INSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT
Introduction to Unit - In Julie 's first grade class we chose Communication for our unit focus. Visual art is a form of communication, we communicate about ourselves, our environment and our experiences. Through a variety of materials we will explore how art communicates our intentions. We will touch on communicating through visual stories and movement as the lessons progress. Moving through the unit lessons the students used a variety of art materials and processes like painting, clay building, paper and found objects as well as drawing and large scale sculpture techniques. In their own ways each student was able to experience communication through multiple mediums which inspired creativeness and innovation in their peers.
We began with the notion of using art to tell a story, and to share who we are through what we make. This concept still holds true, there’s just been minor aspects that have been added, such as observation and technique. Artists tell stories through their art. They translate their thoughts, emotions, and ideas into visual imagery. This was a large part of what we concentrated on. “What do you want to make, and how can you make that happen?” We started general with learning about detail and observation, then took that learning and lead into more specific lessons, such as creating clay creatures. Most of these lessons were spent over two/three days, which taught that art takes time. It takes time and it can be altered. An artist’s concept can start as one thing and grow into something else! Polaris first grade unit plan
Methods for Integrating Literacy, Numeracy, Technology, and other Components -
The role of technology in the art classroom is one that I am always working to understand so I can wield it in a meaningful way. I try to use technology in the art classroom to maximize time and learning. A Powerpoint if composed thoughtfully can be much more than a slideshow, it can be used as an anticipatory set, it can activate prior knowledge, show reference pictures, slides can be show steps and processes. The key to a powerful presentation is knowing your audience and knowing how your audience learns best. At Polaris I used Powerpoints that had a ton of animations, easy to read text and colorful images. With this age group the time we have to lecture is limited to around five minutes and a slideshow can present information visually and slides can be revisited easily.
Literacy is a life skill so whenever we have the chance to cultivate that we seize the opportunity. Evey lesson would we introduce some new vocabulary words that are related to the materials and the learning target. First graders are aspiring readers and it is our goal to help develop their literacy skills. We brought a book that is about crafting a story. Literacy is not limited to just reading and writing ,speaking and listening are also critical life skills. Learners had a chance to share their reflections with the class and this helped cultivate listening and speaking. We would ask probing questions to get students to dig deeper with their response.Reading, writing, listening and speaking was just as important working with numbers.
It has been said that a day without math is like a day without sunshine we wanted to be sure that the sun was constantly shining on our class. Each lesson had inherent features of numeracy for example our Painting Patterns on Clay Creatures made students consider scale and proportion as well as sequencing, ordering ,creating and recognizing patterns. Before students could paint their pattern they had to create three different patterns before painting.
A thoughtful art experience needs to have art learning as well as learning about technology, literacy and numeracy.
Classroom Management Strategies related to Instruction -
Throughout most of our lessons we incorporated different strategies both in the classroom and in our planning. As our students are younger and still learning how to be in school, we really needed to think about transitions. Incorporating activities or work breaks into the flow of the lesson allowed students to move from one task to another minimizing disconnect. One such example is our discovery board. During the lesson we would write discoveries down as we heard them and at the end we would allow students to state their discovery and put it in their board pocket. This activity was a closure to our class time and allowed them to transition to recess. Another technique that we incorporated into our lessons was greet and review with targeted questions. This technique could be used either at the start of class or at the close of class. Reviewing information or techniques that we used in a previous class helped the students to get into the art mindset before starting class. This approach also served as a formative pre-class and post class assessment. Putting the learning into the hands of the student is very important, in this regard we incorporated activities for reflection such as turn and talk, group huddle, and voting for the next project. During one of the lessons a student made a discovery that we felt would benefit the whole class so we had them demonstrate their technique for the class. Clean up can sometimes be a bit chaotic if you do not have a plan. At first, we were not sure how to handle clean up so we mostly did it. It became clear after the second lesson that the students were willing and able (and some needed to) help clean up. We assigned jobs for students to complete during clean up so that everyone was doing something that would move us to reflection time. For one of our students it was very important that he was engaged in a job or activity that allowed him to get up and move. Management infused in instruction takes practice, and there are many ways to incorporate specific management tools into your instruction. We have learned a lot about this practice during our experience with the Polaris lab students.
