Sign Language Art Project

   In high school, we spent a lot of time drawing hands in my art class and as my homeroom's "art teacher," I thought we could incorporate that into one of our art projects.  I found this lesson to help me out: Sign Language Art.  I first introduced the sign language alphabet to my class.  My students were much more interested than I expected them to be.  They immediately began spelling their names or sending messages to their friends across the room.  From there, I told them to think of a word (not too long) that describes our school.  Once everyone chose a word (no repeats) they practiced drawing the letters of their word.  After some practice, students chose a color of construction paper to draw their final signs.  Once I approved their final signs, they traced them with a Sharpie and cut them out.  The next art class, they used water color to paint a white sheet of paper the same color as their construction paper.  The first layer of paint was very light, but for the next layer, they darkened up the paint to make designs on their paper.  Finally, after everything dried, students glued their hands to their water colored paper and used stencils to label each letter.  The students loved this art project and many of them asked to laminate it so they could take it home!

Skin Brochure

  To wrap up our unit about the skin, students created a skin brochure that could be used in a dermatologist's office.  The brochure would provide information about the layers of the skin, functions, of skin, and of course, the risk of skin cancer.
  Thanks to the computer teacher, students were able to use Publisher to make their brochures fancy and professional!

Illinois State Standards:

12.A.3a  Explain how cells function as “building blocks” of organisms and describe the require­ments for cells to live.

Objectives:

Students will:

-create a visually appealing brochure 

-identify the layers of skin

-list the functions of the skin

-explain the risk of skin cancer

Assessment:

Students were assessed based on the completeness and accuracy of their brochure using the following rubric:

Apples to Apples

  Of course I want to help expand my students' vocabularies, but I struggle to find a successful method.  Our middle school students have a vocab book which basically introduces 20 new words each week.  In my opinion, this is a lot of words.  These 20 words do not include the vocabulary words from the short stories or novels in reading.  With all of these words, I find that students simply memorize the definition and forget most of them the next week.  I try to encourage my students to use the vocabulary words in their writing for extra credit, but students tend to use the "easy" words or words that are already familiar to them.  I also try to play vocabulary Bingo to make vocabulary more fun.  I recently tried having my students create and play Apples to Apples using vocabulary words.
  First I had students play the real Apples to Apples game so that they could become familiar with the rules.  Next, I copied red and green blank Apples to Apples cards.  On the green cards, students put a vocabulary word from The Outsiders along with three synonyms.  On the red cards, students had fun putting random (and appropriate) words, people, events, or places with a simple explanation or quote.  After the cards were completed, students were able to play Apples to Apples and practice their vocab words.  This worked very well and kept students' attention.  They even played this with a substitute while I was at a workshop!

Common Core Standards:

Language Standards

4c. Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech.

5b. Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonym/antonym, analogy) to better understand each of the words.

Objectives:

Students will:

-identify synonyms for vocabulary words

-make connections to vocabulary words to encourage retention

Assessment:

Students were assessed based on the completion of their Apples to Apples cards.  They were formally assessed based on the final vocabulary test for The Outsiders.

Viscosity Races

During our study of volcanoes, viscosity became an important word in each sixth grader's vocabulary.  In order for students to have a good grasp on how viscosity is a property used to describe liquids, we hosted Viscosity Races!  After introducing the word and discussing some examples, I gave students a list of materials that would be available to them during this lab.  Students worked with a buddy to brainstorm a procedure the class could use to compare the viscosity of various liquids.  After working in pairs, we discussed our ideas as a class and agreed on a procedure.  The next day, students worked in groups of four and were given four liquids.  They worked together to build a ramp and have the four liquids "compete" in a viscosity race.  Below are some pictures and the guided lab I used.

Illinois State Standards:

11.A.3a  Formulate hypotheses that can be tested by collecting data.

11.A.3b  Conduct scientific experiments that control all but one variable.

11.A.3d  Explain the existence of unexpected results in a data set.

11.B.3b  Sketch, propose and compare design solutions to the problem considering available materials, tools, cost effectiveness and safety.

