the life of a scribe or the "I Spy Literacy Center" by donna grimm

Front view of the literacy center.

Topic: The Life of a Scribe or the “I Spy Center”

Grade: k-6^th - Because I will be displaying my center in a classroom for students ranging k-6^th, I chose to cover all of those grades with literacy projects that were applicable to my classroom.

Literacy Objectives: Because I will display this center inside of an art room, I will be most interested in teaching the comprehension of ideas and professions associated with the fine arts. Literacy is a subject easily reinforced in the art classroom by including it in the methods and practices of lessons daily. However, it is not the primary goal of an art teacher to ultimately teach children “how” to read in specific. This is why my stated objectives lend themselves to broader analysis of what children will absorb from having a literacy center in the art classroom in specific.

• After reading or hearing “Marguerite Makes A Book” and/or “The Medieval Scribe” article, students will understand that scribes must interpret what they read and write in order to illustrate those ideas and stories accurately.
• After reading and looking at the books on display, students will comprehend how those skills needed in literacy activities are important to people who choose the professions associated with scribes.
• Students will learn spelling, comprehension, reading, and gaming skills needed to better achieve literacy goals, within the parameters of their own age group, after playing the games at the literacy center.

Books On Display:

• “Marguerite Makes A Book” by Bruce Robertson, Illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt (This book is published by the Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and is primarily written to teach children about the arts and literature during the medieval era.)
•  “I Spy A to Z” by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick
• “A to Z of Animals” by Peter David Scott
• “ABCD3D” by Marion Bataile
• “The calligraphy bible” by David Harris
•  “Masterpieces of Illumination” by Ingo F. Walther and Norbert Wolf
• “Word Fun” by Sara Gray
• “ABC A child’s first alphabet book” by Alison Jay
• “Calligraphy Techniques” by Mary Noble
• “D is for Drinking Gourd” by Sanders and “D is for Dancing Dragon” by Crane any books published in this series will do
•  “How Many” by Ron Van Der Meer

Closer view of the literacy center with the "I Spy" cabinet
doors open.

Activity books for young students:

• “Follow the Letters” by Sandy Creek publishers
• “Colors and Shapes Discovery” by Disney publishers
•  “Write & Slide Phonics” by Hinkler Books publishers

Materials Needed: If another teacher were to create this center, these are the materials they would need.

1. One large box covered with newsprint and letters. I used Mod-Podge to put this together quickly and economically.
2. Inside of this box I hot-glued a wide variety of small toys and letters to create my “I spy” cupboard.
3.  Cut the backboard for the display from a large refrigerator box and cover this also with newsprint down one side and a more decorative paper down the opposite half. I used a medieval looking printed paper for the half of the display representing the time period of my characters in “Marguerite Makes A Book”
4.  I also used small boxes wrapped in the same papers to display may card games and vocabulary strips. After wrapping these I glued them to the backboard. This application helps teachers to use space effectively and also helps with organization.

Four Literacy Activities Are Required: Teachers may develop literacy activities for their classroom from this plan even though I would use it also to introduce art activities associated with it’s theme. Because most people who will be viewing my center are to become “homeroom” teachers, I have decided to list here the literacy activities in particular. I also have art lessons planed to use with this center but these are not included on the discussion board at this time.

1.) Read “The Medieval Scribe” and fill out the graphic organizer is an activity for 5^th and 6^th graders: This is a reading activity that helps students discern important facts about scribes from the Medieval Era.

Above are the alphabet soup bowls made from paper mache and yarn.
I also include many different letter styles, types and fonts for students
to work with.

2.)“Alphabet Soup Game” Spelling Game Activity for 1rst- 3^rd Graders: This activity can be played by many children all at once but they need the guidance of an older student, teacher, or a child who can read relatively well. The activity reinforces phonics and many other important literacy strategies depending upon the lists of words the instructor chooses to use with it. I included these lists to read from:

•  High Frequency Words like: a, about, be but, call, called, did, down, each, eat, find, for, get, good, had, how, into, it, just, know, like, made, no, of, out, people, said, then, up, us, was, water, etc...
• “Word families” lists such as: phonograms using ill – bill, chill, fill, hill, kill mill, pill, quill, spill, still, and will

The teacher or student in charge of the lists simply reads words aloud from them while students playing alphabet soup use the letters in their bowls to spell out the recited word. I’ve also included small sand timers so that the students will be limited to the amount of time they take to spell the word out correctly.

A closer look at the "I Spy" game cabinet that I made for my classroom.
This game also doubles as an interesting still life presentation for budding
young artists to draw from!

Optional “Alphabet Soup Game” Activity: Older students may also roll dice in order to make spelling games more challenging. Each player would roll the dice to discern the number of letters in a word they would be required to spell. After words have been used by one player, other students should not be allowed to repeat those same words during the same game.