Lesson Plans and Documentation
In the first lesson, Our first graders were encouraged to create a story about themselves on their sketchbook, we played the name game and talked about Discoveries. Getting to know you was an introductory lesson designed to step into art making and get to know our first graders by laying the foundation for a strong and purposeful relationship . During this lesson the crew was able to consider what they could say through visual art to another person to introduce themselves. Using familiar materials the crew was eager to express themselves.
Being that our first class was geared towards getting to know our first graders. We began our lesson by introducing ourselves along with the art that we make, explaining what inspires us/why we create art. We then discussed the importance of discoveries in making art; asking, “have you ever made a discovery about anything, if so, what was it? What can we do with these important discoveries? Can we put them in our pockets?” This lead into our power point about sketchbooks. We explained how we can store our ideas/discoveries in sketchbooks, and how the use of sketchbooks is an exercise for our brain. After creating our covers, We then went around and asked what everyone had discovered and wrote it on a sticky note. At the end students shared their discoveries and added their sticky to the discovery board.
Lesson Plan 1
Documentation of Lesson 1 learning: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-1/
In the second lesson, we intended for the students to explore details and new ways of seeing. We designed a three part lesson that built up to the students creating their own painting. Part one was designed to encourage the students to look for details in artworks of others. We engaged them in a tool building exercise to help them look at the posters, and record their findings. Part two was utilizing their understanding of details in order to use paint as a vehicle of expression. They created a painting for the final step as a composite of the first and second step.
Lesson Plan 2
Documentation of Lesson 2 learning:
Day 1: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-2-compare-and-contrast-imagination-vs-reality/
Day 2: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-3-what-do-you-see-learning-observation-and-recording__trashed/lesson-three-what-do-you-seeseptember-23-2016/
Day 3: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-four-september-302016/
In the third lesson, we spent time exploring clay, and the techniques that are used in clay working. We emphasized the possibilities of 3D form, texture, and pattern. Over five days, an exploration of clay emerged into creating individual manifestations of their imagined worlds. Students created clay creatures and habitats for those creatures, each with their own individual personalities, abilities, aesthetic qualities, etc.
Lesson Plan 3
Documentation of Lesson 3 Learning:
Day 1: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-five-october-72016/
Day 2: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-six-october-21-2016/
Day 3: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-seven-october-282016/
Day 4: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-eight-november-4-2016/
Day 5: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-9-patterns-and-painting-november-18-2016/
ASSESSMENT, UNDERSTANDING, AND REFLECTION
Student Pre-Assessment and Post-Assessment Analysis
PSD Growth Assessment for Elementary Art (revised June 2014) is the instrument we used to evaluate the students at Polaris. In our assessment we noticed that it uses Art Learning themes (such as evaluating, connecting, understanding, communicating, etc.) and studio practice ideas within the wording of the assessment. This is important to look at these when assessing art. We feel that it is a standards based rubric, aligning closely with overarching themes of the standards for all elementary art students. That said it is very general and not specific to first grade developmental stages. This tool is mostly summative not formative, even with use at beginning and end it may show overall growth, but not the steps between.
Assessment Chart
In the graph above we can see improvements across the board and through all areas. In the latter lessons we allowed students to make decisions that directed where the projects would develop. Specifically we voted on our last two projects, this increased the personal investment individual engagement. Though the chart is showing only the total scores for each student on pre and post assessment there were measurable improvements in all areas. The district wide art program uses this rubric to assess all elementary art areas which are Planning and Ideation, Creation and Exploration, and Reflection and Connection. Within those categories students were ranked by advanced, proficient, partially proficient and in progress.
