"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.
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.