3.) “I Spy Game” for emergent readers and beginning readers: This activity helps young students visually identify shapes, letters, colors, and also to solve riddles/clues associated with those objects.  Practicing these skills will help young readers to identify the visual differences in the alphabet. Students may either play this game alone or with two or three other people.  This game may also be played with a larger group. There are two sets of cards for the “I spy” cupboard. One set of flash cards has objects listed for the students to find, the other set of  cards gives students the more difficult option of solving a riddle before finding an object.

4.) Play “Medieval Trivia” for 4^th – 6^th graders: This comprehension activity helps students remember the characters and vocabulary found the book, “Marguerite Makes A Book” Students should read the book first, then partner up with one other student to play with the flash cards. (I will also read aloud this book to a younger class in cases where the students are to young to read the story on their own.)

I made this alphabet pocket chart from felt and
then trimmed it with blanket stitching.

 5.) Play with an “Alphabet Pocket Chart” for emergent and beginning readers: This activity helps early readers identify their alphabet letters and the phonemic sounds these make. Students are given pictures of objects and asked to categorize these according to the first letter used to name the object, action, or person pictured. An example of this would be:

·      If the child has a picture of an apple he or she would put this picture in the pocket labeled “a” for apple.

·      If the child has a picture of two people hugging he or she might put this picture in the “h” pocket for hugs or he may put the picture in the “p” pocket for people. Both answers would be right but, you may need to ask the child why he or she has put it in a particular pocket in order to assess his/her success at this activity.                          

Word Walls: I included two word walls and tag board vocabulary strips as well. The vocabulary of a medieval scribe is pasted on the right hand side of the display and the vocabulary of a modern scribe is pasted on the left hand side of the display. I felt the two lists would give my center greater flexibility in the future because I would be able to use it when teaching any future units on illustration/web design as well. I have yet to find a book based upon the modern subject but, I will be looking for it during the summer months. After I have purchased it, I will then develop a compare contrast activity to go with the two word walls. 

Left, is a close-up view of the modern language word wall. Vocabulary listed 

here is used in modern publishing: scene, gutter, hard copy, editing, author,

illustrator etc... Right, is a close-up view of the medieval word wall. 

Vocabulary list here is much older: manuscript, quill, scribe, gold leaf etc...

graphic graffiti lesson plan

Teacher's samples in progress

Title: Graphic Graffiti 
Topic: graffiti artworks, keeping art legal, gang culture

Objectives:

Students will identify characteristics and also values of gang culture in America and demonstrate

graffiti design reflecting how these issues are related to themselves in order to complete a one

point perspective drawing by the end of this lesson.

Goals:

• Students will create word art using one point perspective.
• Students will demonstrate the design principles and elements concerning line, space, balance and unity.
• Students will assess their own artwork through topical discussions based upon cultural aesthetics.
• Students will discuss issues in art concerning power.

Fine Art GLEs:

STRAND I: Product/Performance

Select and apply two-dimensional media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas and solve challenging visual art problems

A. High School Level I

• Create smooth, continuous value through even pressure
• Define edge through variations in pressure or angle
• Demonstrate proficiency using a single drawing media
• Use a ruler to create parallel, perpendicular, and converging lines

STRAND I: Product/Performance

3. Communicate ideas about subject matter and themes in artworks created for various purposes

C. High School Level I 

• Create original artwork that communicates ideas through themes (e.g., identity, power, time, nature, illusion)

STRAND V: Historical and Cultural Contexts (HC)

1. Compare and contrast artworks from different historical time periods and/or cultures

A. High School Level I 

• Identify works from gang cultures in America

STRAND V: Historical and Cultural Contexts (HC)

1. Compare and contrast artworks from different historical time periods and/or cultures.

B. High School Level I

• Compare and contrast two artworks on: subject matter, ideas and beliefs of culture, material/technology and function of art in culture/society.

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

1. Select and use elements of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

A. Line: High School Level I

•       Identify and use weighted contour, parallel, and perpendicular lines

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

1. Select and use elements of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

G. Space: High School Level I

• Identify and use positive and negative space in two-dimensional work
• Identify and use perspective techniques to create the illusion of space (one-point linear perspective, overlapping, and change of size, detail, placement, value contrast)

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

2. Select and use principles of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

A. Balance: High School Level I

•      Differentiate among and use symmetrical (formal), asymmetrical (informal), and radial balance

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

2. Select and use principles of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

E. Unity: High School Level I

•      Explain how elements and principles create unity in artworks

STRAND III: Artistic Perceptions (AP)

1. Investigate the nature of art and discuss responses to artworks

A. Aesthetics: High School Level I

• Discuss personal beliefs about the nature of art
• Define aesthetics as the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and value of art
• Discuss and develop answers to questions about art, such as: What is art? and Why do responses vary?
• Who decides what makes an artwork special, valuable or good?

