Painting and a story

We talked about how George Washington crossed the Delaware River. Mrs. Beauchamp projected a picture of George Washington and his fleet crossing the Delaware River. She asked us what we seen in the painting. She then had us stare at this painting as she read us a story. I found this to be very powerful because I could almost see what the men on the boat were feeling and thinking. It also gave a little onsite to why George Washington did what he did and what he was feeling and thinking as he led all of those men into battle. After she read the story she then asked us the same question about the painting, "Now what do you see in the painting?", our answers where completely different. She had us all get up and recreate the painting, if you look in the background you can see the painting. By making us act out this painting it put us into the situation and made it real to us. This was a great strategy because it got us thinking about what it must have been like on that cold winter night on the water. What do you think you would have been feeling if you was in that boat on the freezing cold Delaware River knowing that you and all of the men around you were about to go into battle?

Social Studies photo questions

In this activity our teacher placed 12 powerful black and white photos about slaves. She gave each of a pad of sticky notes and we had to write something we thought about the photo whether it be an emotion, statement or question. Then after all of us made it to each photo we set them all we set back down and she asked us questions about the photos that we had just looked at. The questions ranged from, "What photo moved you the most?", or "What do you think these photos are about?" You can use this as an attention getter to warm the students up, a writing prompt or a good way to have the students get emotionally involved with the subject that the teacher is teaching. I can see me using this technique at some point in my career as a teacher.

Shoe Box Project

Dr. Sydney had us get a shoe box and gave us these directions. 

"Trade Fair and Shoebox Activity

Sydney Beauchamp

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Hello friends!

I hope you are having a great day!  I just wanted to remind you that tomorrow is our trade fair.  We will be pretending to have a trading post where we buy and sell our wares.  Please don't buy anything.  You can use things you would give away or put in a garage sale, you can make something, or if you are pressed for time, someone once brought Rise and Roll donuts and cut them up.  It was crazy!

The shoebox activity is an engagement piece that connects us empathetically to the people in history, and to people now, who must leave their homes permanently with only what they can carry in a shoebox.  You can use a regular size shoebox and the following rules apply:

• you must be able to put the lid on
• you must only give yourself 5 minutes
• all kids and pets are a given
• if something you pick has such value that it's loss or breakage would devastate you, please don't bring it to school, just put a note in your box that it would fit in there
• i will not tell you what to bring in terms of electronics etc...
• remember, only 5 minutes to think about it and get your items

This activity may cause you some stress.  The point is we want to connect to the Native Americans on the Trail of Tears, the pioneers as they left their homes and headed west, the people who had moments to leave during Hurricane Katrina.  

Take care, and I hope your day is filled with joy. 

Sydney" (Dr. Sydney Beauchamp 2015)

It was kind of hard trying to think of what we would take with us knowing what did not fit in my shoe box would be left behind and never seen again. It was interesting to see the different thought throughout the class. I could definitely see the ones that had kids and the people that were still single and the ones that are very practical. I think I was on the practical side because I made sure that I had all social security cards, birth certificates, degrees, wallet (which has my drivers license  and my family trees, that are irreplaceable and baby pictures of my son. These are things that will make it easier to transition into another place to prove all of our identities. What would you take with you if you only had 5 minutes to grab a shoe box of stuff with you?

Trade Fair

We had a trade fair today. This is where each of us brought items in that we had the intentions of trading for other good that other students brought in. There was a wide variety of things brought in ranged from clementine's, cookies figurines, Notre Dame sports memorabilia to a Vera Bradley wallet. It was fun to watch everyone walk around and trade their stuff. I brought the Vera Bradley wallet and no one traded with me. It was still fun to experience how people lived along time ago because this is how people acquired things, they bartered for different things that they wanted. I think this is a good way to bring the past into the present and make it real for the students. It would be great to have the students craft different things in class and let them know they are crafting to trade them NOT keep them and then have a trade fair. I am so excited to try this project in my very own classroom one day!!

Visit a National Park!!

Brittany, Shayla and I had to do a Badlands National Park Project. There are several things that we had to do for this project, we had to create a narrative, 4 lesson plans, an art project, and create a poster with pictures & captions. This project seemed to bring us together because we had to communicate and when one of us (mainly me) got stumped we pulled together as a team to work through any issues that we may have had. I think our project turned out pretty well! I learned so much about Badlands National Park. I think that we need to bring National Parks into our classroom more because it teaches about the history of our lands and the cultures in the areas, especially if they live near one that they could visit as a field trip. National Parks are more then just the land, there is a culture there that can be taught in just about every subject we teach in classes today.