11.B.3e  Evaluate the test results based on established criteria, note sources of error and recommend improvements.

12.C.3b  Model and describe the chemical and physical characteristics of matter (e.g., atoms, molecules, elements, compounds, mixtures).

Objectives:

Students will:

-design a controlled experiment

-create a data table to record results of experiment

-identify possible sources of error 

-compare the viscosities of various liquids

Assessment:

Students were assessed based on their data collection, analysis, and conclusion in their lab report.  Students were required to identify two possible sources of error, identify two ways to improve their experiment, explain how the different viscosities affected the results, and confirm or disprove their hypothesis.

How? Why?

  Last Friday I heard about the tragedy of Sandy Hook Elementary School right before I went to the teacher's lounge for lunch.  As I joined the discussion in the teacher's lounge, I was truly in shock.  Unfortunately, it is not unfamiliar to hear of shootings in public places.  Just recently we have heard about shootings at a mall and a movie theater, but how could something like this happen in an elementary school?!?  I didn't understand how anyone could intentionally harm an innocent child, no taller than three feet.
  When lunch ended, I was still in shock, but I don't think it had quite settled in yet.  I did not say anything to my students, first of all, because I did not have all the facts and second of all, I honestly did not know how to tell them something like this.  At the end of the day, our principal asked us all to pray for those in Connecticut.  My students immediately turned to me with a confused look.  I told them to pray and I would explain it to them.  After the prayer, heads immediately turned my way, waiting for an explanation.  It was in that moment that all of this actually hit me.  I barely held it together as I told my 7th grade class that someone had entered an elementary school and killed approximately 26 people, a majority of them being around the age of 6.  My voice was shaking as I tried to answer any questions.  The hardest thing was seeing panic set in for one of my students who has cousins in Connecticut.
  I truly do not think I will ever forget the moment I told my class about this horrific incident.  It was hard to tell children that other children were murdered for no reason.  I felt as if I took away a piece of their innocence that day.
  As Monday rolled around, I was still having trouble grasping how something so terrible could happen.  I continuously pondered how I was going to approach this topic with my students.  I decided to initiate an open discussion.  I asked students to first share what they have heard about the incident and then to share any thoughts, opinions, or questions they may have.  It turned out to be a beneficial discussion and many of my students knew a lot about what had happened.  We had limited time to discuss the topic, but I did not want it to end there.  I decided to give my students the opportunity to reflect on what had happened through writing.  To get them started, I suggested they may write letters.  These letters could be written to the victims, the victims' families, the shooter, the shooter's family, or the teachers.  The students had powerful and thoughtful words to share.  Many expressed anger and confusion, while others wished the shooter to be forgiven by God because "everyone deserves to be forgiven."  The words of each student showed both their maturity and their innocence.  It also showed me how extremely lucky I am to be a teacher working with extraordinary children.
  My thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected in the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

Optical Illusion Art

So I came across this art project on Pinterest.  It turned out to be super easy and looks really cool.  I actually got tons of compliments from other teachers.

Here is the link to the original post: Step by Step Directions

It does a great job of explaining each step :)

I will say if I were to do this again, I would have students make less vertical wavy lines or use a smaller sheet of paper.  I ended up having my students trim each end of their paper because it is a very time consuming project.

Halloween Art Project

For Halloween, we did a printmaking project.  I had a little bit of background with this because we learned how to do this in my college art education class.  Luckily, we had all of the supplies tucked away in our art closet.  We used foam trays, printmaking paint (it was probably very old, but it did the job), brayers, and construction paper.  I instructed the students to carve a simple Halloween design on the back of their foam tray.  Next, they used the brayer to cover it with paint.  From there, students used their foam trays as stamps to print the image on multiple sheets of construction paper.  By making multiple prints, we were able to decorate our classroom and give some prints to PTO to decorate for the Halloween party.  This was a simple project and students gained experience with something other than colored pencils and paint.  The one thing I will keep in mind is to use foam trays/plates without any imprinted symbols or words.  The trays we used had imprints on the side we didn't carve, but it still affected some of the prints.  This resulted in some of the students having to re-carve their image on another foam plate.