Grade: 9^th – 12^th 
Length of Class Period: 55 minutes

Frequency of Class Period: five days a week

Time Needed: five class periods

Facility & Equipment Requirements:

• One computer lap top
• Room with good lighting
• Large tables, approximately ten, each seating four students
• Two sinks
• Dry erase board
• Drying racks
• Cabinets for storage
• Projector for viewing computer video, CDs and DVDs

Resources Needed:

• Power point presentation about one point perspective
• Slide show depicting graffiti artwork
• Power point presentation about “death script”
• The film, “The Outsiders”

Materials Per Student:

• Newsprint
• Drawing paper
• Pencils and colored pencils
• Tooth brush
• Black India Ink
• Paint brush

Motivation- Looking and Talking Activity: I will play scene selections from the film called, “The Outsiders.” Students will then be given time to meet with small groups and discuss the following questions posted on the board.

1. Why do young people live by the rules of neighborhood gangs?
2. How do gangs reflect tribal concepts?
3. How and why do larger organized governments clash with gang mentality?
4. How can gangs live peacefully with big government do you think?

Step-by-Step Studio Activity Specifics:

1. I will select and play scenes from the film, “The Outsiders.”
2. Students will have small group discussions about this film.
3. I will introduce a slide film about graffiti.
4. Students will be given newsprint to practice drawing letterforms in one-point perspective.
5. Students will then observe me while I draw a one point perspective.
6. I will lead a smaller topical discussion based upon a presentation discussing “Death Script.” Students will be asked to think about these questions: What is Death Script? How is it related to gang graffiti? And how is music related to Death Script and graffiti?
7. The studio project is introduced.
8. A formal self-assessment is completed at the end of the project.

Health & Safety Concerns: There are no health and safety concerns for this project.

Special Needs Adaptations:

Modifications for the hard-of-hearing or deaf student:

• Student will be seated closer to instructor so they will be better equipped to hear instructions or read lips
• Student will be provided with written instructions so that they read about the discussions and demonstrations
• The instructor may use a amplification devise provided by the school or student’s parents

Cleanup Time & Strategy: Students will be instructed to put away art materials neatly in their containers, clean off their tables, and recycle their trash two minutes prior to dismissal.

Assessment: A formal assessment/grading rubric sheet is included along with this lesson plan.

All photos and lesson plans copyrighted by Grimm 2011

 Comedian Marcio Ballas visits an area of Sao Paulo where each graffiti artist has its block.

"surreal dreamscapes" art lesson plan

Title: Surreal Dreamscapes

Topic: Surrealism, understanding concepts in “scapes”, collage, Salvador Dali

Objectives:

• Students will identify three characteristics of artworks produced by Salvador Dali during the assessment of the lesson.
• Students will demonstrate the concepts of perspective and complex/organic shapes by including these in their studio art project.

Goals:

• Students will identify the characteristics of surreal artists.
• Students will produce collage with a variety of recycled paper materials.

GLEs:

STRAND V: Historical and Cultural Contexts (HC)

1. Compare and contrast artworks from different historical time periods and/or cultures

A. High School Level I

Identify works from the Surrealist art movement.

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

1. Select and use elements of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

B. Shapes: High School Level I

·      Differentiate between and use geometric and organic (freeform) shapes

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

1. Select and use elements of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

G. Space: High School Level I

·        Identify and use positive and negative space in two-dimensional work

·      Identify and use perspective techniques to create the illusion of space (one-point linear perspective, overlapping, and change of size, detail, placement, value contrast)

Grade: 9^th – 12^th

Length of Class Period: 55 minutes

Frequency of Class Period: five days a week

Time Needed: six class periods

Facility & Equipment Requirements:

• One computer lap top
• Room with good lighting
• Large tables, approximately ten, each seating four students
• Two sinks
• Dry erase board
• Drying racks
• Cabinets for storage
• Projector for viewing computer video, CDs and DVDs

Resources Needed:

• Power point about Surrealist artists and the Dada movement.
• Power point about a variety of different perspective types
• Slide show depicting a variety of collaged dreamscapes

Materials Per Student:

• A variety of magazines
• Scissors
• White all-purpose glue and Mod Podge (matte)
• A piece of paper or scrap tag board

Vocabulary/Terminology: all definitions originate from dictionary.com

1. Surrealism - a movement in art and literature in the 1920s, which developed esp from dada, characterized by the evocative juxtaposition of incongruous images in order to include unconscious and dream elements.
2. Decoupage – the art or technique of decorating something with cut-outs of paper, linoleum, plastic, or other flat material over which varnish or lacquer is applied.
3. Collage- a technique of composing a work of art by pasting on a single surface various materials not normally associated with one another, as newspaper clippings, parts of photographs, theater tickets, and fragments of an envelope.
4. Dada - a nihilistic artistic movement of the early 20th century in W Europe and the US, founded on principles of irrationality, incongruity, and irreverence towards accepted aesthetic criteria   [C20: from French, from a children's word for hobbyhorse, the name being arbitrarily chosen]
5. Subconscious - the totality of mental processes of which the individual is not aware; unreportable mental activities.
6. Dreamscape - a dreamlike, often surrealistic scene.

