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Lesson Plans


Re: the BIG picture

[ Thread ][ Subject ][ Author ][ Date ]
Becky Alexander (Bekalex)
Sun, 5 Jan 1997 08:44:28 -0700

>Sandra! I would like to say hurrah to your description of the big pictur,
>the question asked by Numo Jager:
>>What are we teaching in terms of the BIG picture? What do you all see the
>>big picture as?
>I so much agree with you and especially the very importance of
>this:
>> While I want to see the arts have high standards, I also am proud to be
>>associated with an area of study in which the act of creating (or
>>performing, etc.) and the sense of personal accomplishment is what is most
>>valuable, not necessarily the product. The attitudes and qualities that
>>participation in the arts develops are essential to life-long learning,
>>productivitiy, and personal happiness!>
>I sometimes wonder if we all think about the very importance of this often
>enough and the fact that no other subject can do this as well as the arts.
>I think we need to stress that factor at all times. Regards, Rosa

Hi all!!

One of the biggest reasons I teach Kindergarten is because I like to teach
in all areas! And I get to incorporate the arts everywhere!

But I, too, think it's necessary to be reminded of the *Big Picture*. I
know it's easy for me to get bogged down in the myriad details of the
expectancies.

But visual arts opens the kids up to more than the naming of 8 colors and
how to draw a house! I use it to show them that their work is valuable; to
see, and to think and talk about what they see; to feel, and to think and
talk about what they feel. (Oral language is so important to reading skills
and I love using the arts to enlarge the children's vocabulary.)

I use it to give a sense of history and culture (at a 5-year-old level!) :)

I use it when we read the books with the wonderful illustrations.

I use it when we talk about their new tennis shoes! (Or anything else that
comes across our lives and makes an impact! (Project: You show me the
design you would put on a new pair of shoes! Then make the second shoe
exactly the same.)

I use it to develop their sense of aesthetic valuing (Which picture do you
like better? - Why? - What part of it? - Would you want it in your house? -
Where? -
Do you think it was hard to make? Very hard? A little bit hard?)

In journals they show and dictate what they liked about a lesson, what they
can do well and what they need to practice.

This is obviously in addition to the production. :)

(Sounds a little like DBAE?)

Becky Alexander
Porterville Ca.