The Outsiders Newspaper Article

Currently, our class is reading The Outsiders (one of my all time FAVORITE novels)!  One of the writing assignments the students work on is a newspaper article.  Students write an article describing the events of chapter 4 (when Johnny kills Bob).  Before students begin writing, we read published newspaper articles and discussed the components of a good article.  We also defined bias and students focused on being unbiased in the writing assignment.  After the pre-writing activities, students began their rough draft.  From there, I worked with the computer teacher to help students create a final draft using Microsoft Publisher.

Illinois State Standards:

Objectives:

Assessment:

Journey to the Center of the Earth

As the 6th graders learned about the layers of the Earth, I had them create a diary about their personal journey to the inner core.  I give them basic guidelines like how many entries and the required information.  From there, I encourage them to use their imagination.  I am always surprised at how much the students enjoy doing this project and I always love reading them.  I end up laughing out loud as I read them because they are so funny and creative.

Objectives:
Students will:

-describe how temperature and pressure change as depth of Earth increases

-sequence the layers of Earth

-describe characteristics of Earth’s layers

-compare and contrast lithosphere with asthenosphere

-compare and contrast outer core with inner core

Assessment:

Students were assessed based on the accuracy and completeness of their journals.  Creativity and neatness were also part of the grading rubric.

Here are the directions I give my students:  Diary Directions

Here are some of the final products:

Candy Plate Boundaries and Fault Foldable

This lesson was modified from a lesson on Science Spot (Candy Plate Tectonics).  I chose to use this idea to teach plate boundaries.  We used Twix bars to demonstrate divergent boundaries, AirHeads to teach convergent boundaries, and Starbursts to teach transform boundaries.  Once again, students were excited about this lesson because they were able to eat!

Here is the guided lesson:  Candy Activity

After this lesson, we soon moved on to learning about different types of stresses and faults.  It was great because students had a strong understanding of types of boundaries so they were able to make connections back to the activity as they learned about stresses and faults.  To emphasize these connections, students created the following foldable.

Fault Foldable

Illinois State Standards:

12.E.3a. Analyze and explain large-scale dynamic forces, events and processes that affect the Earth's land, water and atmospheric systems (e.g., jetstream, hurricanes, plate tectonics). 

Objectives:

Students will:

-create models of plate boundaries using candy

-explain movements of different plate boundaries

-compare plate boundaries with stresses such as tension, compression, and shearing

-explain how stress in the Earth's surface results in faults

-identify the hanging wall and footwall

-explain how the plates move in different types of faults

Assessment:

Students were assessed based on their participation in the activity.  During the activity, students answered questions demonstrating their understanding of plate boundaries.  As they completed each part of the activity, they checked in with me to verbally explain how the activity connected to plate boundaries.  Their completion of the foldable demonstrated student's ability to make connections to their prior knowledge and identify types of faults.

Edible Rocks

This lesson was inspired by a fellow Pinner (Click Here for Original Lesson).  I modified it slightly to make it work with what I had.  Regardless, the students LOVED this activity (pretty sure they will love anything with food).  In addition to being fun, it was a memorable activity for students.  Even the next week as we wrapped up our rock unit, students were making connections back to the edible rock activity.  Overall, it was a great success!

Illinois State Standards:

12.E.2a. Identify and explain natural cycles of the Earth's land, water and atmospheric systems (e.g., rock cycle, water cycle, weather patterns).   

Objectives:

Students will:

-create rocks out of everyday materials

-explain how sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks are made

-compare the activity to natural processes that form rocks

Assessment:

Students were assessed based on their participation in the lab.  As they worked through the lab, students  answered questions that required them to make connections to how the activity compared to the natural processes of rock formation.

