Elementary Classroom
1. What form of arts integration or interdisciplinary learning units have you observed? In what ways were the visual forms investigated, learned, discussed, or produced in the classroom?
In my second grade field classroom, I have seen a couple different forms of simple art integration. The biggest art integration I have seen is in writing. The writing sheets they use include a space, on the top half, where students draw a picture to go along with their writing piece. For example, the published piece they are working on includes five pages. Each page has a drawing to go along with that part of the story. On Columbus Day, they discussed the significance of this day and why we celebrate it. They also looked at a map and traced the route that Christopher Columbus took to America. The teacher then gave them each a white piece of construction paper and showed them a step-by-step video of how to draw a ship. She stopped the video after each step to allow the students time to draw. After they were finished drawing, they colored their ships with marker, crayon, or colored pencils.
2. Was there a Big Idea or theme used? If so describe. Were students working with narrative, observation, imagination, and / or visual thinking?
When working with their writing pieces, one Big Idea is stories. Their drawings directly reflected the stories they wrote. Most of these stories were narratives so a lot of drawings included the students themselves, family members, friends, pets, etc. With the ship drawing activity, the Big Idea is travel and movement of people. Students used observation (following directions), background knowledge (ships they have seen before), and creativity and imagination.
3. What suggestions would you have for integration and interdisciplinary learning for this unit or lesson you observed? Try to think how you could make the learning more meaningful, connected, and deeper. Be specific.
For the ship drawing activity, I would go deeper into the discussion of movement of people and things (talk briefly about colonization and immigration). To make the lesson more meaningful, I would ask students if they have ever been on a ship (or boat) or seen one up close. To allow for more creativity and imagination, I would show students different types of ships including ships from different eras and allow students to have the choice between following the step-by-step video or drawing their own ship. This lesson has a lot of potential and is something I would do in my future classroom!
In my second grade field classroom, I have seen a couple different forms of simple art integration. The biggest art integration I have seen is in writing. The writing sheets they use include a space, on the top half, where students draw a picture to go along with their writing piece. For example, the published piece they are working on includes five pages. Each page has a drawing to go along with that part of the story. On Columbus Day, they discussed the significance of this day and why we celebrate it. They also looked at a map and traced the route that Christopher Columbus took to America. The teacher then gave them each a white piece of construction paper and showed them a step-by-step video of how to draw a ship. She stopped the video after each step to allow the students time to draw. After they were finished drawing, they colored their ships with marker, crayon, or colored pencils.
2. Was there a Big Idea or theme used? If so describe. Were students working with narrative, observation, imagination, and / or visual thinking?
When working with their writing pieces, one Big Idea is stories. Their drawings directly reflected the stories they wrote. Most of these stories were narratives so a lot of drawings included the students themselves, family members, friends, pets, etc. With the ship drawing activity, the Big Idea is travel and movement of people. Students used observation (following directions), background knowledge (ships they have seen before), and creativity and imagination.
3. What suggestions would you have for integration and interdisciplinary learning for this unit or lesson you observed? Try to think how you could make the learning more meaningful, connected, and deeper. Be specific.
For the ship drawing activity, I would go deeper into the discussion of movement of people and things (talk briefly about colonization and immigration). To make the lesson more meaningful, I would ask students if they have ever been on a ship (or boat) or seen one up close. To allow for more creativity and imagination, I would show students different types of ships including ships from different eras and allow students to have the choice between following the step-by-step video or drawing their own ship. This lesson has a lot of potential and is something I would do in my future classroom!
Art Classroom
1. The content of the lesson, written and spoken objectives, and resources used
The lesson began with a short VTS. The VTS allowed the students to think critically by analyzing a piece of art. After VTS, the lesson continued with a discussion focused on warm and cool colors (which they had previously learned about). The teacher referred back to the VTS image during the discussion. After listening to instructions and seeing examples, the students then created their own piece of art, showing the contrast between warm and cool colors, using paper, pencils, pastels, scissors, and glue.
2. The teacher, her / his teaching strategies and format / process of the lesson as presented
I thought the art teacher was very engaging and presented the lesson in a way that young children could understand. He made sure that the students understood what they were supposed to do and his directions were clear and easy to follow. I also thought he was very prepared. He had all materials ready and set up before the class arrived.
3. Student engagement of the lesson, classroom atmosphere, and environment
I thought that, for the most part, students appeared to be engaged and interested in the art lesson. I thought that the classroom environment allowed for student learning without distractions. The students sat on a rug in front of the board where the teacher stood and talked before they moved to the tables to work on their activity.
4. Classroom behavior management
The teacher used a few strategies to control behavior in the classroom. One strategy the teacher used that I particularly liked was to get the kids to be quiet he said "Mona" and they replied with "Lisa". I thought that this worked well to grab students attention and regain their focus. I also thought it was a clever way to use art language.
5. Compare the art classroom to the regular classroom in regards to the teaching strategies, lesson presentation, student engagement, classroom atmosphere, environment, and behavior management.
Besides the setup of the classroom and lesson presentation, the classrooms are fairly similar. In both classrooms, the students were aware of class procedures and responsibilities. This allows the class to run smoothly and without many interruptions/distractions. The teachers both use call and response methods to get the students attention and deal with classroom management. The main difference is the way the classrooms are setup. This is true in any classroom because all classrooms are arranged differently. Both classrooms are setup in a way that works best for the lessons and activities taking place. Overall, I felt that the art classroom allowed for much more creativity and individuality than I have seen in the regular classroom.
The lesson began with a short VTS. The VTS allowed the students to think critically by analyzing a piece of art. After VTS, the lesson continued with a discussion focused on warm and cool colors (which they had previously learned about). The teacher referred back to the VTS image during the discussion. After listening to instructions and seeing examples, the students then created their own piece of art, showing the contrast between warm and cool colors, using paper, pencils, pastels, scissors, and glue.
2. The teacher, her / his teaching strategies and format / process of the lesson as presented
I thought the art teacher was very engaging and presented the lesson in a way that young children could understand. He made sure that the students understood what they were supposed to do and his directions were clear and easy to follow. I also thought he was very prepared. He had all materials ready and set up before the class arrived.
3. Student engagement of the lesson, classroom atmosphere, and environment
I thought that, for the most part, students appeared to be engaged and interested in the art lesson. I thought that the classroom environment allowed for student learning without distractions. The students sat on a rug in front of the board where the teacher stood and talked before they moved to the tables to work on their activity.
4. Classroom behavior management
The teacher used a few strategies to control behavior in the classroom. One strategy the teacher used that I particularly liked was to get the kids to be quiet he said "Mona" and they replied with "Lisa". I thought that this worked well to grab students attention and regain their focus. I also thought it was a clever way to use art language.
5. Compare the art classroom to the regular classroom in regards to the teaching strategies, lesson presentation, student engagement, classroom atmosphere, environment, and behavior management.
Besides the setup of the classroom and lesson presentation, the classrooms are fairly similar. In both classrooms, the students were aware of class procedures and responsibilities. This allows the class to run smoothly and without many interruptions/distractions. The teachers both use call and response methods to get the students attention and deal with classroom management. The main difference is the way the classrooms are setup. This is true in any classroom because all classrooms are arranged differently. Both classrooms are setup in a way that works best for the lessons and activities taking place. Overall, I felt that the art classroom allowed for much more creativity and individuality than I have seen in the regular classroom.