Tie-Dye Fun

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In class today we got to tie-dye shirts. It was so much fun!

I had never tie-dyed anything, so it was a learning process for me, from learning how to fold to get the pattern that I wanted to learning how to apply the dye. Funny enough, my classmates had not either! We made a huge mess (p.s. tie-dyeing is much safer done outdoors!). I dribbled blue dye on my table and my computer and one of my classmates had a small explosion with her bottle of red dye.

Image credit: Author's own

Pictured above is my shirt. I love how it turned out (now my son wants me to do one for him)! These would be great to use for a class of younger students to use on field trips. The students would easily stand out and if each class used a different color, then it would be easy for chaperones to identify which students belong in which class.

Until Next Time,
Ms. K

Fun With Geography

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Last week (I think) in Social Studies we played a couple geography games. We were given a blank map of the United States and 1 minute to name as many states as we could. While we all knew the states, the time limit made it really challenging to get them written down.

The other game we played was a ton of fun! We chose a state and then had to choose four cities or landmarks in that state to try to illustrate clues for.

Image credit: Author's own

Image credit: Author's own

Image credit: Author's own

These three images are the states that my classmates and I chose to create clues for. We then went around the room and tried to guess what the clues meant. We had a lot of laughs trying to decipher each other's drawings. 

Image credit: Author's own

Image credit: Author's own

Image credit: Author's own

I was surprised how well we actually did on our guesses. This would be so much fun to do in a classroom, particularly with older students!

Until Next Time, 

Ms. K

Making History Relatable

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In Social Studies last week we discussed how to make history relatable to kids. How do you get kids to care about something that happened long before they were born?

We talked quite a bit about the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Most of the students who will come into our future classrooms will have no idea of the devastation caused by both events. My professor brought in several really interesting books on both topics.

Image credit: Author's own

"Children of the Great Depression" was one book that I found really fascinating. I recall being taught about the Great Depression as an elementary student, but I cannot recall the effects on the children ever being mentioned. Students are able to form empathetic links to other children easier than they are to random adults.

After our discussion. I decided to create a week-long unit on the Great Depression and the Stock Market Crash for my own field students. I will begin my unit next week and I really hope the kids have as much fun with it as I have!

Until Next Time,
Ms. K

Soap Carving

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A couple of weeks ago I posted about reading the book "Becoming Naomi Leon." In the story, the main character loves to make soap carvings. Carving is a talent that runs in this character's family.

For art, we tried our own hands at soap carvings.

Image credit: Author's own

My classmates and I  learned about Noche de Rabanos (The Night of the Radishes) which takes place in Oaxaca, Mexico through Naomi. This is a festival that we had not heard of before. For this festival, the residents of Oaxaca carve beautiful figures out of very large radishes.  

Image credit: Flickr

While the students in a typical class would not be able to carve the radishes (particularly with the amount of detail seen at Noche de Rabanos), the bars of soap could be a good alternative. Plastic knives make the carving a little more challenging, but it can still be done. What a fun little project!

Until Next Time,

Ms. K

Paperclip Project

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Last week in my social studies class we watched a video about the Paperclip Project. It was amazing. I had not heard about this project, which began in 1998 in Whitwell, TN. Students began to learn about the Holocaust and needed to visualize what 6 million of something would look like, as there were 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The student chose paperclips after learning that paperclips were worn by Norwegians in silent protest to the Nazis.

Image Credit: IMDb

This video was very inspiring. I highly recommend watching it. This project ended up in the creation of a Holocaust Memorial in Whitwell. 

This project shows what teachers can do when they are able to inspire their students. I was very moved by watching this video, also I find WWII and the Holocaust fascinating and horrific but I really enjoy learning about both.

Until Next Time,

Ms. K

Pinterest Saves My Sanity

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We finished our "crafting" art projects in my arts class about a month ago, and I have found myself really missing it. I loved coming to art class to work on my projects because it was a great form of stress relief and by the end of the day, I was in great need of it.

Due to the completion of our art projects in art class, I have taken to the great and wonderful Pinterest to find inspiring projects that a novice, such as myself, could create.

I have found many, many projects that even I can do! One of my favorites is a painting that I found.

Image Credit: Wholesome Mommy

Mine is still a work in progress, as I did not have all of the paint that I needed but as soon as I make it  over to Hobby Lobby I will complete mine. I made two of them as Christmas presents. Pinterest is inspiring my Christmas on a budget campaign for this year.

Image Credit: Author's own

My snowman in this painting is in need of a diet, but I still think he is pretty adorable. 

It is important to remember how useful are truly can be in the classroom. In a world where teachers have to push reading, writing, and mathematics on our students all day everyday, everything else tends to get pushed aside. Art is a great way to allow students to express themselves and get some stress relief in. I didn't realize how important it really was until this semester when we got to create projects for 4 weeks. Once it was over, I truly began to miss it. 

Until Next Time,

Ms. K

Artifacts

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A couple of weeks ago, we did an activity in our social studies class where we brought in 5 items that represented us. We each displayed our items and then had to choose one display to write about. We wrote about why the items were important to that particular person. Then we mixed all of the items up and discussed what those items said about our class as a whole.