Motivation- Looking and Talking Activity: Students will read and discuss an article describing an anonymous person’s dream account in a small group. Each member of the small group will verbally participate but only one member needs to write out their answers to the following questions during small group discussions.

• List any symbolic content of the dream that might be represented in a surreal dreamscape.
• What were your general impressions of the dream?
• What kinds of worries or obsessions do you think the person who had this dream might have been having?
• Were there any particularly odd events or ideas that seemed to be consistently present within the dream?

Students will then choose one person from their small group to present their findings to the larger class after their small group has completed the questions.

Step-by-Step Studio Activity Specifics:

1. I will present the lesson first by showing a Power Point about Surrealists and the Dada movement.
2. Students will participate in the discussions about dreams in their small groups after each small group reads the sample dream and answers the questions that are included with the worksheet.
3. The appointed members of the small groups will share their written responses to the larger class.
4. I will show the Power Point about dreamscape collages.
5. I will demonstrate application techniques used in paper collage.
6. A brief Power Point about perspective will be viewed prior to the distribution of magazines, glue and paper for the studio project.
7. Students will be given the remainder of the week to complete their collage art assignment.

Health & Safety Concerns: There are no health and safety concerns for this project.

Special Needs Adaptations:

Modifications for the hard-of-hearing or deaf student:

• Student will be seated closer to instructor so they will be better equipped to hear instructions or read lips
• Student will be provided with written instructions so that they read about the discussions and demonstrations
• The instructor may use a amplification devise provided by the school or student’s parents

Cleanup Time & Strategy: Students will be instructed to put away art materials neatly in their containers, clean off their tables, and recycle their trash two minutes prior to dismissal.

Assessment: A formal assessment/grading rubric sheet is included along with this lesson plan in the student teacher’s binder.

My first teacher's sample of a dreamscape.
For this collage theme, I suggested students
think of a bad dreams, perhaps a dream about phobias.
This poor fellow is afraid of everything outdoors.

This is my second "dreamscape" example.
For this piece, I tried to think of what is was
like to feel trapped in a maze underground.

My third teacher's sample of a collaged "dreamscape"
I think reflects the kind of dream that I often have;
a dream about wandering through collections,
or libraries, college campuses, or museums. (duh?)

All photos and lesson plans copyrighted by Grimm 2011

Professional Development and Reflective Practice

      I believe that a professional art instructor uses a wide variety of resources to improve both their own personal skill/knowledge base and the abilities of their students. In order to accomplish this, an educator must maintain high ethical standards, expect to keep his or her resources current, and reflect upon his or her successes/failures realistically. Collected under this Mostep, are several  reflections I developed during my student teaching experiences in both high school and elementary school. Most of these lesson plan artifacts maintain the desired content and interests of the school districts I served during my state internship. The lesson plan prototype I use most frequently in this portfolio is the result of collaborative efforts made by my professors at UMSL University. UMSL professors require their students to develop lesson plans according to age, skill and state/national standards.

      During the first week of my student appointment to a local high school, I soon discovered that my cooperating teacher had a great deal of enthusiasm and interest in teaching art. She spoke candidly and openly with her students about their personal interests, homework and family life. Most of her instruction was based upon the state GLEs that identify the development of principles and elements of design in student art projects. Although she seemed very enthusiastic about introducing additional resource material to her daily teaching routine, she had very few written documents describing lesson plans with this kind of attention to detail. The art staff employees at this high school  were in the process of writing new curriculum online for the Fall Semester of 2011. I studied their curriculum software during weekly teachers' meetings. This particular program was designed to organize lessons into semester plans, not to describe specific daily activities. Therefore, the following eight lesson adaptations included below were based upon my own observations and a variety of classroom experiences. I also adapted the lessons in order to improve them for my own future use with students of similar age and skill level. There were four additional lesson plans covered during my student teaching at the high school. I have included these under different Mostep Standards.

1. “Surreal Dreamscapes” Lesson Plan.

      The objectives introduced through the original collage project were based upon the GLEs for space and shape. The theme of the original lesson, the “artistic landscape.” During this lesson I was allowed to give a demonstration of collage techniques. Five or six students from each class actively observed and spoke with me during those demonstrations.

