12 FEB 2015

[visit #5]

A couple weeks have passed since the last time I went in and worked with Mrs. Stone and the kids; our schedules worked out such that it was a good place to transition from combining art, technology, and math to integrating reading and writing with the art and technology. 

We had known from the first day that we wanted to work on integrating writing because the students had a hard time writing, especially with persuasive essays, picking out details, and quoting from articles.

The question I had was how to integrate digital art naturally with reading and writing.

As we brainstormed and I looked for ideas on the internet about ways to integrate these subjects naturally, I was drawn to a few different ideas of the students that all seemed to relate back to having them complete a book report. The students had read a few books in class recently and many of them were doing their own free reading with other books. Some of my favorite ideas of infusing art into the core curriculum included creating book covers and collages, both of which would allow them to pick out specific details of the story.

I decided that it would be best to begin with something they know how to do with the computers--illustrate digitally. The idea is for them to eventually expand on the book cover that they create, create a digital collage based on the story, and then to make a slideshow presentation so they can present to the class.

I tried to implement some instructional strategies that I had been learning of keeping instructions short and no more than 5. Giving directions like this kept me focused on the objective of the lesson and really listening to see what the students were understanding. Below is a screenshot of my simplified instructions, followed by some examples of the work students set out to create. Keep in mind that one of my previous lessons included more than 10 steps for the students to follow--way too complicated.

Adam was so interested in illustrating his book cover
that he began to make his own typeface.

Interesting elements that could use some refinement.
Pointing to the character shows concrete thinking.

I love this student's exploration through type and his illustration of the basilisk.

Marissa chose to copy the cover of her book and
wrote an insightful summary to the side.

One aspect of working digitally that I had not anticipated being a problem was precision and accuracy in typing. I had forgotten that students know much more how to speak than to write. When we asked them to share their digital work with Mrs. Stone, myself, or other students, small errors were common. This means that I have a small number of the book covers the students created today.

Other than the sharing difficulties, the students seemed to work well today. The overall feeling in the classroom was less rushed and felt calmer than previous days. I attribute that at least partially to being less rushed going in to the school and having a longer period to work since we did this on a Thursday, not a Friday (early-release). That really helped me to calm down and not try to cram too much into a short period of time like I think I had been trying to do.

Each time I teach these kids, I feel more comfortable in working with them but also see my weaknesses more clearly!