Angie's ART Reflections
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Field Summary 4-15-11
Me, Patti, and Jessica at the Good Behavior Pancake Party!
I had an amazing time during my 3 week field experience in the 4th grade at Ridgeline Elementary. My field partner was Jessica Rose. We worked very well together. Prior to beginning our 3 weeks we had the opportunity to play get to know you games with the 4th grade students and meet our cooperating teacher, Mrs. Patti Ratliff. We did this activity the first day in art class. We sat in a circle and stated our name, an emotion, and a gesture with our hands. It took a lot longer with 4th graders than college students, but did help us learn their names!
From the first time I entered Ridgeline I was astounded by the cleanliness, friendliness and the feel of learning taking place in the atmosphere. When we entered the classroom Mrs. Ratliff put us to work right away. Her interest was for us to interact with the students as much as possible. We observed her teaching math, language arts, and science. Jessica and I would take turns reading The Candy Shoppe Wars after lunch each day. Mrs. Ratliff supplied the special reading hat, such a cute idea I’ll be implementing in my classroom.
I enjoyed my time spent in the 4th grade with Patti Ratliff. It is no secret that she loves to teach. She was a great example to me in how to teach with enthusiasm, making it fun with songs (she had many on math, Utah, rock cycle, classical, upbeat), and building students up constantly. We loved it so much we often stayed more than our required time.
The lessons we taught were on supply and demand, producers and consumers, and about Utah’s economy. We made them fun, engaging, the students listened, participated, and stayed in control most of the time! The lesson we had our career interviews in was cut short so they only had about 5 minutes. It would have been better if I'd printed interview questions to ask instead of writing them on the board. Our lesson with visual art was successful although it was quite noisy. It was the Friday before Spring Break and the kids were quite distracted. We should've explained our expectations on the noise level. Most of the students did their best on their brochures, with a few that didn't try stating they weren't good at art.
I can understand how teachers get attached to their students. You want them to do great, you want them to succeed, and you want the best for every aspect of their lives. In the short 3 weeks we were there, I experienced these feelings toward the students. After being in the school atmosphere and experiencing teaching, I know I was meant to be a teacher. There is nothing I desire more in life than to make a positive difference in children. I am excited to gain more knowledge and master techniques to become the best teacher I can be.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
March 15- DANCE
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
March 2, 2011- MUSIC
- Pitch: The highness or lowness of a sound.
- Duration: How long of a sound or how long of the silence.
- Dynamics: The volume or attack
- Timbre: The quality of sound.
- Form: Patterns and structure in the music.
For Elementary School we will focus on:
Sing Play Listen Create
Read and Write Learn from Times and Culture
Okay, here is a fun Syllable Game!
First, you choose a volunteer to go out of the room. The rest of the class sit in a circle and choose a word with 3-4 syllables. For example: elephant, avocado, sympathy, etc. Then divide the circle in 3-4 groups (depending on number of syllables of the particular word). For example: A-VO-CA-DO. Now, invite the volunteer to come back in. To the tune of Row, Row, Row your boat song, everyone sings their particular sound. For example: "A" group would sing "Awe, Awe, Awe, ..." and th "VO" group would sing "Voe, Voe, Voe....." It is important that the students sing their sound correctly. While the singing is happening, the volunteer will walk around the circle and try to put the word together. This game is great for teaching language arts when learning how to split up syllables!
There are 7 Habits of Highly Effective Singing.
- Body-Braindance
- Breath- Low and expansive
- Vocal Play- Games and stories (Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle)
- One Pitch- Match "la, la, la, la, la, la laaa" to either high or low pitch
- Two Pitches- Match 2 "la ...laas" to high and low pitches
- Phrase- La, la, la.
- Words- Add to phrase
There are 4 Basic Compatible Rules.
- Whole to Part
- Sing not Say
- Listen in many ways
- Be actively involved
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Drama- 2/8/11
Drama= So much fun. There are endless ideas to incorporate drama into teaching. I love that drama will get you out of your shell. Some of my favorites that we've done in class:
- Story as One- One person selected to start the story, they talk slow so everyone else can follow along with them. Then they point to someone else to take over and everyone tells the story at the same time following the selected person. It incorporates focus, creativity, and on the spot thinking.
