The Semester is Over

The semester is just about over and I can't believe how quickly time flew by. 

Art and Social Studies were very informative about how to make the usual learning environment fun when art and social studies is incorporated into general studies. Not all students are going to enjoy art or enjoy social studies, but it's important for us as teachers to make the learning environment enjoyable so they can take something away from it. 

Here is a link to an art project to do at the end of a school year: Summer Bucket List (It's shown in a kindergarten classroom, but could easily be used in upper elementary). 

Soap Carving

Soap carving could be done after reading a specific book that discusses this (Becoming Naomi Leon), or you could just do this to have fun in the classroom and learn about sculpture.

Here is a link to a blog that talks about what you will need for your students, how to safely carve soap, and a few design ideas.

Soap carvings is something that usually isn't done in a classroom, but could really be fun for the students. The soap is easy on the hands and would allow for easy manipulation since it is generally a soft substance to work with. 

Students could create their own artwork, or as stated previously, it would be fun to do a novel study that uses soap carving and help students learn about the culture. 

Historical Images

For upper elementary students, finding projects and assessments for them to do that interest them is difficult. Incorporating technology into the classroom as much as possible will definitely interest the students since they are growing up in a society that relies heavily on this technology. Teaching them how to use it and giving them chances to practice using it will allow for diversity in their assessments and projects, as well as prepare them for their future.

For one of our group projects we had to use historical images in the video, and also incorporate music. My group chose the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel and found each individual picture to correspond with the lyrics in the song.

A variation of this would be to allow students to create Facebook pages for historical people and add photos to document the significant events that took place while that person was alive.
The link to an example is here: Teachers Pay Teachers

Books and Puppets

Incorporating arts into the classroom can seem like a daunting task for some teachers, but in all reality it can be incredibly simple! Elementary teachers have classroom libraries of their own or have access to the school library to use for research or recreational texts for the students. Regardless of how the books are acquired, utilizing dimensions of art is easy!

Choose a children's book or novel (depending on the grade level) that has a few different characters and takes place in a variety of settings. This allows the students to have many options that will interest them.

After reading the book and discussing the content, students should choose a character that appeals to them, or that they can connect with. Assuming that the classroom or art room has a variety of materials that the students can use, have students recreate the character using the art materials.

Once students have created their puppet, they should recreate their favorite setting from the book, or a few different backgrounds to help tell the story (depending on the time they have to work on this).

Here is a link to a generic paper doll cutout for students to use if needed: Pinterest
Or if you feel adventurous, here is a link to a book on how to make shadow puppet theatre: Inner Child Fun Blog

Social Studies Lesson 3

The students were still focused on the previous lessons, which made the transition to this new lesson easier. Although this particular lesson didn’t offer them as much engagement, the students still had made connections from the concepts to their real-life experiences. The overall idea of the lesson was to learn about individual rights by having the student randomly choose a notecard that had a specific right on it. We then let the classroom run while the students could or couldn't do "normal" things. Many of the students were jealous of the others. 

Classroom management will always be a work in progress as teachers. Our host teacher already had set procedures and strategies set in place since the beginning of the school year. When the class got out of control we just rang a bell and they settled down to listen to the new directions. We walked around the classroom when the students had to write down to monitor their progress and keep them focused.

If I had to do it all over again I would have changed how the students copied down the Bill of Rights/drew pictures of each of the Amendments. Although most of the students found it helpful, a few students approached me after class to ask for a copy of the paper that Ms. James and I had used for them to reference.

The students completed a worksheet where they had to write a thank-you letter to our forefathers, thanking them for a specific amendment that he/she appreciated most. Some of the students felt strongly about their reasoning and provided evidence to support, while others didn’t.

Using this worksheet would have worked better in our lesson: Pinterest