We decided to organize our classroom into 3 different "pods" or tables each identified by 3 different colors (red, blue and yellow). This arrangement worked very well for this age-group and the number of instructors because each of us can have our own table of students to observe and coach when working through the lessons. The students seemed to respond really well to this arrangement. There were just enough students at the table to create a group atmosphere, but they also responded well to the identity of the being the "red" table or the "yellow" table. We hope to continue using this information for the future in respect to classroom management and the facilitation of the art lessons. The "pods" allow for more individualized instruction and a more intimate setting than the teacher standing in the front of the room to present the lesson. With these tables, we are able to present the lesson to them where they are at the physical and the mental level.
This image depicts the outside drawing portion of the lesson. In this section, Leigha taught the students about mark-making and its relationship to value, distance, and texture. Her decision to take the classroom outside created a conducive and new environment for the students to learn. Being able to learn in this kind of environment indirectly communicates the belief that learning can take place outside of the classroom's four walls. This is important for our students to learn as early as possible so that they can get used to thinking that learning can happen everywhere and not just when they are in "Miss Leigha's classroom."
This grouping of pictures demonstrates how both the group instruction and the environment worked together to teach students about mark-making. Being outside, they were able to and encouraged to explore the environment to find examples of mark-making, value, distance and texture. As you can see, the students were very creative in the ways they completed the project. These pictures in particular show the students working on the texture portion of the project where they explored how the rubbings of different objects create different marks. Working in this outside environment allowed students to really connect the content of the lesson to every-day life because they had the opportunity to work outside of the four walls of a classroom.
This image shows is evidence of a student being able to apply what she had learned about mark-making in the outside activity and to use it in her own work during sketchbook time. The curved line in the top right corner of the page has a small line of a darker pink color running through it as a result of color blending on the tip of the marker. She recognized that the gradation in color is an example of value and correctly used the word "value" in her explanation of this drawing.
This image is of a drawing that a student created during sketchbook time. When he was asked about this drawing, he said that "it's like Picasso."What a great example of a student being able to use prior knowledge of an artist for both the inspiration and explanation of a drawing. This is a very exciting moment for a teacher because it displays the beauty of transferring knowledge from teaching, learning and application.
This student also made quite a poetic and very true statement when we were addressing classroom guidelines at the beginning of class. He said "if you don't like someone's artwork, you shouldn't say that it is bad artwork." Wow! What an example of a student's understanding of critique, individual expression and the definition of art all wrapped up in a single, simple sentence.
Here are some more examples of students working and their artwork:
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