Multicultural Masks

My partner and I did this lesson for 3rd grade about Multicultural Masks. To start off our lesson we told the students about a bunch of different masks, the cultures they were used in, and what they were used for. The first thing we had the students do was cut out eyes on their paper plates they were given. We then had the students paint the paper plate whatever color they wanted. Next they had to make a nose, either out of construction paper, foam, paint, crayons, markers, or glitter. They could also make their mouths out of construction paper, foam, paint, makers, crayons, or glitter. Next, they did the hair on the mask, which they made out of yarn or pipe cleaners. After they were done with all the facial features, they got to decorate their masks, with foam pieces or sparkles. At the end of our lesson we asked each student to write a couple sentences about why they chose the different materials and colors they did and if it reflected any of their facial features or interests.

An extension activity that we came up with would be an activity for social studies. We would assign each student a culture and they would have to do some research about that culture and then make a mask displaying that culture. All the students would share their masks at the end and explain their culture.

Once we were done grading everyone's masks we then displayed them on a bulletin board. For our bulletin board we hung all the mask, made a boarder, and titled it, "Faces Around the World." We had a description of our lesson and our names below the board.

Beadwork

For this group's lesson they taught us how to make beads. They tied Mother's day into it as well by having us make hearts at the beginning of the lesson and writing a special message to our mothers on them. We then began to make beads out of magazine strips. There were four different styles of beads we could use by cutting the magazine strips differently. For their lesson we were required to use three different styles of beads and make a pattern with them. Once we had them cut, we rolled them up and glued the ends of them. Once were done making the beads we strung them onto a piece of yarn and made bracelets for our mothers. I thought this was a creative gift for Mother's day and it also taught kids about recycling material.

For an extension activity, I think the students could make bracelets of different cultures using all kinds of materials. The students would be learning about what kinds of different cultures, what materials different cultures used and where they were worn
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Modern Art

This group's lesson was teaching us about modern art. For their activity they had us make masks out of clay. We got to cut the clay into any shape we wanted for the mask. We then made lines on our masks so that they were four divided parts on it. We decorated those four parts with different patterns and designs. Next, we used left over clay and cut out eyes, a nose, and a mouth and put those wherever we wanted on our clay masks. After we were done decorating the clay, we then put on a coat of black paint. Once the black paint was dry we paint each of the four sections different colors. We cut out a circle on top of our masks to hand them and they were finished.

For an extension activity, I would have preschoolers cut out the letters of their names and paint them. They could then either bring them home or hang them above their cubbies. This way you are letting them experiment with class and paint and working on fine motor skills and letters.

Science in Art

For this groups lesson they instructed us on how to make trees in different seasons, either winter or fall. To start off the lesson used any color of construction paper we wanted for our background, We then traced our forearm and hand on brown paper for the trunk of our tree. Once we had cut it out we crumbled it up so that there was texture in it that resembled bark on a tree. We decorated the tops of the trees with tissue paper or cotton balls. The cotton balls resembled snow and the tissue paper could be green, yellow, red, and orange for fall leaves or white for snow. I chose to use cotton balls and tissue paper so that I had two different kinds of snow. Once we were done decorating the tree and branches we were instructed to decorate the landscape according to our season. Since mine was winter I had pieces of cotton balls falling all around to look like snow and some cotton balls up top for clouds. I colored snow on the ground with white crayon and sprinkled glitter all around so that my snow sparkled. After we were done with our season tree, we had to write two characteristics we used in our season. I think this is a great lesson for students to learn about seasons and all the little details that go into each one.

For an extension activity, I would have the students do one tree as a class for each season. The tree would have the exact same shape in each of the four seasons, but then the students would decorate it and the landscape according to the season. At the end of the year, the students could see how it had changed throughout the seasons. I would then have them write a paragraph/paper about what changed in the seasons and all the characteristics they saw throughout them.

A box of crayons

This peer group lesson was based around the fact that everyone is different in their own way. To start off their lesson they did an activity called trading places. In this activity the teachers would name off different characteristics (hair, eye color, where you live etc.) and if they applied to us we would trade places with another person that it applied to. After that activity we then drew monsters. The piece of paper was separated into three different parts, head, torso, and feet. Each person would draw a head and then pass it onto to the next two people to draw the torso and then feet. Since three people had incorporated into making the final monster, he was very unique to show that just like the monster we are all different. The last part of the lesson we had to draw ourselves on a crayon. We had to use lots of color and draw ourselves and something that represents us. For mine I drew lots of blue, since its my favorite color. I drew myself on a surf board in the ocean, because I want to live on the beach someday and live by the ocean.