      I altered many of the elements of this lesson plan. I changed the theme of it to surrealist dreamscapes, added a Power Point about Salvador Dali and the surrealist movement, and developed an additional activity for the assignment that involved small group readings of dream accounts. I kept the former standard requirements of space and shape and added art history, artist biography, vocabulary, alternative methods, and literacy standards.

2. “Just Duckie” Lesson Plan.

      In the original color-mixing project, students were expected to learn about principles and elements covering tone, shading, and a value scale. The students rushed through this complicated assignment; they did not appear to enjoy the prospect of painting their paint bottles. During the assignment I spoke with every student about the proper way to mix paints. I also included information about adding complimentary colors into each other in order to mix more complex variations of their color choices. The students did not appear to have prior knowledge of this color-mixing technique.

      "Just Duckie" is the written result of my adaptations to those problems surrounding required methods that are not always enjoyed by students. I switched out a few of the elements and principles and built a lesson plan based upon the concept of mixing complimentary colors and the art history standard involving important 20th century American artists. Color mixing projects are best suited to the inclusion of more interesting materials like an unusual object. I also developed a Pop Art slide show and a Power Point introducing 1960s cultural images for the lesson.

3. “Graphic Graffiti” Lesson Plan.

      The one point perspective project I call "Graphic Graffiti"is an adaptation of a word art project frequently taught by my cooperating teacher at that high school. During this project I spoke personally with all of the students and sat at their tables to hear their conversation while drawing my teacher examples. I discovered their fondness for the assignment had to do with their love of graffiti artists.

      I determined that this project would be well suited to a lesson plan based upon cultural imagery. This lesson could also help faculty to discuss teen issues surrounding city lifestyles in a creative forum. Topical discussions about violence, government, law, and human rights could be introduced under the study of this rich cultural art form. I developed a slide presentation about graffiti artists, purchased a film called, "The Outsiders" and included appropriate graffiti vocabulary in the curriculum. I also created a Power Point about fonts and some of the original uses of decorative lettering throughout history. 

4. “Ghost Town” Lesson Plan.

      During the two point perspective project that immediately followed after the one point perspective word assignment, my CT built onto the students prior knowledge of word art by introducing the concept of drawing their words on a brick wall. She came up with the idea after our discussion about my ideas for the graffiti related lesson plan. Even though many of the students completed their two-point perspective project as a wall representing graffiti, many other students had grown bored with using the same concept of word art twice under that topic. So, I suggested to the CT that some of the kids could create optional two point perspective artworks illustrating ghost towns just as I had done when attending junior high many years ago. My former teacher, Lee Woods, taught two-point perspective concepts while introducing old west building prototypes and legendary, ghost villians/heros.

      I developed a Power Point introducing the alternative lesson to the students, demonstrated in class “how” to draw an old western ghost town, and rewrote my own adaptation to the original lesson again. For the Power Point I was able to access many historical photo references of black cowboys who lived in the old west from government resources. I included these in my Power Point. Students were amazed with these pictures because their experiences of the old west were heavily influenced by 1950s film, not real history. I believe these seldom viewed photographs of black cowboys in the wild west of America helped to entertain student imaginations during our project adaptations.

5. “Non-Objective Abstraction” Lesson Plan.

      During the original lesson, my cooperating teacher played music to inspire her students in the painting of non-objective imagery. She also introduced the work of Jackson Pollock by projecting a single image of his work on the board. Her students enjoyed this lesson’s concept tremendously.

      I decided to create a more elaborate slide presentation of both Jackson Pollock’s work and many other non-objective abstract expressionists to accompany my own adaptations based upon a similar art assignment. I included basic vocabulary terms and added an additional step to the studio agenda for the project, after observing some of the difficulties students had in orchestrating compositions for their oil pastel paintings. With the addition of masking off small areas with shapes cut from masking tape, I was able to demonstrate to the students “how” they could effectively develop more elaborate spaces without subject matter. Students when challenged to produce non-objective works have a tendency to fall back on the use of basic symbols. Symbolic abstract painting is actually a different subject under the heading of abstract artwork and it is not considered to be non-subjective by art historians or professionals. However, this is not the kind of discrepancy that art educators make if they have not been formally trained to do so. With this lesson plan I also have determined to find a greater variety in music than what was originally played in my CT's classroom. I think it would be an extraordinary opportunity to expose students to music that they may never have heard before during this lesson.

6. “A Cultural Heritage Cubist Portrait” Lesson Plan.

      The original cubist portrait lesson included a nice variety of vocabulary and a very brief introduction to cubism as a movement. I observed the painting students while they designed rough sketches of their chosen subjects and spoke with them at length about the artists who first developed the concepts behind modern fragmented space.

      In addition to the vocabulary list that I thought most suitable for the topic, I added a few ideas of my own. I demonstrated a contemporary technique used by mixed media artists while painting my version of a “cultural heritage cubist portrait.” I also felt the lesson an excellent opportunity to include cultural history and a study of ancient artifacts. So I painting both the fragmented illustration of a Mayan Indian, the carvings of ancient Mayan natives, and an abstract interpretation of contemporary, native, Mexican weavers into the cubist portrait collage.

