"My Moment in Maine"

As part of my observation hours for my Practicum in Art Education course, I participated in an art workshop for 5th graders at Dyer Elementary School. The students had been working with The Telling Room, a nonprofit writing center, to create stories about a moment they experienced in Maine. 
We were asked to create a lesson plan for a two-session art workshop in order to add a visual element to their stories.

LESSON PLAN - SESSION 1

TEACHERS:  Laura Bubar, John Bigelow, Caitlin Alger

PROJECT TITLE: My Moment in Maine

GRADE LEVEL: 5th graders.


MATERIALS:

• Thick paper/mat board 11"x14"
  
• Pencils
  
• Lots of magazines
  
• Decorative paper
  
• Kid-safe scissors
  
• Plastic bags to hold their magazine clippings (To save for second class)
  
• Sharpies for teachers to label kids' drawings & magazine clippings
  
• Glue sticks
  
• Black acrylic paint
  
• Small paintbrushes

INTRODUCTION:

• Have all students introduce themselves and give a brief synopsis of their story.
  
• Explain the idea of adding a visual to their stories.
  
• Give ideas of what parts of their stories might make good 2D images.
  
• Introduce the project materials: paper and magazines for collage.
  
• Emphasize that they are searching through the paper and magazines for color, not for pre-made images.
  

ACTIVITY:

• Pass out newsprint for them to sketch ideas for their collage.
  
• Once they settle on an idea, pass out thick mat board for the final project.
  
• They draw the outline for their collage image on the mat board.
  
• Start collection of color from magazines and decorative paper.
• Encourage the students to collect more than enough paper to cover the entire mat board.
• Explain that they will be cutting the paper to shape and gluing in the next session.