For an extension activity, I would have 3rd grade students draw pictures of one of their classmates. They would interview their classmate and find out background information and what makes the unique. I would then have them go around the room and show their picture and describe their classmate to the class. I think this would be a good activity, because they would be able to realize the diversity in their classroom and see how they are alike and different then each other.

Scratch Art

This peer teaching group came up with a really creative way to teach us about 2D paper projects. The lesson we did was to make mother's day cards out scratch paper since that was the next holiday coming up. The first thing we did was draw a piece of paper with crayon. When drawing we had to use all the space and make sure we pressed our crayons hard when drawing. We were encouraged to use more than one color when drawing. Once we had finished coloring, we then taped the sides of our paper down and painted over our coloring with black paint. We had to make sure the paint was thick enough so that  you couldn't see any color underneath it. We then put our paper aside while we waited for it to dry. While we were waiting for it to dry we drew a design of what we wanted on another piece of paper. We then turned that piece of paper over and rubbed lead from the pencils onto the inside of that paper. We then traced our design from the pencil draw paper onto the black painted card. Once we had a trace of the design we scratched out the rest of it with a little wooden stick. By scratching the black paint away we were able to see the crayon colors beneath. The teachers required us to use two different techniques, stippling and cross-hatching in our scratch designs. Once we had our scratch out design and mother's day message written on the front, we then glued a piece of paper on the inside and wrote a little message to our moms.

  For an extension activity, I would have my 3rd grade students scratch out different animals. They would have to pick an animal and then scratch it out using the correct colors and detailed designs of that animal. After scratching out their animal I would have them write a paragraph about their animal and what details/techniques they used to make it.

Holiday Prints

The art topic that our next peer lesson did was, print making. They started their lesson by talking about different holidays. They told us that we could pick one of our favorite holidays and then using a pencil draw that into the foam trays they provided for us. Once we had our holidays drawn out, we then got another foam tray and on this one we had to draw shapes. For my holiday tray, I picked valentines day and drew a bunch of hearts and xoxo's. For my shape try, I just drew triangles, circles, and squares and made them into a pattern. The last step to this lesson was to paint your foam trays and then press them against paper and use a roller to flatten it. Once you had rolled good and hard you lifted it up and your foam tray and transferred onto the paper to make a print. This group had us write a couple sentences at the end of their lesson about why we chose the holiday we did for our prints.

An extension activity for this would be to have my 2nd grade students draw different seasons on the foam tray. They would have to be very specific on the details they used for each season so that I could figure out the difference between each season. Since they would have to be specific on their details, I would be able to assess who had paid attention in our lesson about season, by how descriptive their prints were.

Imagination Drawing

For our next peer lesson, our teachers topic was drawing. To start of the lesson they showed us a power point of artists who made creations out of lines, colors, and shapes. They then had us draw a line on a piece of paper. Once we were finished they had us switch with our neighbors. We got to draw a line on another piece of paper and again switch with our neighbors. Once our neighbors and us had drawn our two different papers we got to choose which paper we wanted to create a design on. The paper I chose had a swirly line on it so I thought it looked like rope tied to a balloon. We had to use two medias to complete the picture, so I used crayons and colored pencils and drew a pictures of a balloon floating in the sky with clouds and a kite. At the end of the lesson we had to write a short story to explain what our drawing meant. I think this was a good lesson because it teaches students that everyone has a different perception on things.

For an extension activity, I would have my 2nd grade class draw different lines on a big piece of paper. They would have to draw a picture story with all the different lines their classmates and they had drawn. Underneath the drawing I would have them brainstorm together and think of a story that went with their drawings above. I think this would provide the students with an opportunity to work together and be open to others ideas, because we don't all see things the same.

Painting Eggs

In our first peer lesson taught in class, the teachers topic was paint. They picked a very creative way to teach us about paint and incorporated an upcoming holiday, Easter. To start off the lesson they had us go on an egg hunt and find one egg each. Inside our egg there was a piece of colored paper. Depending on what color we got, we had to use that color when painting one of our eggs. The teachers told us about the elements, color, shapes, and  lines and that we needed to include those when painting our eggs.  We had three eggs to paint, one had to include the color we found it our plastic egg and the other two had to include lines and shape. It was very fun, creative way to teach students about painting and elements.

An extension activity I would have my students do in 1st grade is to paint a giant egg together.  I would have each child paint a part of it. They could use shapes, patterns, shading, lines, and whatever other elements they wanted. We would hang it up and they could see how everyone's painting was different. I would tell them that just like our egg, we all are different ,but together we make something beautiful and unique.  I would also have them write which elements they painted and why to incorporate language arts into it.