Formative Assessments
With our first grade crew we used the following assessment techniques in our lessons, Targeted questioning and review, pair and share, group reflection, artistic response in the form of a song, reflection/critiques, ticket out the door and video blips (interviews). We also assessed during instruction to make sure students were accessing the content and feeling confident in their processes. Using student reflections we planned our next art experience from their responses. Critiques were often in the form of working critiques so students could use the feedback proactively. Our least successful technique was ‘Ticket out the Door’ because students were not invested in their responses nor did they have a chance to take corrective action. Our most successful technique was targeted questioning and review, because it allowed us to get a feel for where students were in the moment and change directions, give further instruction or model tasks if necessary.
Educator Effectiveness or What Did I Learning About Teaching -
There is so much that I did learn it is difficult to wrangle in all into one space. I learned first hand how to find my voice as a teacher. Using your voice physically and through non verbal communication is a very important skill to build. It is not something that one automatically thinks about as a developing skill until you have to learn to do it. Being able to communicate effectively with your students does take practice and consideration. I feel that I am not a pro at it but I certainly found what works for me in that situation. It may not work in other situations but at least I have an idea of where to look and how to develop a voice that is right for the situation. I learned that certainly no two students will understand the content the same way. All people are unique and have very personalized perceptions of information as it is received, even if it is exactly the same information. For what ever reason I was not expecting this quality to be so profoundly prevelant in elementary students. There are all kinds of learners and being immersed in a classroom was an eye opener at how much this plays a part in how your instruction will go. I also learned that I have a long way to go before I will feel confident in my choices when planning and instructing a lesson. As I mentioned in my PechaKucha talk, I thought that I knew how to talk to 1st graders and what content would be exciting to them, but I was suprised how easy it was to design lessons that were way beyond their current skill levels. Having to break it down further was the biggest challenge. For me our greatest success of the semester was letting them choose where their project on the third lesson was going to go. They came up with ideas and the whole class voted to determine the next project. The students were totally into it and it showed during their next lesson. The biggest take away from this semester is understanding how to work with others. It has been a major theme for the semester. How will this impact my future teaching? I believe that this is just one of many learning experiences, I feel that when I am questioning my path I should look back on this semester and remind myself how things are possible even when the odds may seem dauntingly against you.
Introduction to Unit - In Julie 's first grade class we chose Communication for our unit focus. Visual art is a form of communication, we communicate about ourselves, our environment and our experiences. Through a variety of materials we will explore how art communicates our intentions. We will touch on communicating through visual stories and movement as the lessons progress. Moving through the unit lessons the students used a variety of art materials and processes like painting, clay building, paper and found objects as well as drawing and large scale sculpture techniques. In their own ways each student was able to experience communication through multiple mediums which inspired creativeness and innovation in their peers.
We began with the notion of using art to tell a story, and to share who we are through what we make. This concept still holds true, there’s just been minor aspects that have been added, such as observation and technique. Artists tell stories through their art. They translate their thoughts, emotions, and ideas into visual imagery. This was a large part of what we concentrated on. “What do you want to make, and how can you make that happen?” We started general with learning about detail and observation, then took that learning and lead into more specific lessons, such as creating clay creatures. Most of these lessons were spent over two/three days, which taught that art takes time. It takes time and it can be altered. An artist’s concept can start as one thing and grow into something else! Polaris first grade unit plan
Methods for Integrating Literacy, Numeracy, Technology, and other Components -
The role of technology in the art classroom is one that I am always working to understand so I can wield it in a meaningful way. I try to use technology in the art classroom to maximize time and learning. A Powerpoint if composed thoughtfully can be much more than a slideshow, it can be used as an anticipatory set, it can activate prior knowledge, show reference pictures, slides can be show steps and processes. The key to a powerful presentation is knowing your audience and knowing how your audience learns best. At Polaris I used Powerpoints that had a ton of animations, easy to read text and colorful images. With this age group the time we have to lecture is limited to around five minutes and a slideshow can present information visually and slides can be revisited easily.
