Day Two - Weekly News

Today was an interesting mix of productivity, creativity, and motivation. For me and for students!
I started my day with a painting critique, which went very well.

I'm smack in the middle with my snake on my shoulder. Good times.

The minute I walked into the 5th grade classroom the kids were all excited and taking out their papers from Monday. I didn't mean to be such a big distraction but they were more than ready to work!

Day 2. Discussion and viewing of Eric Wedum’s work (visual board, teacher sample). Explanation of project.

·      Students will begin to illustrate their headline story. The headline will be glued to the image in a visible place (top or bottom of page). Filling the page and creative interpretation are key!!

Some of the kids who were absent on Monday showed up today but luckily I had extra headlines and got them on track and working before they had a chance to be confused. I'm pretty proud of that 'back up plan'. The classroom teacher was impressed as well :). I'll have to remember that for the future.

I did a short introduction to Eric Wedum and his work to get the kids thinking about literal meaning and interpretation again. They really liked the examples I provided and kept coming up to check out the visual board I put together (picture in the works!). They got a chuckle out of his style and I think a lot of them were inspired by him.

The kids went back into their day groups and took out their colored pencils. They were orderly and (mostly) quiet. The classroom teacher did not have to do much of anything to keep them in line today, but she did mention "Ms. K has a lot more patience with you than I do!".  All in a day's work, right?

This is a big day; I figured out how to embed slideshows! I hope that it works across formats (Mobile, etc.). I took lots of pictures of student drawings. There are some great ones in here haha!


Most of the kids took the whole class time to finish their drawings but more than a few finished early. When asked what they should be doing I told them they could be my 'helpers'. Their task was to walk around the room and see if any of their classmates wanted or needed help with coloring or ideas. It worked out perfectly! Teamwork helped some of the less motivated kids talk about their ideas and students with Special Needs had helpers if they needed them. As I said before, the teacher pretty much took the day off haha

Okay.. I know that we as teachers are not supposed to pick favorites, but this guy was my shining star! He didn't like his old headline choice from Monday so he chose a new one "Can't Crunch the Pizza Data" and just ROCKED IT. I helped him a bit with learning about perspective because he wanted to "make the room look bigger and more REAL". He figured out the little pizza room on his own "I drew this line to look like the floor". He has an excellent understanding of space - he could teach some college kids a thing or two, I'll bet! I drew an example of a floor in perspective on the back of his paper and from there he was off. I was so proud, and so was he! :) He kept adding more things in the lab and details as he worked. We figured out that if we erased certain lines on the edges that that would create a wall and floor separate from each other. I can't wait to see the final product! Okay, I'll stop gushing now. I'm just really excited :)

CHECK OUT THAT PERSPECTIVE!

Unfortunately the class had to end. We cleaned up our work spaces and the kids were trading stories and headlines. Good thing I have that planned for our last day, Friday! KWLS will also be finished on Friday. I wonder what the kids will write about what they have learned?

The classroom teacher thanked me for being respectful and several times came up to me to cheer me on. She really liked the lesson idea and she was impressed by the imaginations of her students. That's what I like to hear! The students gave me a round of applause and then bolted to their lockers. It was an early release day after all!

I am pleased with the way this lesson is going, for sure. The pacing has been pretty much right on and the kids really like the idea. I think they also like sharing with their classmates, teachers, aides, and of course with Ms. K.
I never really saw myself as an Elementary Art teacher but this experience might change my mind... That's what it's all about, I think.

Time to get ready for work! And work and work and work... I'll post again on Friday with the final results of Weekly News :)

Ms. K