      I chose my portraits’ subject based upon the cultural heritage of one student who attended more than one of my classes regularly. In the future my students will need to be given extra time to research their choices in a library or computer lab. I will also need to add a worksheet to aid in their research as well.

7. “Maori Design” Lesson Plan.

      The Maori lesson was taught in order instigate the painting standards outlined in Missouri GLEs. Although I thought the cultural subject an excellent choice, the studio project seemed lacking in formal substance. Students were originally required to paint a swirly designs using smooth, painterly strokes. I felt that this sort of assignment was better suited to younger students. During the introduction to the lesson, my cooperating teacher asked me to explain the connections between the Maori, their way of life and the symbolic designs they create to tell stories about where they come from and what they practice.

      I developed a simple worksheet for the lesson illustrating the symbolic elements of popular Maori designs. For my own resources, I also designed a different Power Point about the Maori that showed a variety of their design work in architecture, textiles, tattoos, and fashion. I also created an alternative studio project that used GLE standards for drawing and design instead of the original painting standards. Color theory and historical symbolism standards are also a part of my new version for this lesson. 

8. “African Masks” Lesson Plan.

      The mask studio project in my high school classroom, utilized recycled milk cartons, cardboard and also a few formal worksheets that had been professionally written by a third party on the internet. My cooperating teacher did not know who wrote the materials but these were very useful tools for aiding our students in their own research on the web. This was the first and only time that our art class visited the computer lab to research their assigned topic. For most of the students, it was a very positive experience.

      I was asked by my cooperating teacher to lead in the studio portion of this lesson. My experience in technically crafting three-dimensional masks, sculpture, dolls, and puppets is intense. She was happy to stand aside and learn these methods herself during remainder of my internship. These students had not been trained to use textile-sculpting materials. These methods are not frequently taught in American public schools. For this part of my lesson adaptation, I taught students some very old methods of applying paper pulp to wrapped paper armature. They appeared to enjoy the processes greatly!

      In sharp contrast with my experiences at high school, my elementary cooperating teacher spent much of her time minutely describing how I could improve upon my teaching methodology. Semester outlines and daily lesson plans at her district were entirely intact. This enabled me to focus much of my accumulative efforts on the literal teaching of my students from day to day.  I have included here three sample lessons about printing, drawing and collage assemblage from her art classroom. These daily lesson plans are written by me but also directly interpret the ideas/content of that particular district's art curriculum. In the printing lesson I reflect on the preparation of materials and the practical struggles students encounter with those materials. In the drawing lesson, I've included a worksheet that I developed for that specific assignment in order to teach a "big concept" or "big idea." The worksheet stimulates reflective process on the part of my students concerning "how" landscapes are interpreted by a wide variety of artists. In the third collage assignment, I introduce alternative fine arts materials, namely music, to the classroom environment and ask both my cooperating teacher and my students to reflect upon "how" one artist, a musician, may have felt about another, a painter, in order to create an alternative art form about the artist Van Gogh. McClean's interpretation of "Starry Night" reflects his ideas about Vincent Van Gogh just as our students at Ellisville Elementary interpret the art of Van Gogh by creating their own versions of "Starry Night." All three lessons use the methodology of reflective practice, but each process is uniquely different.

Ethics, Relationships and Communication

Choose age appropriate music for the
classroom that willreinforce
lesson plans.

 "He who closes his ears to the views of others shows little confidence in the integrity of his own vies." William Congreve

      Pre-service art teachers can foster their relationships with school colleagues by keeping resources at hand that enhance the collective necessity of educating children according to state mandates. I keep within my computer files and on my bookshelves useful resources that may be used to further educate my students on many topics covered in art that are not always apparent to those people who are unfamiliar with art history. Topics such as history, culture and life science are all very important to the development of an artistic mind and the study of these interests reinforces education on many different levels. I attended a teacher’s meeting at my assigned high school for the state, during my student internship in the Spring semester of 2011. At this meeting the art staff met with the English teachers to discuss the possibility of integrating their subjects. I developed a new lesson plan during this meeting that included the elements of text features within its objectives. I would never have thought to do so, if I had not attended this meeting and learned that students attending this high school experienced significant difficulties identifying text features. When I was asked if I could realistically create a lesson plan that would teach text features; I enthusiastically obliged my colleagues.

      I can also expound upon alternative fine art subjects related to my own field of study through the school of humanities. Subjects such as music and theater can be addressed so easily within the fine art classroom.  I often play select music that directly reflects the culture or time period of those artists my students are studying. It is a simple and appropriate addition to my curriculum that is encouraged by Missouri state GLE standards. I’ve listed here just a few music selections that I keep on hand in my classroom for cultural lesson plans.