- Mirror Game- You can either do this in pairs or as a group. If in pairs, person A will do slow motions with hands and person B follows them as if they were a mirror. If doing in a big group, one person goes out in the hall, the rest of the group follows the "leader" mysteriously and the person tries to guess who the leader is. As the teacher you can side coach, or give instructions.
- Machines- In groups of 5-6, make a machine given criteria of lines, etc. You each make sounds to go with your machine. Super fun.
- Interview a Character- This would be great for history. You pick a character (president, war hero) to be and bring him/her to life. Someone else interviews you.
- Character as One- This is when 3-4 people are all the same character. The teacher guides or interviews them as if they are that person. The risk level is lower as far as shy or embarrassed students.
- Character
- Setting
- Story/Plot
- Audience- very critical that kids learn how to be an audience
You must incorporate the following 6 principles of drama with the elements:
- Symbol
- Focus
- Tension
- Contrast
- Balance
- Form
There are UNLIMITED possibilities!!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Vincent Van Gogh- Field Trip #1
I've never been to a play where there is only one character. At first it was a little strange to me. As it went on, I thought how hard it would be to remember all the lines, not to have a break for a drink of water, and how intense the vocabulary was.
Most adults have heard of Vincent Van Gogh, but to hear it from his brothers perspective who supported him throughout his life was a different story.
The actor, Dr. John Newman, did an incredible job portrying Theo (pronounced TAY-oh), Vincent's brother. Throughout the hour I learned several things about Vincent Van Gogh from letters he wrote. It was fun to witness it first hand and be entertained. Here are a few fun facts that you may or may not know about Vincent Van Gogh.
- Vincent's mother had a still born little boy a year prior to Vincent's birth that she also named Vincent. That is why people say he was born 2 times.
- Vincent's father was a pastor and didn't approve of his lifestyle.
- Vincent didn't think he was worth anything, always thought he could do better and be better.
- Only one painting sold in Vincent's lifetime, within the year of his death.
- He was in love with a beautiful woman and borrowed money from Theo to go see her. She didn't love him and wasn't there when he came. He was heartbroken. Vincent had several other unhappy love relationships.
- Vincent became involved with a prostitute named Christine. She had a baby and was pregnant when they met on the streets. He felt the need to take care of them. Their relationship didn't last.
- Theo was a huge financial support throughout Vincents life.
- Vincent lived in an assylum in St. Remy voluntarily. He did many of his paintings there.
- In the last year of Vincent's life, he moved to Auvers, France and completed 200+ pieces of art.
- Vincent's suicide was likely because he didn't want to be a burden on Theo and the rest of his family.
- Theo passed away just 6 months after Vincent of a nervous breakdown.
- We can thank Johanna, Theo's wife, who preserved and helped popularize Vincent's artwork.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
1-26-11~Visual Art
The 6 elements of Art are: Color, texture, space, line, shape, and value.
The 6 principles of Art are: Proportion, balance, rhythm, variety, emphasis, and unity.
A few fun activities/ideas for Elementary art classes:
- Have them construct a book about their family, rules at school, anything really.
- Eric Carle type pictures using construction paper, you can construct an animal that resembles you.
- Leo Lionni type pictures using paint or stamp pads. You could also write a short story on the page to incorporate writing.
- Read Hello Red Fox by Eric Carle when talking about contrasting colors.
- Have students draw their left hand, not looking at their pencil/paper, just the hand they're drawing. It will challenge them to take in a different perspective.
- Do you see what I say. A game where a pair sits back to back, one person is the scribe and the other person draws what the scribe says. The tricky part is you can't tell them to draw a circle, square, etc. You have to describe the lines and which way they go. A fun, engaging, listening, describing, communicating game.
- Draw a detailed picture of an animal, focusing on the detail of the fur/skin, using pencils, colored pencils, or paint. Inspired by David Weisners artwork.
- Using construction paper and pins (safer than X-acto knifes), construct a picture using many layers to make a collage. Inspired by David Wisnieski artwork.
I really enjoyed making the projects that our peers designed for us to do. Although, I wish we had a little more time to complete them. I am excited to add to my art ideas for my classroom.
It was fun to collaborate on our presentation on Leo Lionni. It worked out great. We met and decided on an author/artist, then we decided who would do what. We then collaborated on a Google Doc and each put our '2 cents' in. I thought the presentation went okay, we maybe should have practiced before hand so we knew who was saying what. Everyone seemed to like the art project. Fun times in EDEL 4540!