Image Credit: Author's own

Image Credit: Author's own

Image Credit: Author's own

Image Credit: Author's own

Image Credit: Author's own

Image Credit: Author's own

Image Credit: Author's own

Image Credit: Author's own

One thing that we noticed right away, after mixing our items, was the absence of any electronic items. While we may all be on our computers and phones constantly, those items do not define us. We are defined by our accomplishments and items that are nostalgic. 

If this activity were to take place with younger students I would expect to find electronics though. My generation grew up playing outdoors and not having access to electronics unlike children of today.

Until Next Time,

Ms. K

Trade Fair

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A few weeks ago we held our own version of a trade fair. We discussed how pioneers would often trade goods to receive items that would be more useful. For instance, pioneers would trade glass beads, knives, and other items that they had easy access to for animal furs and hides. Fur trades were very profitable for the Europeans but the eventually began to lead to wars.

Our trade fair did not lead to any wars, and I am pretty sure everyone was happy with the results. I made coffee sugar scrubs. I had 2 jars of my scrub and they both went quickly. Below are pictures from the two posts from which I received items.

Image Credit: Author's own

Image Credit: Author's own

From Cayla's Post, I traded her 1 jar of my scrub for her painting (which I plan on displaying in my very own classroom in the very near future). My trade with Irish Hess was a little more complicated. I know that Emily does not like the smell of coffee and she had a bag that I wanted. One of my classmates really wanted the last jar of my scrub so I traded my scrub to her for cookies and then traded the cookies to get the bag that I had my eye on.

In the classroom, this could be a lot of fun for students as long as all rules and expectations are made very clear. I would recommend keeping parents in the loop so that no trades result in angry parent phone calls.

Until Next Time,
Ms. K

Becoming Naomi Leon

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I am really late on this one and I apologize, but about a month ago we read a really awesome book for my arts class called "Becoming Naomi Leon" by Pam Munoz Ryan. This book offers a great lesson in accepting yourself and finding your own voice in the world.

Image Credit: Scholastic

The main character in the book, Naomi, has a unique talent that she finds connects her to her estranged father and his heritage. She is a very talented carver and likes to carve soap. So as an art project, we carved bars of soap to tie into the book. This was a unique way to help bring the story to life. This approach would be very useful in the classroom, to allow students to develop a connection to the story.

Until Next Time,

Ms. K

Acting Lessons...

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A few weeks ago, we learned about the importance of bringing history to life to help engage our students. We were shown a famous painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River and we reenacted it (to the best of our very-limited) ability.

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Image Credit: John Haggard

Our class had a great time with this activity. Although we were not exactly like the painting, it still brought the point home. This is an approach that I think that student would really enjoy.

Until Next Time,
Ms. K

Week 6

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This past week I completed my final weekly art project for my arts class. I am very sad to be done with my weekly stress reliever, but my instructor says that we have to move on. She has other projects planned for us. For my final project my medium was "watercolor." I have never thought of myself as a painter, so I was a little hesitant about this medium.

I needed inspiration, so off to my favorite source of inspiration I went. There are millions of ideas on Pinterest so it is my go-to whenever I am in need of ideas for home or for my classroom. I wanted to do something that would incorporate winter, and in the midwest, snow is synonymous with winter. I began to search for snowflake paintings and then I found one that I could easily make in a classroom, the only problem was that it was not really meant for watercolors. It is a painting on canvas and watercolor does not take well to canvas.

I decided to adapt my painting and try the technique on card stock with watercolors. It would have turned out great had the masking tape that I used not tore the card stock.

I liked the painting so much though, that I decided to use the canvas and acrylic paints to create a second painting.

Source: Author's own

This is a photo of my paining on canvas. I love how it turned out! This is still a project that I would be willing to do in a classroom, if I had a smaller class. I would not want to do this kind of project with a class of 25 unless the students' parents helped to cover the cost of the canvas because canvas can get expensive quickly. I am still bummed that the paper tore for my watercolor because I was able to get the shades of blue just right, but I am thrilled that I decided to do one on the canvas.

Until Next Time,

Ms. K

Columbus Day

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With Columbus Day coming up, we were asked to read Morning Girl by Michael Dorris for my Social Studies class. This was a wonderful book about a young girl and her family.

When I began reading it, I could not put it down. It got me thinking about the native people in the story and how their lives would change when the island was "discovered." When lands were discovered in Christopher Columbus' time, often the natives were referred to as "savages" or "uncivilized" and they were forced into Christianity.

Source: Scholastic Books

As a country we celebrate Columbus Day, but what does it really mean? Government offices are not open and there is no post, but what is the bigger picture? In school, children color pictures of the ships that sailed with Christopher Columbus and they make things to honor him, but was he a good person and did he do good things? Students are often not taught anything about Columbus past the idea that he discovered America and the younger children have no idea what consequences that discovery had. So the question remains in my brain...should Columbus Day be celebrated in schools when students only are exposed to a snippet of information?

Until Next Time,

Ms. K

The Crafting Continues...