Art Show

This are my art projects form the last 4 weeks. I called my Art display "Sharing" because every one of my projects was either made for a loved one or I was with loved ones when I made them. I made the Notre Dame blanket for my boyfriend and making another one for his mom. The wood piece my boyfriend and I were cutting trees and were found this awesome piece of wood that I painted. The salt dough was from a memory of my girls weekend with my aunts, cousins and friends. And last but not least my favorite project was the painting that I did with my boyfriend, mom, aunts and cousins at a wine and canvas. I was so surprised how well it turned out!! These projects actually inspired me to want to do more art projects and get my scrapbook stuff out and get creative!

These art projects were John's, he is the only make in our block 3 for Elementary Education.

These art projects are Kara's.

These art projects are Shayla's.

These art projects are Brittany's.

These art projects are Tara's.

These art projects are Cayla's.

These art projects are Emily's

I did not get a picture of Melissa's art projects because she had to leave early for work.

"Grandma's Love" painted textured art project

My fourth art project is painted texture. A group of eight of us went to a wine and canvas. I was not sure what to expect but I sure did not expect to actually like my painting. The way the art instructor explained it step by step made it possible for me to create a work of art that I was proud to take home with me and actually hang it on my wall. I knew in my painting that I wanted lilacs to represent both of my grandmothers who had lilac bushes in their yard. Every time I smell lilacs I think of them and I have no choice but to smile. I chose the orange tone in the background because I think it is bold, bright and cheery. The blue flower with the white and purple in it compliment the lilacs very nicely. Out of all of my art projects I think this one means the most to me because I know my grandmothers are in this painting. This project has taught me that when you look at the big picture sure it seems impossible but when you break it down and work on each step individually it is not that bad. I want to take this lesson into my classroom and teach my students that just because something seems impossible does not necessarily mean that it is. Take a portion that is manageable and work on it then move on to the next portion and before you know it, you have finished it.

"ND Keeping Me Warm" fabric art project

My third project is with fabric. I made a ND blanket so I can give it to my boyfriend for his birthday. I found that at first I really questioned my ability to do a project with fabric because I have not really worked with fabric a whole lot. I got lucky and JoAnn Fabric had fleece material on sale for 50% off! I bought 3 yards of the blue and 3 yards of the yellow material. I cut 1 yard of both colors off so that I could project the ND Logo on the material, trace it, cut it out, and then sew it to the opposite color on the 2 yards that were remaining. This blanket took me about 4 hours in total to make from start to finish. While I was making this blanket for my boyfriend, his mom kept making comments about how awesome it was looking so I made another trip to JoAnn Fabric and made another one for her to take to Florida with her. I love these blankets not only are they beautiful they will keep us warm this winter so it is practical.

            The nice thing is that I can teach a student that just because it is practical does not mean that it is not art. Art can be something that you use and look at everyday; it does not have to be just a painting. As long as it tells a story and means something to them it is a piece of art.

"Love the Seasons" sculpture art project

My second project is a sculpture. The medium I used was a piece of wood that was cut out of a tree during the summer of 2014 while my boyfriend and I were cutting wood for camping. I just loved the way the inside was eaten out in the shape of a heart naturally. I think that in itself was a piece of art. We actually got 3 pieces cut, the piece that I used for this assignment and 2 others that were given as gifts. With this I decided to do a representation of my two favorite seasons. This project would go great with a lesson about seasons, have them discuss the seasons (characteristics, months they happen) and why they do or do not like those seasons. This is was better than sitting in a classroom having a teacher lecture and never making any real world connections with curriculum.

"The View" Salt dough art project

This is my first art project was with salt dough, I made a scene from my YaYa weekend. It is the view from the front window of the house that we rented. One thing I learned while creating this is that art really is about expressing something about you or how you view something. It is not just about how well I can draw or comparing my art to someone else’s art. I think it is really important to have art in the classroom to help students put passion into their work and really connect with a subject. For example you are teaching geography and you keep hearing “I am really bad at geography” maybe you can split your class up into groups and have them make salt dough and shape it into a continent that the teacher assigns to each group. Each group has to research their assigned continent and give a presentation. When all is said and done you should have the whole world as a visual to keep in the classroom. This will help the students take ownership and the teacher is not just standing at the front of the room lecturing. When I set and think about it teachers can turn almost anything into an art project while they are still learning.