      While student teaching at my assigned elementary location, I introduced to my cooperating teacher and her small charges to a music selection about Vincent Van Gogh. Our students were painting starry night cityscapes when I first played the song to accompany their experience. I’ve linked to our favorite youtube version of Don McClean's, "Starry Night" included the cityscape lesson plan here.

      As an art teacher, I can also design lesson plans that reinforce important learning practices such as: following directions, remembering facts, and comprehending previously taught information on a deeper level.  All three of the above points are important in the fostering of relationships with other educators because the learning that students do in my own classroom then reinforces the learning practices of my colleagues. Ultimately, students do test better under conditions such as these.

      Being an excellent teacher also requires that my education be very practical. I must learn to maintain my own understanding of current health issues that if otherwise ignored may result dire circumstances for those young people placed under my care. I’ve included an artifact under this Mostep that I wrote concerning bloodborne pathogens so that administrators can feel confident that I am aware of issues relating to public health awareness.

      I can also foster relationships with administrators by consistently attending collegial activities such as school board meetings. I attended a school board meeting at a local high school district in order to better comprehend their necessity in my future career choice. I learned that being a school board member requires excellent management skills. There are so many details and complicated pieces of information to take into consideration when developing policies and balancing the budget. The meeting that I observed lasted for three long hours and was attended by approximately 75 people through out the course of the evening. High School teachers protested low raises to their incomes, students and teachers from an area elementary school were recognized formally for excellence, one child in a gifted program read aloud a story, bond issues were resolved, cafeteria programs were switched, and a new building for preschool and gifted education was approved all in one single solitary evening! The whole event was exhausting. I learned to respect the amount of time and energy involved in running professional education programs from this experience.

      Art teachers should also foster relationships with parents and guardians of students through current technology whenever possible. Many schools today communicate with parents and students online through both private and public software programming. I have developed a variety of blogs where I can post assignments live. I can control what my students see and how they interact with that information by developing the internet resource myself. I actively develop projects and procedures that enhance my ordinary classroom curriculum in advance through these free interactive resources.

Assessment of Student Learning

      I believe professional educators should consider the following assumptions when assessing both their student's progress and their own educational practices inside of the art classroom. Listed below are a wide variety of assessments that I conducted during my both art internship and state internship experiences.

    1. Because the quality of teaching directly affects the quality of learning, the development of my teaching skills directly enables those who are educated by me. I am expected to improve upon these skills in order to translate my knowledge base to my students in a contemporary/current teaching fashion. During my art internship, I observed and applied adaptations to lessons and then reflected upon the results concerning a “gifted student” in my classroom. The writing of the case study helped me to assess my own conduct by contrasting my student’s responses to the accommodations I made for him.
    2. I believe that making goals and objectives clear in the classroom also improves upon the realistic assessment of those skills/knowledge my students have gained from experiences they have had under my direction. These goals must state clear, measurable tasks and realistic, age appropriate thinking skills based upon Missouri standards. I’ve included a variety of rubric assessment prototypes that were used by myself and my cooperating teachers during my state internship in my portfolio.
    3. Consistent feedback from me helps my art students to measure their progress and learning style. Self-assessment techniques that promote self-instruction, frequent practice and self-motivation all insure students will perform tasks and fulfill goals set by me in the classroom. I taught a integrated lesson plan called “Luck of The Draw” while students teaching at a local high school. In this lesson, students were required to include both self-assessment and creative writing in order for me to measure their progress and learning styles. The completion of a studio assignment was worth only half of their grade. Students were required to translate their thoughts into writing in order to attain an additional 50% of their grade. This grading method definitely motivated the students to “self-assess.” Whereas, If I had only graded their studio project, I might not have the benefit of understanding and analyzing their deeper comprehension of this assignment. 
    4. Informal assessments about individuals best inform larger, more formal assessments made by the greater community. Successful teaching and assessment become closely related activities in order for valuable growth to occur. Only after this kind of training can formal assessments be made accurate by larger assessment communities like college institutions, SAT tests, or other governmental research groups. During my state internship, I was given ample opportunity to teach lesson plans that I personally composed. The "Parody and Satire Lesson Plan" is one of those lessons that I developed and “fine tuned” over several semesters. I conducted interviews personally with twenty-five of my students who produced artworks resulting from my original cultural lesson plan. These informal inquiries helped me to assess the developmental learning my students were experiencing. In time, I will be better equipped to accommodate state mandates if I consistently review and assess those lessons adapted for a variety of circumstances.
    5. By consistently challenging the student to ask questions and formulate new answers, I am providing challenges that motivate growth. It is not nearly sufficient for me to research my own materials and supply them. I must actively learn myself how to study the art of teaching those materials as well and transfer that information beyond academic research and exhibition. I must literally teach those materials to the students under my supervision. While teaching a simple drawing lesson to high school students, I discerned by looking at their work, they did not understand an assignment properly. I conducted a “Gallery Walk” in order to stimulate their self-examination concerning the assignment. Students were required to repeat the assignment in order for me to determine their comprehension of the activity. Their second drawings were by far superior to their first. Both my students and myself learned to be persistent in our assessments in order to gain greater understanding of the education processes.
    6. If am dedicated to my profession, I will be able to determine the learning processes of my students without relying on outside resources completely. I will be able to design "low tech" solutions to assessing my students without relying on expensive, outside resources. While working at an elementary school, I learned to write/draw visual instructions describing detailed processes for ceramic lesson plans after determining through observation that young students had difficulty remembering more than three procedures at a time.
    7. I can collaborate with other teachers and artists to conduct assessments and learning procedures that will enhance art activities in general. Synergy enables excellent assessment! Teachers achieve greater results when they work together as apposed to working alone. While attending a “work day” conference at a local high school, I took part in a literacy challenge. The English dept. assigned to me personally, the development of an art lesson including text features. The serious fulfillment of this challenge represents my willingness to work with other staff members in order to produce superior education materials that realistically address the needs of my students.

