For our first Wonderlab project, we introduced students to the sketchbooks we will use for the semester. We wanted to use this class as an opportunity for us and our students to get to know one another better since it was our first day working together. To get the class started we played a guessing game we called "Whose Art Is it?". Each teacher brought in a piece of their own artwork to display to the class and then provided a clue about their personal art style. The students studied each piece and then voted on which piece they thought belonged to each teacher. It was a fun and exciting way to share something about ourselves with the class while integrating art and art vocabulary! Next we transitioned into the main part of our lesson. We showed the students their sketchbooks and asked students to create covers for them based off of one or more provided prompts. These prompts were three questions posed as drawing topics that allowed us to get to know our students. We asked them to either draw their favorite animal, draw your dream birthday present (real or pretend!) or draw a favorite character from a movie, book, video game etc. We chose these questions because of their relevance to students of this age group as well as their accessibility to be answered in many ways and tell a story about the students. The materials provided to the students included crayons, markers and pencil. Students could choose to use one medium or combine them as they preferred. These mediums also created a moment for students to practice skills in properly using the tools provided (i.e. snapping a marker cap on completely) as well as created an opportunity for students to work on sharing the studio space and materials (i.e. shared paints, shared water and shared markers). Every time students come into the art room they are building on these skills. They will be a theme that is repeated in each of our Wonderlabs throughout the semester! Our first learning experience allowed students to express themselves through their art while making choices about what and how to tell these stories just like real artists!
Inquiry/Learning Target: The learning target for this class is to introduce the students to what a sketchbook was, what it's used for and how you can make it a personal thing, by drawing their own sketchbook covers representing themselves. The creation of the sketchbook covers is a way for the students to guide them towards modes of self expression through creating. Students of this age and background are eager to share things about themselves and questions/ideas about themselves are easily answered.
Key Concepts:
-Students will be able to guess which painting belongs to each teacher through voting and deducing as a class team.
-Students will be able to express their answer to the questions asked on their covers.
-Students will understand that they can express themselves without words by only drawing on their covers.
Essential Understandings:
Artists have a personal style
Art is expressive
Artists use sketchbooks to collect their ideas and express themselves
Documentation: For full documentation of this lesson for both kindergarten and third grade click the following links;