Literacy is a life skill so whenever we have the chance to cultivate that we seize the opportunity. Evey lesson would we introduce some new vocabulary words that are related to the materials and the learning target. First graders are aspiring readers and it is our goal to help develop their literacy skills. We brought a book that is about crafting a story. Literacy is not limited to just reading and writing ,speaking and listening are also critical life skills. Learners had a chance to share their reflections with the class and this helped cultivate listening and speaking. We would ask probing questions to get students to dig deeper with their response.Reading, writing, listening and speaking was just as important working with numbers.
It has been said that a day without math is like a day without sunshine we wanted to be sure that the sun was constantly shining on our class. Each lesson had inherent features of numeracy for example our Painting Patterns on Clay Creatures made students consider scale and proportion as well as sequencing, ordering ,creating and recognizing patterns. Before students could paint their pattern they had to create three different patterns before painting.
A thoughtful art experience needs to have art learning as well as learning about technology, literacy and numeracy.
Classroom Management Strategies related to Instruction -
Throughout most of our lessons we incorporated different strategies both in the classroom and in our planning. As our students are younger and still learning how to be in school, we really needed to think about transitions. Incorporating activities or work breaks into the flow of the lesson allowed students to move from one task to another minimizing disconnect. One such example is our discovery board. During the lesson we would write discoveries down as we heard them and at the end we would allow students to state their discovery and put it in their board pocket. This activity was a closure to our class time and allowed them to transition to recess. Another technique that we incorporated into our lessons was greet and review with targeted questions. This technique could be used either at the start of class or at the close of class. Reviewing information or techniques that we used in a previous class helped the students to get into the art mindset before starting class. This approach also served as a formative pre-class and post class assessment. Putting the learning into the hands of the student is very important, in this regard we incorporated activities for reflection such as turn and talk, group huddle, and voting for the next project. During one of the lessons a student made a discovery that we felt would benefit the whole class so we had them demonstrate their technique for the class. Clean up can sometimes be a bit chaotic if you do not have a plan. At first, we were not sure how to handle clean up so we mostly did it. It became clear after the second lesson that the students were willing and able (and some needed to) help clean up. We assigned jobs for students to complete during clean up so that everyone was doing something that would move us to reflection time. For one of our students it was very important that he was engaged in a job or activity that allowed him to get up and move. Management infused in instruction takes practice, and there are many ways to incorporate specific management tools into your instruction. We have learned a lot about this practice during our experience with the Polaris lab students.
Lesson Plans and Documentation
In the first lesson, Our first graders were encouraged to create a story about themselves on their sketchbook, we played the name game and talked about Discoveries. Getting to know you was an introductory lesson designed to step into art making and get to know our first graders by laying the foundation for a strong and purposeful relationship . During this lesson the crew was able to consider what they could say through visual art to another person to introduce themselves. Using familiar materials the crew was eager to express themselves.
Being that our first class was geared towards getting to know our first graders. We began our lesson by introducing ourselves along with the art that we make, explaining what inspires us/why we create art. We then discussed the importance of discoveries in making art; asking, “have you ever made a discovery about anything, if so, what was it? What can we do with these important discoveries? Can we put them in our pockets?” This lead into our power point about sketchbooks. We explained how we can store our ideas/discoveries in sketchbooks, and how the use of sketchbooks is an exercise for our brain. After creating our covers, We then went around and asked what everyone had discovered and wrote it on a sticky note. At the end students shared their discoveries and added their sticky to the discovery board.
Lesson Plan 1
Documentation of Lesson 1 learning: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-1/
In the second lesson, we intended for the students to explore details and new ways of seeing. We designed a three part lesson that built up to the students creating their own painting. Part one was designed to encourage the students to look for details in artworks of others. We engaged them in a tool building exercise to help them look at the posters, and record their findings. Part two was utilizing their understanding of details in order to use paint as a vehicle of expression. They created a painting for the final step as a composite of the first and second step.
