Footprint Introduction

The footprint projects that we did were to introduce ourselves to the class to get to know each other better and to start the class off. On the footprint, we had to use at least three different types of media to create things that represent us and describe us. The entire footprint was supposed to be filled, so it was very cool to see what each person is like in our class.

This project was very fun to do and it reminds me of all the things that I love, my hobbies, and favorite foods! On my footprint, I included a basketball as well as a #32 NSU jersey because I play basketball at Northern and love that! I have two hearts on there to represent my love for my family/friends as well as to represent Valentine’s Day/February because my birthday is the day after Valentine’s Day. There is a cupcake and donuts on my footprint because I love sweets and baking them! I put a “TC” logo for my favorite team: the Minnesota Twins. There is also an airplane on my foot because I love to travel and go on vacations. Finally, I put waves and a swimsuit to represent my love for summer and going to the lake/beach. My footprint describes me perfectly and I loved creating it!

This footprint introduction is something I will definitely do in my classroom. It’s such a great way for people to get to know each other, especially when they will be together for a whole year. An extension activity for this would be to not only create your footprint of yourself but to write a story in Language Arts to explain what is on your footprint, rather than just saying it to the class; I think that would be fun, so students can describe each element they included about themselves even further!

Beadwork-lesson #9

For Hayley and Rachael’s lesson, it was called beadwork. Each student had either a red or pink piece of construction paper. We used that paper to cut out a heart. They explained to us that we were going to be making bracelets for our moms for Mother’s Day, using beads. We would be making the beads out of strips of magazine. There were four different ways to make the beads and we had to make sure we had a certain pattern with the beads. I chose a color/white pattern to use.

After we created the bead, by folding it over a wooden dowel, we put a little bit of glue on to hold it together. Then, we put the beads on a piece of string. We continued that process until our piece of string was filled up, and then we tied it to complete our bracelet. We used our hearts that we cut out to write why we love our moms and then we signed our name. I wrote I love my mom because she encourages me and always supports me and comes to my basketball games.

An extension activity would be to create a friendship bracelet for another student maybe at a different class in the same town or out of town; kind of like a pen pal. Each student can be paired up with a student from a different class and they can make bracelets for each other and even write letters to tell about themselves and explain their bracelets.

Modern Art-lesson #8

For Charlie and Shannon’s lesson, it was for fourth grade and titled Modern Art. We started off by rolling clay into a flat slab using a rolling pin. We could then cut any face shape out of that clay that we wanted to. We used a clay tool or a pencil to make four separate sections in our clay face. After we sectioned the face off into four parts, we had to make different textures in each of those parts. After that, we then used our extra clay from cutting out the face shape to make any eyes, nose, and mouth that we wanted to for our face.

After creating the eyes, nose, and mouth, we had to keep each of those things on the face. To do this, we used a technique called scoring and slipping. Scoring is making different texture marks on the face and back of the eyes, nose, and mouth. Slipping is taking a little bit of water on your finger and placing that on both scored areas, so the two pieces of clay stick together. We put the eyes, nose, and mouth on by those two techniques. After that, we painted the entire face with black paint. When the paint and clay dried (after a few days), we could paint our faces using whatever colors we wanted. For my face, I used red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple!

An extension activity would be for students to create a story in Language Arts class about their mask; almost like it is a real face/alive! This would be cool because everyone’s faces are different and the students could be really creative with it!

Science in Art: Seasons-lesson #7

For Kara and Kelsey’s lesson, it was for 2^nd grade titled Science in Art: Seasons. We started off the lesson by taking half of a brown piece of paper and traced part of our arm and hand on the paper. This piece will be our tree trunk for either a winter or fall tree that we are creating. We then cut out our tree trunk. After that, we took our background piece of colored paper and put our name on the back. I chose a light blue piece of paper to do a winter tree.

We took our tree trunk and crumpled it up a little bit to create a textured look and then glued it onto our piece of paper. Kara and Kelsey did a great job of modeling how you can create your tree; either using tissue paper or cotton balls. They showed us how we could gently pull apart the cotton balls to create snow or clouds as well as using a pencil eraser to create leaves using the tissue paper. We then were allowed to go ahead and create either our winter or fall trees using those techniques that they demonstrated. When we were done with our trees, we had to add a background. We finally could put finishing touches on our trees such as: glitter, a landscape, snowmen, leaves, snow, etc. For my winter tree, I used cotton balls to make the tree and also used cotton balls on the bottom of the page to create snow. I also used dark blue glitter to make snowflakes and silver to make some snow on the ground.

