Internship Reflection #8

3) Contents of the lesson

Lesson 4: Inkblot Bugs

I would like to talk about the lesson titled Inkblot Bugs for reflection #8. This lesson was designed for younger students such as Kindergartener and 1^st grader. I wathced that the students were very fascinated by the presentation at the very beginning of the class because the presentation involved interesting images and information about bugs and artists dealing with bugs which efficiently attract young students’ attention. Art making process was pretty familiar with me having a 3years old preschooler but the activity was more thoughtful and improved in many ways. Having students imagine fanciful insects, the lesson was planned to motivate students to use their imagination. The lessons’ concept and ideas were not only creative in terms of art making but also inspiring in terms of language education. The host teacher explained several words and helped students understand the words by using easy examples. It was effective way for younger students to apprehend new vocabularies. This lesson also has correlation with math since the words such as vertical, horizontal and symmetry would be used for math.  

1.     Target grade: Kindergarten & 1^st Grade

2.     Direction

1.     Fold the paper in half either vertically or horizontally.

2.  Pick four (4) colors: black + three (3) more.

3.  Space four Tempera paint colors (3 drops of each color) about 1” apart on one side of the paper near the crease.

4.  Close the paper.

5.  Turn the paper so you can see where you placed the paint.

6.  Use fingers to ease the paint out from the center toward the edges of the paper.

7.  Place the work in progress on the drying rack to dry.

8.  Using thin or thick Sharpie, draw pattern, legs, eyes, antennas and wings etc. in the paint.

9.  Choose a part which will be emphasized.

10.  Glue the part and spread glitter.

3.     Big idea- Imagination

This lessons’ big idea could be imagination. Working with the paint which was unintentionally created, students made the imagery insects by making patterns and various organs. Through making totally new creature, students can learn how to visualize and use their creative imagination.   

4.     Objective

Students will be able to:

Experience how to use their imagination

Get used to new art supplies such as tempera paint and glitter.  

Learn new vocabularies such as vertical, horizontal and symmetry etc.

Evaluate others works as well as their own.

Understand how to reinforce their ideas.

5.     Students’ examples

6.     After Art Making

I was especially impressed by the two types of activities which are sort of student interview and critique after art making process. The host teacher passed three types of color tokens around for every student and let them know three types of criteria such as symmetry, pattern and creativity. The host teacher had students vote for the best work according to the each criteria. After each vote, she showed the best work which got the most tokens and have a conversation with students about the reasons. Students were so excited and interested about this process except few students who didn’t get any tokens while voting three times. Expressing the disappointment, one student said “I am very sad. I didn’t get anything. Why?”. It could be a better idea if a teacher gives two tokens in each time in order to increase the possibility for every student to get at least one token.   

After critique, the teacher drew the interviewee and had two students talk about their insects by using the direction; Pretend you are a scientist, and have discovered this new creature. Hold up the creature and tell us about: its name, where it lives. its habitat, what it eats, where it sleeps and whether it is a predator or prey.

These activities can efficiently reinforce students’ imagination and, by extension, their perspective toward objects. I believe it was an ideal lesson for younger students since the lesson was well organized and had correlation with many areas.