Lesson Plan 2
Documentation of Lesson 2 learning:
Day 1: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-2-compare-and-contrast-imagination-vs-reality/
Day 2: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-3-what-do-you-see-learning-observation-and-recording__trashed/lesson-three-what-do-you-seeseptember-23-2016/
Day 3: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-four-september-302016/
In the third lesson, we spent time exploring clay, and the techniques that are used in clay working. We emphasized the possibilities of 3D form, texture, and pattern. Over five days, an exploration of clay emerged into creating individual manifestations of their imagined worlds. Students created clay creatures and habitats for those creatures, each with their own individual personalities, abilities, aesthetic qualities, etc.
Lesson Plan 3
Documentation of Lesson 3 Learning:
Day 1: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-five-october-72016/
Day 2: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-six-october-21-2016/
Day 3: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-seven-october-282016/
Day 4: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-eight-november-4-2016/
Day 5: https://artspeaksletslisten.wordpress.com/lesson-9-patterns-and-painting-november-18-2016/
ASSESSMENT, UNDERSTANDING, AND REFLECTION
Student Pre-Assessment and Post-Assessment Analysis
PSD Growth Assessment for Elementary Art (revised June 2014) is the instrument we used to evaluate the students at Polaris. In our assessment we noticed that it uses Art Learning themes (such as evaluating, connecting, understanding, communicating, etc.) and studio practice ideas within the wording of the assessment. This is important to look at these when assessing art. We feel that it is a standards based rubric, aligning closely with overarching themes of the standards for all elementary art students. That said it is very general and not specific to first grade developmental stages. This tool is mostly summative not formative, even with use at beginning and end it may show overall growth, but not the steps between.
Assessment Chart
In the graph above we can see improvements across the board and through all areas. In the latter lessons we allowed students to make decisions that directed where the projects would develop. Specifically we voted on our last two projects, this increased the personal investment individual engagement. Though the chart is showing only the total scores for each student on pre and post assessment there were measurable improvements in all areas. The district wide art program uses this rubric to assess all elementary art areas which are Planning and Ideation, Creation and Exploration, and Reflection and Connection. Within those categories students were ranked by advanced, proficient, partially proficient and in progress.
Formative Assessments
With our first grade crew we used the following assessment techniques in our lessons, Targeted questioning and review, pair and share, group reflection, artistic response in the form of a song, reflection/critiques, ticket out the door and video blips (interviews). We also assessed during instruction to make sure students were accessing the content and feeling confident in their processes. Using student reflections we planned our next art experience from their responses. Critiques were often in the form of working critiques so students could use the feedback proactively. Our least successful technique was ‘Ticket out the Door’ because students were not invested in their responses nor did they have a chance to take corrective action. Our most successful technique was targeted questioning and review, because it allowed us to get a feel for where students were in the moment and change directions, give further instruction or model tasks if necessary.
Educator Effectiveness or What Did I Learning About Teaching -
There is so much that I did learn it is difficult to wrangle in all into one space. I learned first hand how to find my voice as a teacher. Using your voice physically and through non verbal communication is a very important skill to build. It is not something that one automatically thinks about as a developing skill until you have to learn to do it. Being able to communicate effectively with your students does take practice and consideration. I feel that I am not a pro at it but I certainly found what works for me in that situation. It may not work in other situations but at least I have an idea of where to look and how to develop a voice that is right for the situation. I learned that certainly no two students will understand the content the same way. All people are unique and have very personalized perceptions of information as it is received, even if it is exactly the same information. For what ever reason I was not expecting this quality to be so profoundly prevelant in elementary students. There are all kinds of learners and being immersed in a classroom was an eye opener at how much this plays a part in how your instruction will go. I also learned that I have a long way to go before I will feel confident in my choices when planning and instructing a lesson. As I mentioned in my PechaKucha talk, I thought that I knew how to talk to 1st graders and what content would be exciting to them, but I was suprised how easy it was to design lessons that were way beyond their current skill levels. Having to break it down further was the biggest challenge. For me our greatest success of the semester was letting them choose where their project on the third lesson was going to go. They came up with ideas and the whole class voted to determine the next project. The students were totally into it and it showed during their next lesson. The biggest take away from this semester is understanding how to work with others. It has been a major theme for the semester. How will this impact my future teaching? I believe that this is just one of many learning experiences, I feel that when I am questioning my path I should look back on this semester and remind myself how things are possible even when the odds may seem dauntingly against you.