Muscular System Project

To wrap up our muscular system unit, I am having students create an advertisement for an imaginary workout facility/workout program.  Last year I did this project, but the students worked on it individually and made brochures in computer class.  This year I decided to have them work with a partner and create a poster.  I did this because I am really working on having my students work together.  Although I have no serious problems between students that disrupt the classroom environment, I do notice there are cliques within my classroom.  Despite the cliques, I want students to be able to work together and respect the opinions of their peers.

This one cracks me up with the before and after pictures.
If you can't tell, they pasted their faces to the after pictures :)

Illinois State Standards:

12.A.3c. Compare and contrast how different forms and structures reflect different funtions (e.g., similarities and differences among animals that fly, walk, or swim; structures of plant cells and animal cells). 

Objectives:

Students will:

-create an advertisement to promote muscle fitness

-explain how their workout program benefits muscles

-define vocabulary such as aerobic, anaerobic, flexibility, strength, and endurance

-identify specific muscles that are used specific exercises

-work with peers and develop respect for opinions that may be different from their own

Assessment:

Students were assessed based on their final product.  Students had to follow the directions correctly and include accurate information.  The creativity and neatness of the poster was also assessed.  Students' ability to work together was informally assessed and monitored as they worked during class.

Chicken Wing Dissection

Seventh grade had their first dissection experience.  They each had the opportunity to dissect a chicken wing.  Before the dissection, there were many mixed feelings.  Some were very excited while others were quite nervous.  After their initial fear, the students were engaged and interested.  Even though they are simply chicken wings from the grocery store, it is a great way for students to see how the muscular system and skeletal system work together.  It is fun to watch the students explore and see their surprise when they realize this is the same chicken they eat at home.  So many of them have no idea they eat muscles of animals.

Illinois State Standards:

12.A.3c. Compare and contrast how different forms and structures reflect different funtions (e.g., similarities and differences among animals that fly, walk, or swim; structures of plant cells and animal cells). 

Objectives:

Students will:

-identify and describe the muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage of a chicken wing

-explain how the skeletal system and muscular system work together

-compare and contrast the human arm with the chicken wing

Assessment:

Students were assessed based on their recorded observations as well as their ability to point and verbally identify each part of the chicken wing.

Bone Observations

During our study of the skeletal system, students had the opportunity to observe dried pig ribs and a beef marrow bone.  This allows students to see each part of the bone rather than simply looking at a picture in their textbooks.

Illinois State Standards:

12.A.3c. Compare and contrast how different forms and structures reflect different funtions (e.g., similarities and differences among animals that fly, walk, or swim; structures of plant cells and animal cells). 

Objectives:

Students will:

-identify and describe compact bone, spongy bone, bone marrow, and the outer covering

-explain the functions of each part of the bone

Assessment:

Students were assessed based their observation charts and their ability to point out and verbally identify parts of the bone.  

Skeletal System Concept Maps

To wrap up our unit of the skeletal system, I teamed up with the computer teacher to help my students make concept maps of skeletal system vocabulary.  I like this project because it allows students to see how all parts of the skeletal system are connected and makes a good study guide for the chapter test.  Furthermore, it allows students to gain experience with concept maps while providing them with the opportunity to be creative.

Skeletal System Concept Map Assignment

Illinois State Standards:

12.A.3c. Compare and contrast how different forms and structures reflect different funtions (e.g., similarities and differences among animals that fly, walk, or swim; structures of plant cells and animal cells). 

Objectives:

Students will:

-create a concept map using skeletal system terms

-explain how parts of the skeletal system are dependent on each other

-create a useful study tool

Assessment:

Students were assessed based on whether or not they included all the required vocabulary.  Furthermore, I also evaluated how they connected each of the terms and the examples they provided.  The computer teacher also assessed students' concept maps for a computer grade.

Romeo & Juliet Completed!

