Blog Post V
For our fifth and last project with our students in Community Connection, we chose to facilitate a lesson where nature was the concept. We designed the lesson to be in the station format, again, because we knew that is helps moving around and creating different pieces of art. This time, we took it a step forward and went outside for one of the stations.
The first station we planned was to explore the outside of the Visual Arts Building while looking for natural material, such as rocks, sticks, weird twigs, etc. By adding an outside station, it allowed our students to seek art in a way that is not just inside the art classroom. Every day, we go outside sometimes forgetting how nature is art itself. One of our students, Anna, took her time to look at each color of the rocks and collected the most interesting. Then she was able to tell me why she chose that certain rock. Most of them were pink because her favorite color is pink, but she also enjoyed cool designs naturally created in the rock.
The second station that followed the collections of natural materials was the use of paint with found materials. One of our main focus was that artists can create art with any material, organic or inorganic. It was amazing to see how different every painting was because of the different material the students used to paint with. For example, Jared, who is one of our students, developed a strong use of color in his painting overtime with sticks, rocks, and pine needles. We were able to watch him layer different colors into other colors. The pictures are below this post. As artists, Jared highlighted the process of discovery. He had no idea what he was going to create, but then decided to try different textures and different movement with his arms and body. When he made a new discovery or mark he liked, he would express it to who was around him.
The third station implemented a three-dimensional aspect to the lesson. We gave students the opportunity to draw on paper, then create a star out of the multiple fanned bags. It was interesting to see how some students absolutely loved them, and some did not. This allowed the lesson to be chopped up and differentiated enough for students to dive deep into the station they enjoy most. An interesting observation that we had as we watched students create 3-D stars was they idea of décor, Lauren was very interested in hanging the star in her bedroom which led to other creations to hang in her room. The spread of ideas and excitement showcased that varying different ways of creating art can be very useful in differentiated learning.
Being able to teach lessons for Community Connections has been such a learning experience and as we reflected on it, we learned that it is important to listen to what your students desire, expect to constantly accommodate, and take the time to know your students.
The first station we planned was to explore the outside of the Visual Arts Building while looking for natural material, such as rocks, sticks, weird twigs, etc. By adding an outside station, it allowed our students to seek art in a way that is not just inside the art classroom. Every day, we go outside sometimes forgetting how nature is art itself. One of our students, Anna, took her time to look at each color of the rocks and collected the most interesting. Then she was able to tell me why she chose that certain rock. Most of them were pink because her favorite color is pink, but she also enjoyed cool designs naturally created in the rock.
The second station that followed the collections of natural materials was the use of paint with found materials. One of our main focus was that artists can create art with any material, organic or inorganic. It was amazing to see how different every painting was because of the different material the students used to paint with. For example, Jared, who is one of our students, developed a strong use of color in his painting overtime with sticks, rocks, and pine needles. We were able to watch him layer different colors into other colors. The pictures are below this post. As artists, Jared highlighted the process of discovery. He had no idea what he was going to create, but then decided to try different textures and different movement with his arms and body. When he made a new discovery or mark he liked, he would express it to who was around him.
The third station implemented a three-dimensional aspect to the lesson. We gave students the opportunity to draw on paper, then create a star out of the multiple fanned bags. It was interesting to see how some students absolutely loved them, and some did not. This allowed the lesson to be chopped up and differentiated enough for students to dive deep into the station they enjoy most. An interesting observation that we had as we watched students create 3-D stars was they idea of décor, Lauren was very interested in hanging the star in her bedroom which led to other creations to hang in her room. The spread of ideas and excitement showcased that varying different ways of creating art can be very useful in differentiated learning.
Being able to teach lessons for Community Connections has been such a learning experience and as we reflected on it, we learned that it is important to listen to what your students desire, expect to constantly accommodate, and take the time to know your students.
Class objective