. At the end, I had them write their title on a post-it note and place next to the paintings in the gallery walk. Each student talked about why they thought their piece was successful and how they started the process. Using this kind of self-assessment is helpful for all of us because they explain to other students what they are learning and the teacher knows too.

Overall, this lesson went well because the students were engaged in honing their observation skills, experimenting with new painting techniques, collaborating if they chose to, and displaying their pieces for their peers using an inventive title. They also learned more about rocks and minerals, so this lesson could tie into earth science in 4^th and 5^th grade.

Teacher Examples:

 

Colleen’s screen printing Logos with Stencils

This week I observed and helped out in Colleen’s lesson on screen printing logos for invented organizations using stencils on paper. It was great to see she had materials on hand for them to make bandannas, t-shirts or a canvas bag if they wanted those. She started off by asking them about their creative activities this week during the opening ceremony that we have been doing. This got them engaged and was a nice transition into thinking about designing a logo while she showed her example stencil. She showed them the PowerPoint of various logos and asked them to interpret those. After that, she provided an informal assessment of their prior knowledge by quizzing them on semi-blank logos with parts missing, asking them to pare down to the essentials when they make their drawings for their logos. She requested that they make three sketches to start. One student groaned a bit but it was good for that kid to slow down a bit and think through her ideas more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the sketches were approved and suggestions made, Colleen showed them how to screen print with her stencil in a demonstration. I thought the pacing of this lesson was successful for her in terms of how she introduced the idea and the parts of the activity. She also explained to them how to be safe while using an exact-o blade, which for 4^th grade, can be tricky. They seemed to understand how the color would only be applied to the spaces that they cut out, so they had an idea already about negative and positive space and worked it out while they were making it. The collaborative aspect of requiring a partner to assist in holding the screen while another prints is a nice way to build community. One student had an issue with matching the squeegee size with the screen and so she had a limitation in material, but she solved the problem by just turning the squeegee so it fit better, which is part of the process of making art; the mistakes can either be helpful or a hindrance.

Overall this lesson was a success because the students were engaged, developed their ideas more fully through brainstorming and made productive results. The students have a good rapport with Colleen and each other as well.

designing Reverse Time Capsules

This week in the Saturday Art Workshop, I taught Reverse Time Capsules which were containers from the future that people had time traveled to the present to leave behind for contemporary folks to find. I gave them the handout and explained that I wanted them to make three pieces to go inside the capsule, such as an artwork from the future, a solution to an ecological problem, a science or medical invention, a new type of building, or the X factor, which was something of their choice. The kids seemed to pick up on this idea faster than I thought they would.

I started off asking them what they knew about time capsules and one said that they just opened one at her school from 100 years ago which was really neat. Then I showed them some of my examples and they got so excited that they just got up and started grabbing cardboard and model magic. I quickly showed them the art materials and wrangled them back into the PowerPoint, which was short. I felt like I had the reins to a wild horse. I realized afterwards that I shouldn’t have shown them my examples right away; I should have waited until after the images because I tried to get them to brainstorm but they just didn’t want to after they had seen the materials and had too much model magic in hand. One thing I could have done is given each a small piece of clay and a piece of paper as we were talking and then they could have brainstormed in 2-D and 3-D. One question I have is what do you do when kids really don’t want to brainstorm or do part of an activity? Do you leave it by the side of the road and just go with what they are interested in?

The pacing also seemed different this time, although we had other kids because the regular ones were absent. The girl who usually finishes early spent so much time on her box that she only made one future animal and its clothing, but it looked good. Another boy ended early so I had him work on making his mini museum with titles, which is what they all did at the end. It gave them a chance to talk about their art so their peers could comment. Overall I think the timing went pretty well for a 90-minute activity and each one had a completely different capsule shape and ideas. One kid made a car that made tornadoes and a future animal that was similar to a worm that lived in the jungle; another made a bucket that saves water and a place for storing energy.

Another question I have is how do you get kids to explore their ideas more before just steamrolling ahead with what they have planned? It seemed like most of them knew exactly what they wanted to do before they considered too many options. It’s positive in the sense that they are strong-willed but how do you get them to brainstorm and play more before making decisions?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teacher examples:

Explorations in the 4th Dimension: Animations With Colleen

This week was Colleen’s turn to teach and she had a great lesson called, “Explorations in the 4^th Dimension” which meant she did animations on iPads with the kids. We started off the opening ceremony with the weekly prompt of “what did you do that was creative this week?” and the students chatted with us about how they auditioned for a play, finished a book and did some baking, thus establishing a routine for each time, which helps set expectations and gets them involved right away.

After showing them some animation videos such as by PES, she demonstrated the simple features of the Stop Motion app. and the kids dove right in making an animation with their shoes, adding characters as an extra option. I felt like this activity was successful because the students seemed very engaged in making their movies and two kids collaborated together, which was very energizing for them. I think in a larger classroom (we have three kids in our Saturday art section), it would be good if kids could have the choice to collaborate or not, organically, which is what Colleen did that worked well.

I think if I were doing this lesson, I would have them come up with characters and a story beforehand so they knew how it fits together with a story arc. Also, I would have different 3-D materials that they can use to decorate their shoes into characters. These kids used duct tape on their shoes, which seemed to work well, and they could have used fabric and sticks, yarn or cardboard as well.

Pacing seems to be something to keep considering because one student finished before the others so she made a rabbit character and did an animation of that hopping along. Making extra characters or a second film is a great way to keep kids engaged.

Play was an important element of this activity, and was especially apparent between the two girls working together. They bounced ideas off of each other like atoms. It was interesting to see make-believe at work between kids, which is an essential part of using imagination at for 4^th & 5^th graders. Overall, the kids were very excited to be making their open ended films and improvising as they went along, so that is why I think this was a successful lesson.

 

Batik Pennants & Banners with Toothpaste Lotion!

For the first Saturday Art Workshop that Colleen and I were co-teaching, we introduced a toothpaste-lotion batik lesson revolving around creating personal symbols of identity on a banner or pennant. Overall, I think our lesson went very well and the kids started working on the first part of drawing and using the lotion mixture on fabric after showing them the presentation on batik and a few artists working in traditional and contemporary styles. We could have been better with the routines of the class, since we came up with an opening and closing ceremony, like the Olympics, which we hope to carry out next time but the minutes passed too quickly.

We spent the first ten minutes getting to know the kids and asking them questions about their interests and hobbies, not only as part of the relationship building aspect of classroom management, as suggested in Michael Linsin’s Classroom Management for Art, Music, and PE Teachers, but so they can feel welcomed by each other and find some common ground for their community. Since we talked to them so much and they were chatty, it was a stream of consciousness conversation and so we kept them on track with the activities by making suggestions and asking questions about the next step, as a kind of formative assessment.

Since we had a small class size, it was easy to have them go at their own pace. One was faster than the others and moved on to our extra activities. I think in a large class, it’s important to explain all of the options at the beginning of class so people know what they can move on to if they finish early and for enrichment. It seems like it would be hard for the teacher to tell each person what to do next if they were busy helping others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One important moment for me was when one of the girls was shaking up her batik lotion and doing a dance, which gave me the idea that we could have played music during that time to liven things up, especially on a groggy Saturday morning. It made me realize that the kids can give you clues about how to improve the lesson or ways to branch out with it, by bringing their own style to what was unfolding.

The other aspect that I think we need to work on a bit is clean up time. Having a workshop outside of a school context makes it a touch harder to get them to clean up. They also get so excited that they don’t want to stop. Next time we can remind them to clean up 10 then 5 minutes before they need to so they’re expecting it.