This morning we looked at story telling and planning our own story using a very detailed story map based on a story the class created together. The teacher had drawn out the plan and photocopied it so the children had one copy each before, the children sat down and used stickers to cover up some of the pictures and change details of the story. This is an amazing way to teach children how to write their own stories, planning meticulously and having the plan in front of the to jog their memory. This way of teaching also plays to the very visual elements vital to primary school children's learning, instead of looking at a written plan. Following this, I spent a little time listening to some of the children reading, help them to sound out and work through hard words, not very arty, but still an important part of the teaching role.
After lunch I set out my activity, involving the use of straws to replicate the bone structures of fossils of dinosaurs. My evaluation....
I will however say, that if I were to teach this lesson again, I would come in with pre-cut pieces of straw. The children found it difficult to cut up the straws, so I spent a lot of time doing that rather than helping the children.
I taught this lesson as part of my time at Hardwick Primary school, as part of their topic focused around dinosaurs and museums collections. The aim of this lesson was to get children thinking about what we see when we go into museums. They have been learning about how dinosaurs lived, where they lived, what they ate, but this is very different to the bones and fossils we see in museums. I wanted to get the children thinking about the differences and how scientists and other specialists have learnt so much from some old bones through the medium of art. I also wanted to show the children that art is not just pencil and paper through an exploration of mixed media and alternative art, it can be a lot more fun and a lot messier!
I taught this lesson plan as part of an afternoon of work, focused around a few activities, so I had around 4-5 children at a time completing the activity. This worked well, but I think with a little more planning and organisation, for example cutting up a load of straws before hand, could mean that I could develop this plan to teach to a whole class.
The lesson focused around developing a basic line drawing by looking at images of dinosaur skeletons and fossils, formulating their own skeletal line drawing. To develop these ideas and make the activity to accessible to everyone, the children then stuck straws over the drawing to add a 3D effect, mimicking the skeletons at the Natural History Museum. Also to perhaps get the children to start thinking about the differences in dinosaurs. We know the differences in carnivore and herbivores and the characteristics that they had. These ideas were developed from fossil findings, can we see any evidence of differences in the bones of the dinosaurs?
This lesson plan was a success, the children really enjoyed doing something different and I was able to get most of the class to complete it in an afternoon! Unlike my other lesson plan focused on similar ideas, using resist methods, this exploration of different media worked well and was more accessible to the whole class. Everyone had a piece of artwork at the end, not matter what ability. It is interesting to note that no matter how much planning you put into your work, you still have to think on your feet in teaching, some of the children created amazing drawings that we ended up bordering with the straws, whilst some struggled with the drawing, so focussed on creating structures from the straws. I feel like every child successfully created a piece of artwork in the lesson.
I will however say, that if I were to teach this lesson again, I would come in with pre-cut pieces of straw. The children found it difficult to cut up the straws, so I spent a lot of time doing that rather than helping the children.
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