5+5 Activity Guide, CardEd, Education, English, Mathematics, MY Classroom
5 + 5 Activity Resource (No. 10) – 5 Independent & 5 Cooperative Learning Arts-Themed Activities to Try
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May
May
Welcome to week 10 in our 5+5 Activity Guide series.
I shared a very thoughtful article this week by Sean Moncrieff on the struggle of parenting through lockdown and allowing yourself some grace and kindness. I thought I’d link it again here here in case you missed it. He reminds parents of the wise words of the late Dr. David Carey (Psychologist),
“Remember parents, you just have to be good enough, you don’t have to be the best. You’ll never be perfect. You’ll have your weak moments, you’ll have your times when you’re brilliant and guess what, you’ll make a few parenting mistakes along the way. Welcome yourself to the human race.”
This week, May 25-31, 2020, is International Arts Week. With that in mind, I thought an arts theme most appropriate for the week.
What do we mean when we talk about ‘The Arts?’
It encompasses visual arts, literature, and performing arts. The focus on STEM can sometimes see The Arts relegated in the curriculum, a concern I have written about previously here, so I think it useful to remind ourselves quite why they are so important.
I came across this document by Elliot Eisner – 10 Lessons the Arts Teach – that readers may enjoy. Some of the activities below are based on these lessons. For example, it is important children understand different perspectives; there is no right or wrong in when it comes to the arts – good judgements are what matter; children learn there may be more than one solution to a problem; the arts expose children to feelings, thoughts and ideas they may not previously have experienced and, in so doing, enrich their lives with a fuller human experience.
The arts support language development, inspire creativity, inventiveness and problem-solving, promote decision-making, heighten cultural awareness, hone your child’s motor skills and are linked with improved academic performance.
Increasingly, we are aware of the benefits of dual-coding and sketch-noting. It is important children feel confident to use these study skills without being put off by notions of being too poor at drawing to even try. So, this week’s post is about exploring the arts, promoting creativity and, just as the parent message also encourages, encouraging our children to allow themselves grace and kindness in appraising their efforts.
So, without further ado let’s prepare for a mess (get your drop cloths and newspapers out) and dive in to this week’s suggestions! This week I begin with cooperative learning suggestions and a few non-messy activities to ease you in!
Cooperative Learning Activities
Oral Language
Eisner’s first lesson is that “the arts teach children to make good judegements about qualitative relationships. Unlike much of the curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgement rather than rules that prevail.”
Knowing the importance of oracy and producing confident speakers and listeners, why not use this idea as a basis for discussion?
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What makes a piece of art good?
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Is it fair to classify something as good/bad?
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What types of art appeal to you and why do you love them so?
You may wish to use this article on five characteristics you can use to determine the quality of art to further the discussion/.
Some other articles on this theme may be found on:
Poetry
Readers may know Michael Rosen has been seriously ill for 8 weeks. He was released from ICU this weekend after 47 days and moved to a hospital ward to continue his recovery. I have previously shared his wonderful poem, ‘These are the Hands,’ but I think it apt to share it again as we continue to hope Michael recovers and regains his strength and his voice. Hear Michael recite the poem here.
Speaking of his voice, here is Michael in an outstanding performance of Chocolate Cake.
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You might to use this resource booklet to challenge your child to write their own poem about their favourite food, using some of the same writing techniques (onomatopoeia, alliteration, descriptive adjectives and metaphors) explained in the guide.
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Can your child make their favourite food at some stage this week?
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Use Michael’s performance as inspiration and encourage your child to learn and perform their poem (or another of their choosing) in front of a family audience. Those who have been reading our blog for a while will know I have written about the importance of teaching poetry previously and shared some useful resource sites to support this endeavour.
STEM
Twitter user, Emma, (@MrsBpriSTEM) has shared many wonderful science experiments on her Twitter feed throughout this period of school closures. If you’re not following her, I recommend you do. Her ideas are sure to spark your child’s sense of wonder and curiosity and are fun for the whole family to investigate together.
As I have selected an art theme for this week, I thought this rainbow paper one particularly appropriate.
If, however, you’d prefer to have your children make some ice-cream for you, you could select this one instead!
Drawing
Somewhere along the way, and I discuss this in more detail below, many of lose confidence in our art ability. As a fun family challenge, have some fun drawing this week. Why not have each member of the family choose something and then have everyone attempt to draw it?
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For those in need of support and guidance, I really like the clear, step-by-step instructions Kathy provides on her Art Projects for Kids site. Such step-by-step, how-to guides can be a great way of encouraging reluctant artists to have a go. Consider how and where you will display all of this new artwork!
