Student Teaching at Ravenswood- Week 2

This week has turned out to be a short week because of the snow blizzard. Chicago Public Schools had two whole days off! This is unheard of, but it's a very welcomed phenomenon for all the kids (and adults). 

On Monday kids continued to work in the open studios to finish up the pieces they have started. Kindergarten and 1st grade continued to reflect on their work in teams, using a modified version of the Art Sandwich. Ms. Kitty had the brilliant idea to further simplify the Art Sandwich by turning it into manipulatives. We used construction paper to make bread and meat/cheese.  While the students were gathered at the rug, we discussed what a compliment is and practiced giving compliments and suggestions for improvement as we looked at an art piece.  Ms. Kitty and I then helped groups of four students give an Art Sandwich to one member of their group. The artist talked about their work first, for one minute, and then each of the three students giving feedback verbalized and wrote a compliment or suggestion. 

1st grade students write what they like about Samara's artwork (bread) as well as something she might be able to work on (cheese).

I am so impressed by even very young students' ability to reflect on their work and give others thoughtful feedback. 

 I know many teachers don't have young kids think about their artwork and engage in critiques, but in Ms. Kitty's room, she starts them out young, and I really think it's a great benefit to the students. 

1st grade students look at an art piece and give each other feedback using an Art Sandwich made from three pieces of construction paper. 

On Tuesday I did get to implement the first mini-project I devised for the 5th graders. Unfortunately, there are two 5th grade classes which we only get to see 3-4 times over the 7 weeks I am student teaching, due to the fact that many of their art days fall on holidays or professional development days. 

Because of this, Ms. Kitty and I decided that the students should engage in weekly sculpture challenges, where they would complete the challenge in one class period.  

The goal of these sculpture challenges is to have students become more comfortable with thinking on their feet and with creating 3-D forms in the construction studio. 

This first challenge was built on students' prior knowledge of how nets (flat templates) create 3-D solids. The students had recently engaged in an activity where they matched nets to their respective solids, as well as drew three-dimensional forms on paper using shapes such as rhombuses and trapezoids.

5th grade students in this 1st Sculpture Challenge were told at the rug that they 30 minutes to create a sculpture based on one of three geometric forms. We began at the rug by looking at the book:

which is geared towards small children but is wonderful for any age to demonstrate how depending on the viewpoint you look at something from...

it can be completely transformed.

We then looked at a pencil case and discussed what objects it could become if it had a different skin. Skin is what Ms. Kitty calls the surface treatment. We also discussed how sometimes artists have strict deadlines to adhere to, and they have to be creative in a very short period of time.

Students were told they would have 30 minutes to trace one of three nets, envision what that geometric solid could become, and create the skin so that the audience could see their vision.  

 I donned a whistle and talked about how this contest was like Project Runway or Top Chef, and when the clock runs out, every student was to place their sculpture on the blue table and we would vote for the one that was most successful.  The students really grasped on to the fun of working quickly, and they hurriedly worked either alone or in teams of 2 or 3 (their choice) to meet the challenge in 30 minutes.  

In the end, a sculpture called Girly Girl Bed got the most student votes, followed by a robot and a jack in the box in second and third place. 

Students begin by tracing a net (template) of their choice. This student chose a pyramid as her solid.

Next, students taped their nets together to form a solid.

Students used any studio; construction, fashion, painting, or collage to add a skin to their solid in order to turn it into a recognizable object.

Students worked in teams if they chose to.  Some teams worked seamlessly and others struggled to agree.

These girls used the fashion studio to add bed covers and pillows to their Girly Bed. Time is almost up!

One of the final pieces, Two Dice.

The Robot, created by combining several solids and using foil as a skin.  We voted using post-it notes if you're wondering what all the mess is.

The Jack in the Box.  Created using multiple studios for skin.

Top view of the Girly Girl Bed, as well as a Messed Up Couch, a Pyramid, and a Shoe Box.

Next time we see them, 

the students will work on Sculpture Challenge #2! 

 

Student Teaching at Ravenswood- Week 1

1st and 2nd graders work in the painting studio to express their ideas

Ms. Kitty has three categories of artwork that get made in the studio. The first is kind is “exploring” artwork where kids take it upon themselves to try out new things, play with materials, and experiment. The second is showcase pieces, where kids develop and sketch out their ideas, and then see their projects through to completion with good craftsmanship. The third category is a must-do project, where the teacher leads the students through a specific project she feels will benefit the students. These are not very common because she really wants the students to choose their own content and materials; however, sometimes they are important in order to teach a specific skill, standard, or idea. The projects I will be leading will be “must-do’s” but they will also include a lot of student choice within them.
This week at Ravenswood most of the younger students have been finishing up projects they were already working on so that they can move on to working on some new ideas and processes with me.

The 1st and 2nd graders learned how to critique each others works in progress using a structure Kitty invented called the “Art Sandwich”. As each class gathered on the rug, Ms. Kitty talked to the kids about how as artists and people, we need feedback in order to improve and grow. She discussed with the kids how suggestions for improvement are always better received when they are paired with compliments. In the Art Sandwich, the bread is compliments, and the meat is a suggestion for how the artist can improve their work. Students are reminded that they can’t just say they like it when giving a compliment, because then the artist does not know what they’ve done well. Instead, you should always give a specific reason why you like something. This is a great thing for teachers to remember too!

This student said he created an ocean!

Students worked in groups of four- one artist and three viewers. They took turns giving compliments and one student out of the group volunteered to give the meat of the sandwich (or the cheese if they are vegetarian). It was exciting to see the students talking about their work. Each piece was very unique because the students had been given free range of the painting, collage, drawing and construction studios. The students were a little impatient waiting for each other to think of what to say, so next time we might have them all write down their compliments and suggestions for an art sandwich and then have them share out with each other afterwards so they are focused the entire time. I was very impressed with how articulate and invested all the artists were as they talked about their own work.

Ms. Kitty (as well as myself) believes very strongly in critique and reflection even for very young children as a necessary tool for growth and learning. We always need to unpack what we learned, to be metacognitive. Another example of how Ms. Kitty teaches this to her students is this picture. Students exhibited their showcase pieces and then went for a "gallery walk" to view the artwork of their peers. They wrote compliments on post-it notes and placed them on the artwork. What can I say? Post-it note critiques work for all ages!

young kids write compliments about artwork on post-it notes and share them with the artist

The kindergarteners are working on a project that is all about the artistic behavior of envisioning. They are given the challenge of transforming a cylinder (toilet paper tube) into a specific idea. They first drew their idea on a planning sheet, and Ms. Kitty helped them think about what materials they needed. I then observed them working in the construction studio to bring their plan to life in three dimensions. When one of the students wanted to change his plan to an entirely different object, Ms. Kitty asked him to create a new planning drawing because that was the main idea (behavior) she wanted the kids to learn. I love looking at the drawings next to the sculptures. The planning helps the students be more anchored and invested in the process, especially when faced with so many enticing materials to choose from!

kindergarteners planning and envisioning (a robot!)

The collage studio before we organized it.

Ms. Kitty thinks through how to attach certain materials to each other with the students at the rug

Ms. Kitty and I spent a lot of time after school this week organizing and cleaning out space for the newly opened clay and sculpture studio, as well as straightening up the messy collage studio.  Even though labeling isn't part of the Reggio Emilio school of thought and methodology, it does help ESL students who are plentiful at Ravenswood. So we'll go for clear labels in the clay studio.