Paper Bag Monsters
Something I have struggled with in this program is the feeling that we, as young newly educated teachers, are the expectations for us to do something fun, new, innovative and exciting in all aspects of our teaching. I have spent hours trying to find exciting new things to teach my students, or exciting new ways to teach the subject they are currently learning. During this practicum I was trying to find something fun for the students to make during Art class that was Halloween themed. I did not want it to be super messy and a big clean up (just picture 24 grade 1's with paint.......). I am not a huge fan of puppets, but the students were soooo excited about them, and to create their own with artistic freedom made them even happier. I did give them criteria for the assignment: they needed 5 colours, eyes (1-10), a mouth around the flap of the bag, and to use both crayons and glue on construction paper. I did not capture any of the students creations because I allowed the students to take them home that day.
I was given the rest of the afternoon and the students were able to share their monsters in the circle at the carpet with the class and state 2 things about their monsters. Their monsters ranged from a cat, spiderman, zombie vampire, and I believe one was a monster ballerina (it had a tutu and a tail.....). Was awesome to see the students artistic freedom at work!
Here was my inspiration: (from pinterest of course haha)
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/159385274281953401/
I agree, I definitely feel like I have to do exciting innovative lessons, and will spend far too long trying to be original and "re-inventing the wheel." It is great that sites like Pinterest can give us so many exciting lesson ideas, but in a much faster way than if we created them all ourselves from scratch.
ReplyDeletePaper bag puppets are wonderful. They are open-ended, so students can create whatever they want. They also encourage communication, talking and listening, and story telling. I think that would be a great thing to add to your bag of tricks for TOCing. I also liked your criteria. It was super clear. :)
ReplyDeleteSuch a great idea!! Totally agree with Katrina, these are great art projects that can be so useful in other areas of curriculum. INTEGRATE INTEGRATE INTEGRATE:)
ReplyDeleteI am sorry that you feel this pressure! Your professors and CTs probably don't even realize when they are contributing to it. But I will be more aware of it now, thanks. I don't actually think lesson plans can be "plagiarized" - teachers should feel free to use whatever activities they can find that they believe will work for their students, although I guess it is a good idea, while you are university students, to note your source. The real art of teaching is in the delivery and that will be unique for each teacher. There are so many "power strategies" like this that can be used for almost any age, in connection to any content (yes, integrate, integrate!). I'm glad you shared this one - it isn't so original but that doesn't matter. It is effective!
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