Week of 9/5/2021 - Setting up my classroom

 

I had this week to set up my classroom - I put up my handmade posters, organized cabinets, color coordinated tables and chairs and prepped materials for the collaborative tile project next week. Here is a before and after photo of my classroom - I can't wait to see students and start teaching!

 

 

BEFORE...  

AFTER.... 

 

Week of 9/19/2021 - Getting to know you!

I started my 1st rotation for the year with 2nd and 3rd grade this week. I got to see each class for1 hr and 5 minutes which is a good amount of time for this age group. Both grades worked on a "Getting to you" lesson. 

 

For 2nd grade I read the book "Just Ask" by Sonia Sotomayor and students wrote words about themselves on a white board as a scaffold. It was great to hear conversations at each table, one student asking for the spelling of a word while others tried to spell it for them and discussions about their likes and dislikes.

 

 
They drew an outline of their hand, wrote their name, words about themselves and added lines and color to complete the work.

 

 

 

3rd grade used Iranian American artist Hadieh Shafie as the inspiration. She uses text on paper strips, rolls them to create concentric circles and glues them on a background. I love having students take a look at her work and guess what she used to create her circles. They are always amazed when I demonstrate her process and explain we will be creating a 2D version of her 3D artwork.

Students created concentric circles using black Sharpie markers, used prompts to write about themselves and color in the circles.

 

It was so wonderful to read about students and get to know them from their art.

 

 

 

 

Week of 9/12/2021 - Collaborative tiles

 

 

 

 

Students from grades 2-5 participated in a collaborative tile artwork inspired

 by the clay tiles of Hackney based artist Ron Hitchins (1926-2019). We looked 

at his ceramic tiles photos and examples of artwork we will be creating. Students  

compared and contrasted both works and noticed that there were lines, shapes 

and patterns in both while the artists' works were created out of clay and that they would be 

using paper, glue, scissors and black Sharpie marker for theirs.

 Each student was given a 6 white paper  tile  along with 1 large, 1 medium and 2 small 

triangles in different colors. Every grade had a different color scheme to work with. 

The goal was to fit the triangles inside the square while exploring different ways to arrange them. 

Students had the option to cut the corners and sides of each triangle to incorporate curved lines

 like in Hitchins works. Once students glued their pieces on their tile, they could use a black Sharpie 

marker to add lines, shapes or create outlines in their work.

 

 

I cut triangles and organized them grade level wise. I also used a paper clip to 

have 4 triangles along with a paper square ready on days when there as 

not much time between classes. This helped a lot! 

 

  

 

 I had 6 students glue their individual tiles on a 12"x18" white construction paper on the carpet when

 finished. It was great to see them plan where they wanted their tile to be and in which direction to 

be seen.

502 student tiles were put together to create a 6 ft.  X 21 ft. display.