Evidence of Implementation
Below are some examples throughout the year of how I integrated the arts in my classroom.
On Ash Wednesday, students created self portraits and used charcoal to draw the crosses that the priest would be putting on our heads. We talked about fasting, almsgiving and praying as ways to get closer to God. The students wrote a Lenten promise to go with their pictures.
We studied the story of the John the Baptist. Students created John the Baptist by exploring texture. In the story we learned that John wore outfits made of camel hair. The students had a lot of fun creating him. They were talking about different parts of the story and were making connections as they created the pieces.
In this Math lesson, we read the story "Three Pigs, One Wolf and Seven Magic Shapes". Each student received a Tangram puzzle and were given some time to try to make the square. Then after that, students were invited to create pictures using all the shapes. The language I heard was amazing! "These big triangles are the ears of my cat." "This parallelogram I used for the leg of my robot!". I knew they knew the names of the shapes and how the shapes can work together to make pictures. I loved the freedom the students had when creating pictures.
During math, I read the story "6 Sticks" by Molly Coxe. The students were then given 6 sticks to create a picture. The conversations between the students were very rich. There was talk about shapes, for example, one child commented "I can make a triangle for the roof and a square for the bottom of the house". One student commented how she needed to make the whiskers "even and have three on each side". The students were very excited about their pictures.
We read the parable of the Lost Sheep and also talked about God as our Shepherd. The students created bubble prints using Tempera paint, soap and water. When the prints dried, they cut them into sheep and added extra details to their pictures.
For All Saints Day, students learned about the importance of this feast in the church year. Students created their images of themselves as saints using oil pastels. We talked about symbols they could use to represent themselves (social studies) and what's important to them. We talked about Pope Francis' quote "To be saints is not a privilege for the few but a vocation for everyone." The lesson concluded with how we are all called to be saints on earth.
Below is an example of a guided reading follow up activity. Both groups read "Can You See?". It is a level A book that shows the evolution of a purple monster that is being created. The students read the book and practiced fluency. As their follow up for the book, the students got to create creatures based on a design. They had rich conversations about details of their creatures.