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As the weeks have progressed, I have been creating more and more art. It has been a lot of fun, but this portion of my arts class has ended (which is very sad for me). I looked forward to my projects each week as a form of stress relief. The first project that I created was my wine cork heart (seen in my September, 14th post).

The second project that I had was "found art." This requires the artist to create art out of something they found. I chose to use sand dollars and shark's teeth that my family and I had found on the beach in Florida.

Source: Author's own

I hot glued the ribbon to the back plate of a shadow box and then hot glued the sand dollars and shark's teeth on. I borrowed this idea from a pin that I found on Pinterest. This project was very simple to make and one that I can easily adapt for the classroom.

Until Next Time,

Ms. K

Community Construction

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Over the past few weeks, we have been constructing our own "town" in my social studies class. This activity allowed the entire class to make decisions about how our town would be laid out and what resources it would have. Together, we came up with a list of services and retailers that would have a place in our community and then we decorated boxes to represent the stores we had chosen. Once all of the boxes were designed, construction began.

Source: Author's own

We voted on where to place some of the stores and also where our industry should be located. This activity encouraged the entire class to work as a team. 

Source: Emily Hess

Source: Author's own

Once our community was built, we sat down around our community and had a very in-depth discussion. We focused on problem-solving: what would happen if our factory polluted our water sources...what if a big-box store wanted to move in and purchase part of the farm?  This activity gave our entire class a common bond. We became rather protective of our town and got upset when anyone outside of our class touched it.

This activity would be fun for a classroom because it provides a common foundation for kids to begin a school year with, encourages team-building, problem-solving, and (let's be real here) it was a blast to create!

Until Next Time,
Ms. K

Craft Time!

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Today I started my unusual art project in class. I did not have nearly enough corks to make the wreath, so I am tabling that idea until I can get more corks. I decided to make the the cork heart instead. The hot glue did not work as well as I would have hoped because I only had synthetic corks but I made it work.

Image Credit: Author's own

Above is my finished product. Hopefully after the glue sets, it will stay together well. It is not nearly as intricate as some of the cork art that I have seen but I am pretty happy with how it turned out!

Until Next Time,

Ms. K

Week 3, Field Begins

Image Credit: Google

Welcome back!

This week, my classmates and I began our field placements. Block 3 field placements require two full-days in field. We are each assigned to a classroom, grade level, and teacher. When I received my placement for this semester, I was slightly intimidated. I am working with older students this semester than I have in previous semesters. I am always concerned that I will not be confident enough with the material that I am to teach. In these situations, I have found it helpful to brush up on subjects that I have not dealt with in a while. One of my favorite websites that I use to refresh my memory is Khan Academy. Mathematics has never been my strongest subject, so I find this resource particularly useful. However, Khan Academy is useful in many other subjects, not just mathematics. It is a great classroom tool to use with students who need a little reinforcement in concepts being taught. 

Unusual Art?!

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Two weeks ago we were to choose a genre of art in which to produce a piece for my Arts in Education class. Since I was not in the room when my instructor was going over each genre (I was stuck in the bookstore line attempting to pick up my textbook), I chose "unusual art" thinking that it would be kind of hard to mess up a piece that is supposed to be unusual. Solid logic right? Unfortunately, little did I know, this genre obligates me to create art by using unusual items...

After lots and lots of brainstorming (and scouring Pinterest), I came up with a few ideas but I am not very artistic and we all know how Pinterest projects turn out! I have decided that the following photo is the goal.

Image Credit: Pinterest

Although I have a feeling that the beautiful wreath above may end up looking more like this....

Image Credit: Pinterest

Due to a limited supply of corks and time, this may end up being closer to my final goal. This project is challenging me to "think outside the box" by using a medium that I would not traditionally think of as a medium for art. This could be a fun project to use in a classroom as well. I could have students use items to create art instead of simply have them create a painting or sculpture.

Until Next Time,

Ms. K

Week 2...A Tad Bit Late

Welcome!

August 31 was the beginning of week 2, and what better way to start off a semester then by heading out on a field trip? For my Social Studies Methods, Arts in Education, and Teaching Exceptional Learners courses, we headed out for an all-day field trip to the Indiana National Lakeshore. The weather was perfect and the trip was wonderful!

First, we went to Miller Woods Trail in Gary, IN. It was beautiful along the trail and so peaceful as well.

Image credit: Author's own

We learned about the Black Oak Savanna and got to see some of these beautiful trees as well. 

Image Credit: Author's own

After we finished the trail, we headed up the road to the Bailly-Chelberg Homestead. I had never even heard of this place before, but it is a wonderful place to take students when they are learning about Indiana state history! 

Image Credit: Author's own

This location has many opportunities for students to witness what life was like in 19th Century Indiana by watching and interacting with staff who portray settlers. 

When we finished our tour of the farm and homestead, it was nearly lunchtime. Our next stop was lunch on the beach! We headed out for Beverly Shores to play in the water and eat lunch on the beach. 

Image Credit: Michelle Hollowell

I had such a wonderful time on our field trip, and even better, I was able to discover a couple of places that I had never been to before!

Until Next Time,

Ms. K