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Now, there is no way we can celebrate art week without getting a little messy. Are you feeling adventurous enough to try one of the 40 art projects suggested here on Left Brain Craft Brain?
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If the idea of too much mess indoors leaves you quaking, why not take the art outside with some of these ideas from Artful Parent?
Maths – Tangrams
This activity is in the cooperative activity section because, as with most things, greater learning occurs if your child has an opportunity to discuss their learning with you. This exposes them to new vocabulary and enables them to clarify their thinking and ideas.
Tangrams are great for teaching children about shapes. Discuss with your child the shapes found in tangrams:
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2 large right triangles
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1 medium-sized right triangle
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2 small right triangles
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1 small square
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1 parallelogram
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Talk about the properties of each of these.
Tangrams are also great for teaching children about spatial relationships. It is helpful to allow children to begin by playing with tangrams and creating their own shapes. Working to figure out how shapes can be combined to create other shapes forms the basis for the later exploration of area and perimeter.
Once children are confident at creating their own complex shapes and describing them to you, introduce the puzzle element. Can they create a specific outline shape using their tangram pieces? This promotes trial-and-error problem-solving and boosts thinking skills.
Such are the many benefits children gain from working with tangrams, they are highly recommended for classroom use. As well as all the benefits listed above, congruency, similarity, and symmetry can all be explored using tangrams.
What’s even better is that your child may think you’ve forgotten all about the day’s maths lesson and are simply allowing them to play!
Try these tangram resources:
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Make your own tangram
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Beginning with just 4 shapes, can you click, drag, flip and rotate them to fill the outline shapes here on Math Playground?
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Can you make each of the outline shapes on World of Tan?
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The following challenges are all to be found on NCTM. Is it possible to complete all them all?
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Make a square using only one tangram piece.
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Make a square using two tangram pieces.
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Make a square using three tangram pieces.
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Make a square using four tangram pieces.
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Make a square using five tangram pieces.
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Make a square using six tangram pieces.
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Make a square using all seven tangram pieces.
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Which of these figures can you make using all seven tangram pieces?
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A trapezoid
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A rectangle that is not a square
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A parallelogram that is not a square
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A triangle
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Independent Learning Activities
Music
Watch this video – What music shares with art – and learn about the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern Periods in both.
Maestro Classics have 13 fabulous curriculum guides available. Each of the guides makes recommendations for cross-curricular links across a range of subjects. These represent an extremely comprehensive body of work. Even if you choose not to use them this week, I suggest bookmarking them to later return to.
On the music theme, are you aware Myleene Klass has created a YouTube channel and is regularly uploading videos teaching children in Myleene’s Music Klass? The videos are short and introduce children to the basics of music. In the video below, Myleene and her daughters teacher about tempo.
Art
Although this is placed in the independent category, I recommend an an initial discussion to explore the elements of art – colour, line, shape and texture – with your child. Useful background information is to be found here on Class Playground. This is the companion site to Toy Theater – a site I have recommended previously.
The Class Playground teaching blog on the art element of line links to ToyTheater activities on exploring line including some interactive doodles.
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On the doodle pad, your child can experiment with lines of different colours and sizes.
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There are also interactive doodles in which children can learn about, view and doodle over the work of many celebrated artists. This is a great way to familiarise children with many renowned figures of the art world and see different styles of art. This may be a useful foundation upon which to base the discussion about what makes a piece of art great.
English Reading
As mentioned above, many of us get the idea very early on that we are ‘bad’ at art. The Dot by Peter Reynolds explores this idea and is a lovely one to share with children if you can get your hands on a copy. It is a brilliant story upon which to base a discussion about the power of words to encourage/discourage.
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Learn more about the book on Peter’s website and try some of his dot activity suggestions.
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Get more ideas for using the book here on Teaching Ideas.
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Follow Peter on Facebook for read alouds , Twitter (@peterhreynolds) for news and updates and on his new YouTube channel.
If your child loves The Dot, (s)he may really love hearing the Obamas reading The Word Collector by Peter H Reynolds. Hear them read it here:
CardEd
Here’s week 10 in our weekly CardEd Activity series!
Mindfulness
When all of the art and the work for the week is complete, if you have Netflix, consider relaxing and experiencing nature’s art as filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg highlights the beauty that lurks in oceans, forests, deserts and flowers.
The accompanying calming music really supports relaxation. Teaching children to take time out and relax is really important for them. You may wish to take the time to sit together enjoying the calm and unwinding.
