I absolutely loved teaching my practicum lesson even though it did not go down quite like I had planned. My lesson plan was a science integration where I would introduce the students to the planets in our solar system and teach them about the atmosphere and terrain of each planet. For the art lesson, I decided that teaching the students texture and pattern, like we learned on the Picasso head project, would be a perfect way to accentuate the lesson. I thought students could use the texture and pattern examples to show what they thought the planets would look like.
Due to unforeseen circumstances I was not actually able to do my practicum in the classroom and I ended up doing it with my Achievement Day girls instead. I was pretty disappointed about this at first because I felt like I was missing the whole teaching experience. However, the girls were super excited to do an art project and their jubilance quickly infected me. The lesson was fun, the project went well and everyone loved doing it. The girls were totally engaged in the art project.
The only downside is that it was a big lesson to teach all at once. I did the introduction of the planets and gave the ensuing topographical information. Then we went through the vocabulary, examples, and demonstrations of the art technique. I would teach this lesson again, but as a unit and not a singular lesson. That is the biggest change to be made, making sure the information is given over a few days and a proper amount of time can be devoted to the art lesson itself. Another problem I had was that I did not have nearly enough examples of texture. I thought I did, but after introducing the two concepts of texture and pattern, the girls seemed a bit confused. Pattern was an easy concept to grasp, but they struggled with the concept of texture. In the final products we see that almost all of the girls exclusively use pattern, not texture, in the designs. I definitely need to gear the discussion towards the vocabulary and strengthen the lesson with a more diverse set of texture and pattern examples. Nothing really came up during the lesson that I did not anticipate. I felt like I was ready and I made sure I had triple the amount of supplies I needed just in case.
The girls made teaching this a joy. They could not have been more receptive to the lesson. They are a creative little bunch and always like to do projects where they are allowed a full range of expression. They were quick to get to work and stay on task. They talked and laughed and kept showing each other their designs. They shared the materials well and were good to point out things that they liked about each of the other girls art projects.
For a follow up project I thought it might be fun to have the students trade planets with one another and have students make solar system mobiles to hang in the classrooms or in the halls. I also thought about further integrating with language arts by having them make up, design, and paint an entire planet of their own and then make a poster board where they write a story all about it that includes information like the planets position to the sun, atmosphere, topography, life, etc.
Seeing how excited the girls were to do a real art project really did make me excited to teach art. Some of the girls asked me if we could do art every time we meet which is already got me thinking about how I can incorporate it more in our achievement day meetings. I am also excited to try teaching this lesson in a classroom because it will be on a bigger scale with a whole different dynamic and I feel a little more confident than I did now that I have had a trial run. Also, I could hardly wait to see what the girls were going to create. I kept walking around and sneaking glances at everyone’s papers!!
When I exhibit their art work in the school, I plan on utilizing the hallway walls or big common spaces like the lunchroom for display purposes. If we end up making mobiles, I will hang them from the ceiling in the hallways. For this lesson we cut three planets out and glued them to construction paper and then I had them sign their work in the bottom right hand corner. I think to give individual recognition; I would take a picture of each student holding their work and then post it by the signed copies.
This lesson was a delight to teach and I loved looking at the girls’ artwork. I enjoyed the entire experience immensely and I can hardly wait to do it again!!