- Demonstration of Mastery of Pedagogical Expertise in the Content Throughout this semester plenty of opportunity for practice in the creation and delivery of lessons were presented. My favorite part was creating opportunities for the students to decide where their learning was going. Finding the path for some students might take a little while, but ultimately that is the goal for me. Help students find their passion, what do they get excited about? Then utilizing that knowledge to provide a path that will lead to further exploration.
- Safe, Inclusive and Respectful Learning Environment I feel that the placement within Polaris really gave some experience in maintaining a respectful environment. It also tested us in providing clear expectations and holding students accountable for meeting those expectations. I would say that it was an immersive experience. Being completely involved was the best part. Sometimes it was difficult to make sure that all of the students had exactly what they needed to make their work, ie: not enough of the same tool to go around, but we made sure that they each got a turn, encouraging the environment of mutual respect. My goal is to create a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environment in my own classroom.
- Plan and Deliver Effective Instruction As mentioned above, at the beginning of the semester I thought that I understood what it meant to teach to the level of the students. It turns out I had no idea what I was doing. What I learned over the course of the semester was that I needed to rethink my planning and really try to think about what a first grader knows or might understand. I also needed to keep in mind that not all students will have had the same opportunities or experiences at home, thus creating a very developmentally diverse classroom. I know I have a lot of work to do here, and nothing but practice will help me to attain a better understanding of how to effectively plan and deliver instruction to all developmental stages. There were a couple of instances over the course of the semster that allowed for in-play instruction adjustments, where the plan stated we were going to do something else. When we assessed the situation the students were so engaged in what they were doing we felt it would be a disservice to pull them away for another activity. We used it later in a following lesson. Integrating technology I thought was going to be difficult and very particular. I had overlooked that tools for techniques are technology. We incorporated tool building, and the use of specific tools to perform tasks with the materials.
- Reflection of Practice I do feel that the experience I received in working with the Polaris group this semester has been very helpful. I feel like my peer group made a lot of progress in this area. The first couple of blog posts were okay but I could definitely see improvement in how we thought about our experiences and what was important to share. I also feel that we became more aware of how the students were reacting to the projects as we moved through the semester. Our strongest moment was allowing the students to design a lesson and create a direction. It was sometimes difficult to maintain a positive relationship between our group. This was solely based around each other's work habits and how others interacted with our efforts. I know that I am responsible for maintaining a positive working relationship with my peers and I truly tried to create a safe space where we could critique each other in a way that was good for the group and the students we were teaching. In the future I would like to invest in a video recorder that will be able to record entire sessions that I could edit later. I fee this would be really informative as to how I teach and where I need to adjust my interactions. Mostly though it would be a great documentation tool and reflection device.
- Demonstration of Leadership In this area I feel the main crux of my work needs to be in allowing collaboration to be a group effort, slowing down and recognizing that different people work at different paces. It is hard for me to feel comfortable in spontaneous work or last minute thinking, especially when working in a group. Planning is key. I truly feel that when working in a group it is super important to be honest with each other, if something is not working for you then it probably is not working for the group. The sooner things are brought out to discuss the healthier the group is and this shows during teaching or when the group in working. So my goal for future growth is to slow down and go with the flow. Recognize people’s strengths and play to those strengths. Be more flexible when things seem to be going in the "wrong" direction.