An extension activity for this could be in a science lesson about trees. Maybe you are learning about different trees and the students can create projects like this one. After they create their tree, they could write a story about the tree and how they created it.

A box of crayons-lesson #6

For Ellen and Megan’s lesson, it was for first grade titled a box of crayons. We started off by playing a game called trading places. The teachers had different questions that they asked and if it applied to us, we had to switch places with someone else in the room. We did this multiple times; the idea of this was to explain about diversity and that everyone is different and it’s good to be different, otherwise things would be boring.

Then, we took a big piece of white construction paper and folded it into thirds hamburger style. For the first part at the top, we had to be creative and draw a crazy/fun head. It was cool to not have to worry about drawing a human head; you could come up with anything you wanted! After that, we passed our papers to the right and the next person had to draw a body. They couldn’t look at what the head looked like. For the third section, which was at the bottom, we passed our papers again to the right and that person had to draw some legs. Then, we turned our papers in and the teachers held each one up. They looked like crazy creatures but it was funny to see what everyone came up with! Finally, we took a piece of paper that had a big crayon on it and colored it and designed it as something to represent us. I used all of the colors that are my favorite on there and I also drew a picture of myself with a big smile because I love to smile and be happy! I also wrote NSU and drew a basketball on my crayon because that’s where I go to school and play basketball.

For an extension activity, students could write a story about their crayon that they drew of themselves. They could also write a story of the “creature” that they drew. If they did a story about the creature that they drew, they could come up with a fun name for it and where it lives, etc.

Crayon Engraving and Scratchboard "Scratch Art"-Mother's Day-lesson #5

For Ashley and Whitney’s lesson, it was for 4^th grade and called crayon engraving and scratchboard “Scratch Art”-Mother’s Day. This was a great lesson and a very fun activity! Each student started off by coloring a piece of sturdy cardstock with crayons. The teachers really emphasized how important it was to press down very hard with the crayons. After we had our whole piece of cardstock colored with crayon, we used black tempera paint and detergent mixture to coat the whole piece of cardstock and the crayon. We then let our cardstock dry as we listened to the PowerPoint the teachers had for us.

After that, we had an unscramble worksheet about Mother’s Day that we worked on. After that, we took a piece of regular paper the same size as our cardstock and folded it in half the hamburger way to create a card. We practiced drawing things on that card, to create one for our moms for Mother’s Day. After we drew our card sketches, we turned the paper over and shaded where our words/pictures were on the other side. Then, we traced over our words/pictures again with a hard pencil onto the scratchboard that had the paint on it. As long as we pressed down hard enough, you could see where our pencil marks were. We then used a sharpened wood stick to go over those pencil marks and the paint scratched off. It was so cool to see the colors from the crayon show up under the black paint. It was really pretty. We finally folded the cardstock in half hamburger style and that was our card! We also put a piece of paper glued inside the card and wrote a nice message to our moms.

An extension activity for this would be to do this project for any holiday. You can use this method to make any cards or even invitations. I think it would be cool to use as a way to make invitations for parents for a school concert, science fair, conferences, track & field day, etc!

Masks-lesson #4

For Hannah and Justin’s lesson, it was for 3^rd grade and titled masks. Each student received a paper plate with two hole punches on each side. Then, we picked a color out of about four different colors and painted the entire back of the paper plate with that color. We let them dry as we listened to a PowerPoint presented by the teachers. The rest of the time, we were allowed to decorate our masks after they dried. The teachers did a great job modeling how to make different things such as a nose and hair as well as multiple examples of what you could do and use to decorate your mask. I liked using the glitter on my mask because I love sparkly things such as glitter! The main color of my mask was orange. Finally, we used string and put it through the two punch holes, so if we wanted to wear the masks, they would stay on!

An extension activity would be that students could make these masks and talk about a certain tribe and write about what that tribe uses masks for or what they represent in their social studies class. Some tribes decorate them certain ways and have really interesting stories behind what these masks represent and stand for. It would be cool for the students to wear their masks as they present their information that they found!