Finally!!!  We finished our modernized version of Romeo & Juliet!  The kids excitement really kept me motivated throughout this class project, especially because it took so long.  It was dragged out so much longer than our Romeo & Juliet unit because it was so involved I was only able to designate study hall time and recess time to do most of the filming.  Despite how long it took, the kids stayed focused and were determined to finish their project.  I am especially excited that we successfully completed this project because it is going to be part of our spring silent auction.  The DVD will be accompanied by a signed script for parents to bid on at the auction.  That will be one thing off my spring to-do list :)

I wish I could post a clip of the video, but I'll have to refrain in order to protect students' privacy.

Skeletal System

New bulletin board!  We just started studying the skeletal system so I thought this would be great to have in the classroom.  Today we played Simon Says with only using the correct name of bones.  It was really helpful for kids to look at the board as we played the game.  Tomorrow we are going to be in the lab observing dried rib bones and large beef bones from the butcher.  The kids are very excited!

Changes in State

Eighth graders were studying states of matter and changes in state.  I allowed each student to randomly choose a change in state and they were responsible for creating a cartoon that illustrated the change in state.  To give them some guidance, I told them the main characters in their comic should be the particles in each state of matter.  In their comic, they would personify the atoms to help explain how their behavior adjusts as the matter changes.  Once the comics were completed, I put students in a group to teach their peers about their specific change in state.  I made sure that each group had at least one student with each change in state.  After each student had the opportunity to teach their group, I split the groups in half and they took a group quiz about what their classmates had just taught them.  This was such a beneficial learning experience because students had the responsibility to teach their peers and they had to listen to their classmates and ask questions in order to be prepared for the quiz that followed.

Illinois State Standards:
12.C.3a. Explain interactions of energy with matter including changes of state and conservation of mass and energy.
12.C.3b. Model and describe the chemical and physical characteristics of matter (e.g., atoms, molecules, elements, compounds, mixtures).

Objectives:
Students will:
-illustrate a change in state through a comic
-collaborate with peers through teaching and questioning

Assessment:
Students were informally assessed through observation and questioning during interactions with their groups.  Furthermore, students' understanding was assessed using the group quiz.

Plant Growth Experiments

In our study of plants, seventh graders designed experiments to see how plant growth is affected by light and water.  Students worked in groups to carry out the scientific method.  One group tested how different amounts of water affect plant growth while the other groups experimented with the amount of light plant receive.

Illinois State Standards:

11.A.3a  Formulate hypotheses that can be tested by collecting data.

11.A.3b  Conduct scientific experiments that control all but one variable.

11.A.3c  Collect and record data accurately using consistent measuring and recording techniques and media.

11.A.3d  Explain the existence of unexpected results in a data set.

11.A.3g  Report and display the process and results of a scientific investigation.

Objectives:

Students will:

-collaborate with peers to carry out the scientific method

-design an experiment to determine how plant growth is affected by varied amounts of light and water

-create appropriate data tables and graphs to display results

Assessment:

 Students were assessed on a lab report that outlined each step of the scientific method.  A rubric was used in the grading process.

First Art Lesson

So this year, each classroom teacher is responsible for teaching art to their homeroom.  Although I knew this would be challenging at times, I was very excited for this chance to be creative and see my students' creativity.  Luckily, I found this helpful website: Art Lessons.  The first project I had my students work on were self portraits.  These were unique self portraits because half of them are realistic and the other half are abstract.  They used symbols that represent them to form the abstract side of their portrait.  This was definitely a challenging first project, especially for not having much art education background, but it was fun for both me and the students.  

Here are the final products!

Topographic Maps

The first chapter in sixth grade science discussed landforms, maps, and globes.  The most unfamiliar map for them was the topographic map.  We spend a great deal of time interpreting these maps, making our own keys, and understanding what information the map can provide.  To enforce the students' understanding, they created their own topographic maps.  I provided each group with a clay "landform", a pie pan covered in plastic wrap with a small opening to pour water, a beaker, and water.  Students placed their landform in the pie pan and poured water into the pan in intervals of 200mL.  Each time they they poured 200mL, they used a dry erase marker to trace the outline of the water around the clay landform.  As they continued to do this, they created multiple contour lines showing the  elevation of their landforms.  From there, student created a key for their map.  Here are some of the topographic maps.