September 10, 2012
Brown & Sze Activity
The point of this exercise was to learn about scaffolding. We were given a children's book and a contemporary artist and told to come up with a general idea of how we would incorporate both elements in to a lesson. We were to come up with two lesson activities and the academic vocabulary that we would be teaching in the lesson. I decided that my lesson was for fourth grade.
Children's Book - The Curious Garden
By: Peter Brown
The book is about a boy who stumbles upon the only plant that is left in the big city where he lives. He takes care of the plant and more plants grow. He continues to care for the plants until they take over the city and everyone helps him care for the plants.
I decided to create a lesson that revolved around the idea of caring. The activity would be: Pretend you are caring for the curious garden. Draw one plant you took care of. What would your plant look like? Also, show how you would care for the plant and help the plant grow. I would be introducing the concepts of color and shape. I would stress that there are many ways that you can add details to a picture.
I decided to create a lesson that revolved around the idea of caring. The activity would be: Pretend you are caring for the curious garden. Draw one plant you took care of. What would your plant look like? Also, show how you would care for the plant and help the plant grow. I would be introducing the concepts of color and shape. I would stress that there are many ways that you can add details to a picture.
Contemporary Artist - Sarah Sze
Sarah Sze was an Art: 21 artist. She and the community saved a building that was scheduled for demolition, transforming the space in to a community garden. She created a sculptural artwork that also acted as a bird feeder and habitat. Much planning and research went in to the project though. She made an extensive model out of cardboard and string and researched what types of foods certain birds ate, birds that were native to that area, and incorporated contraptions that could hold those foods.
The second part of my lesson would be to create a birdhouse to add to Sze's garden. They would take the drawing of the plant created last time and make a three dimensional model of the plant, and add contraptions that could possibly hold food. I would explain how to make the plant three dimensional by making geometric shapes that can be connected to build a form. This time I would be introducing shapes as a means to abstract or simplify things. The students would be caring for the birds by building them a place to live and eat, so it still fits in with my big idea of caring.
The second part of my lesson would be to create a birdhouse to add to Sze's garden. They would take the drawing of the plant created last time and make a three dimensional model of the plant, and add contraptions that could possibly hold food. I would explain how to make the plant three dimensional by making geometric shapes that can be connected to build a form. This time I would be introducing shapes as a means to abstract or simplify things. The students would be caring for the birds by building them a place to live and eat, so it still fits in with my big idea of caring.