My last day at Whittier is bittersweet. I loved being there and meeting the students but it's also nice to be finished with my lesson. Each of the students we're put into groups and each of those groups has to present about a weather pattern as if they're a meteorologist.
Week two and three were spent building a level of comfort with the classroom, students, and teacher. I think if I'm going to be expecting these students to follow my plan for a project, they need to be comfortable with me as a person. This class is special. They are, for the most part, a very engaged and advanced class. I think this is going to work out well for my project.
The class is currently learning about weather. As a part of this weather unit, the students will have to make a presentation about one of the extreme weather conditions they learned about. These are Blizzard, Hurricane, Tornado, and Thunderstorm. They will be making these presentations as if they're a meteorologist. As a part of this presentation, they will need to make a background image that shows the ingredients and effects of the weather they chose. This is where my project comes in. I will be helping accent these backgrounds with creative ingredients, like colored string for hot and cold air, and more.
My first week at Whittier school was great. Getting to know all the students was awesome and I think we will have fun with whatever project we do. The students are learning about the natural systems of storms and other weather systems. This will be a fun project to plan. As of yet, I'm not sure where to go with it yet. More to come.
Day One Tuesday, March 14th - 7 hours
Today in Mrs. Greens class there was a substitute teacher Mr. Dubay. It was neat to see how the students behaved differently and to get an idea of how different teachers structure the day. Mr Dubay handles the kids well and uses incentives like being able to work with friends and in the hall to be a way for kids to behave.
We also used the media room, basically a computer lab. This was an awesome experience. Seeing how the students learn math through playing games. It was interesting how some of the students who have some trouble concentrating on paper worksheets blasted through the game versions. It was also neat to see how the games are structured in a way that's fun for the students but also a learning experience.
Wednesday and Thursday March 15th and 16th - 14 hours
These days were spent like most others with normal lessons and Stephanie was back. It was interesting how much more well behaved and under control the students were. At the end of the day on Thursday I took the last 20 minutes to get the students started thinking about Symbolism. I talked about how the Roman, Greek, Egyptian and Chinese civilizations used symbolism to describe themselves to others. I then asked each of the students to think about 3 words that they think describe them and to have those words ready for the next class.
Friday March 17th - 7 hours - Project Day
The big project day is finally here. All the planning and thinking is over and it time to see if the kids will enjoy it and hopefully learn something from it. Over all it went really well. There was a couple times were everyone got a little behind and if I was to do it over I would have explained the entire project at the beginning. The students first used scratch paper to rough out their ideas for each of their words. Then I gave them a square piece of bristol paper and a template to cut their shield shape from. After having their roughs and shield shapes cut out the students worked on getting their ideas on to the shieldand to make sure they were covering the whole shield. Once their designs were done in pencil, I gave them each an illustration marker and they made their designs permanent. There was some students who finished faster than others so i had them add extra decorations to their shields. Overall the students really like the project. They were all really pumped when I told they they get to keep the Illustration pens.
There are many things I would do differently but overall i was happy with the outcomes and will miss the kids in that class.
Kenwood School – Stephanie Green – 3rd grade – 7 hours
It's decided, I will be doing a shield project. After talking with Mrs. Green I found that this project will happen the week that they finish their studies in ancient civilizations. My Plan is to do a presentation at the end of class Thursday the 16th. This presentation will cover the general idea of what sort of meanings go into the designs on shields. I want to discuss the idea of heraldry, power animals and other ideas of symbolism. I will plan this out more over the next week.
Here is some planning started for the project...
- Heavy paper, maybe cut into circles, for final designs. - 30
- Printer paper, to draw rough ideas on - 50
- Cardboard, cut into circles, to mount the shield drawings on - 30
- Glue - 25
- Scissors - 25
- Illustration Markers - Have - 25
- Colored Markers, for filling in what was drawn with the illustration markers. - at least 25
Planning for Shield Project
Day one presentation - no more than 10 slides
Day two presentation - no more than 5 slides
I think this is a good list of everything I may need.
p.s. I'm really excited!
Shields are a tool that protects us from the danger we are facing. The idea of a shield can mean many but for this project, we'll focus on how the physical sheilds of ancient civilizations were decorated and embellished with images that would give a psychological edge.
The Roman shields called Scutum or Scuta for plural are embellished with images of lions, wolves and other dangerous or scary beasts. These images were used to show what unit the soldier was a part of.
A selection of shield designs from the Notitia Dignitatum, each shield representing a different unit.
The ancient Chinese armies used what's called a Rattan was made from weaving willow or bamboo together and the painting them with intimidating imagery.
for this project I want the students to make a shield and then have them draw imagery that they feel would protect them. Something like family heraldry might be an option.
Some supplies I think I will need:
Cardboard of heavy paper.
Paint or Markers
A bunch of inspirational imagery to help them pick what their shield design will look like.
I spent this week thinking about my lesson plan for Kenwood. Well I don't have a good subject picked out yet, I feel like I want to do some sort of costume project. I think it would be cool if each student design an article of clothing. Maybe a helmet or some sort of armor. Each one of the civilizations has very different sorts of armor.
One way I will make it easier for the students is with templates. I think having shapes that they can trace onto paper to cut out will make it easier for them to complete the project in a day. Since I'm working on Fridays, this will also be a fun end to the week.
That's all for now, see you next week!
Today I met with the teacher I will be working with after my time at Kenwood. After meeting Ashley Rudolph and checking out her awesome classroom, I am very excited for the time I'll be spending at Whittier International Elementary School. During my time there we'll be working of the normal curriculum with some additional talk about the science of storms and other natural whether patterns. This will be what my project will consist of. So the planning begins, what creative ways can I use to have an effective lesson. We will see.
There wasn't class this Friday at Keenwood but that doesn't mean I didn't have work. This week was spent thinking about how I might teach a creative lesson around the idea of Ancient Civilizations like the Greeks, Chinese and Egyptians. Although these nations were very different, I want to have a lesson that shows the ways we're the same.
The first idea I had was the way in which each of these civilizations celbrate people that have died. Maybe have each of the students or students in a group create what they think a monument to themselves using the ways that each of the civilizations used. Well I think this is a neat way to bring each of them together, I wonder if it might be a bit morbid.
The latest idea I've had is the way each of them decorate their shields. I think this is interesting way to show some similarities but also show the way in which each civilization used simple design. I wonder if this will be a good topic also since it is a war tool. More though will indeed happen about this idea.
Roman shield image: http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/romans/images/soldiers/shield/tort.jpg
Chinese Shield image: http://www.mandarinmansion.com/images/tengpai/antique-tengpai.jpg
Greek Shield image: http://www.hellenic-art.com/images/thumbnails/392/300/detailed/4/ah3721.jpg
Egyptian Shield image: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/4b/ff/98/4bff98c9ea8d4306c1d7e63bcc55c952.jpg
Kenwood, Stephanie Green, 7 hours
My first day at Kenwood Elementary went really well. I got to meet the great kids I'll be working with for the next few weeks. I spent a lot of time walking around the class helping were I could. I kept thinking of what I would use for my lesson plan. They're learning about Chinese, Greek and Egyptian civilizations in their social Studies class, I think this will lend itself to a creative and fun lesson plan for me to create. The first thing that came to mind was the way these civilizations built their tombs before they died. So maybe I could do a project around building a memorial to yourself.
I really enjoyed the teaching style of Miss Green. The students didn't have to sit at their desks when working on homework or reading. They were allowed to find a place that was comfortable for them to get their work done. I think this builds a comfort zone around the the things that they're learning. I found that very nice. I'm very excited for next weeks class and to see what sort of creative things the students make.