the primary elements of a standardized newsletter template

      A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email (e-Newsletters) have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in general has gained popularity over printed correspondence. Newsletters are given out at schools, to inform parents about things that happen in that school.

      Many newsletters are published by clubs, churches, societies, associations, and businesses, especially companies, to provide information of interest to their members, customers or employees. Some newsletters are created as money-making ventures and sold directly to subscribers. Sending newsletters to customers and prospects is a common marketing strategy, which can have benefits and drawbacks. General attributes of newsletters include news and upcoming events of the related organization, as well as contact information for general inquiries.

      Newsletters can be divided into two distinct types: printed on paper and in digital formats, which are usually distributed via the Internet. The digital formats vary from the simplest format, text to highly designable formats like Portable Document Format (PDF) and HTML. The use of more formatting and web 2.0 attributes like video and sound have become a market standard all over the world. (Wikipedia)

Nameplate: This is the banner at the top of the newsletter that identifies the name of your publication.

Body: This refers to all of the text that makes up the articles in your newsletter.

Table of Contents: The listing of articles along with a page number.

Masthead: This is an attribution given to the authors , publishers, contributing photographers etc…

Titles:

• Headline – Generally headlines are the largest text elements; these describe the article content.
• Kicker – The kicker is a smaller title that identifies a regular column or section published in every newsletter. Such as an editorial, quote, readers comments etc…
• Deck – The deck refers to lines of text that further describe the headline and or topic of the article. The deck is not the article itself and it is not depicted in large font as if the headline. Sometimes the deck will be italicized or embolded.
• Subhead – A subheading is a smaller headline that appears between the article text, categorizing the sub-content areas of the article.
• Running Head – This the text that is repeated at the top of every page inside of a newsletter or newspaper that helps readers identify where a lengthy article is continued on a separate page. 
• Continuation Heads – Sometimes a writer will include the same headlines along with the longer article on each continuing page.

Page Numbers: These are included at the top or bottom of a long newsletter. Page one is seldom labeled.
End Signs: The end sign is a tiny decorative element that signifies the end of an article. These sometimes look like tiny squares, circles, stars etc…

Bylines: A byline is the copyright attribution for the article’s author. This article is by. . .

Continuation Lines:

•   Jumplines – are lines of text that read continued from page __  or these may read continued from page ___ depending upon where they appear in an article. Jumplines are often italicized.
• Continuation Heads - Sometimes a writer will include the same headlines along with the longer article on each continuing page.

Pull Quotes: The pull quotes are small, but important parts of the text that appear inside of a larger article. These are usually shown in different font styles or sizes within the context of a box, in the middle or offset from the greater text body.

Photos/Illustrations/Graphics:

• Greyscale – A greyscale graphic, photo, or illustration is depicted without color. Greyscale artworks are used often by publishers in order to save money when printing. Color ink is much more expensive to print with. 
• Mug Shots – This helps the reader identify a reference to a person mentioned within an article. These are frontal portraits, cropped from the shoulders up.
• Caption – Captions describe what a reader is seening in a graphic, photograph or illustration used in the newsletter. Captions are used typically either above or below the photograph.
• Copyrights for Artworks – Copyrights belonging to photographs or illustrations apart from the publisher are typically run along the side of their artwork in very tiny text.

Mailing Panel: Mailing panels only appear on hardcopy of newsletters. This is the address located on the backside of the newsletter. It is strategically located on one-third of the newsletter so that it may be folded and sealed with a sticky stamp instead of an envelope. Again this is done in order to save money on postage and paper.