5th grade is currently working on Autumn Radial Design Cutouts. The students were told to fold each square piece of paper three times. Many of the students had to learn the hard way when they did not follow directions and only folded the paper once and cut a design. The student then made a symmetrical design, but did have radial symmetry. The students then had to rip it off and redo the process. The students got to learn which colors went together well and how to create a successful design. As an adaptation two students worked with scissors, cutting out just symmetrical shapes and gluing them on construction paper similar to a Matisse. Next the students continued to use stencils to draw shapes on the construction paper. Many of the students who finished their projects early came over to help these two or three students who had very adapted projects which created much more motivation. All of the students were interacting and it was really inclusion at its best. All of the students were learning.
Sixth grade created clay rattles. I demonstrated the project and the students brainstormed afterwards. The students were very excited for the project. Students were also asking questions and enjoying the demo, which I found very exciting. The sixth graders are much easier to entertain and motivate than the older ages, however I knew that I would not really actually know what they got out of it and what they remembered until the following day when they began constructing the rattles. I began the next day by having the students come up row by row and show me their brainstorm sketch to go over how they are going to create their piece. We talked about what will work and what needs to change. Next the students began. I realized many of them did not remember exactly so I went over step by step how to begin the process while asking students to help explain with me as a collaborative review. This helped a lot. The following day the students wrapped up their project, added details, and when they completed they helped their partners, worked on free drawing, or I gave them some options to help clean up the sinks and the paint from their last Picasso project.
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| Clay Rattle |
Seventh grade is making clay slab buildings. I demonstrated the construction of the building and then the students began brainstorming. The next day I begin with handing clay out to the students. I was frustrated with myself because I did not think out or plan a way to hand out these clay slabs well. I should have had the students wrap the armature in newspaper the day before, but instead I had the students wrap the armature, and once that was complete they came up and got clay. It could have gone better, but I learned some good strategies without making a huge mistake or screw up. Next the students began creating their pieces. I realized that I needed to go step by step through the process so I walked them through similarly to how I did with the sixth grade and went through step by step what needed to get done as review. The following day I demonstrated adding details to the building. I reviewed where we were at and what had to be done. I gave mini demonstrations around the classroom for small things that students wanted to do with their piece. Overall it went very well and the students are getting a lot done.
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| Slab Building |
Eighth grade is working on slab shoes. I demonstrated the process and the students brainstormed the first day. The second day the students began working. This was a big day. Many of the students decided to create their own template as enrichment. These templates were very good, but it is a lot more work. There were some problems where it worked better for students to just redo the step, but it went much faster the second time. On the third day I demonstrated adding detail. I also had to give a talk on clean up and making sure to get things done. If the classroom is not clean yet, they cannot leave. The next day the room was much better.
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| Slab Shoe |
To work on:
- Being okay with a little bit of noise as students are talking to desk partners (finding a good noise level for work time)
- I need to work on being more concise with my directions when I ask for students to stop doing something
- Work on putting instructions and steps on the board
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