Project for a Substitute Teacher: Art Vocabulary Application Worksheet

I find planning for a sub more difficult than when I am just here at school, that's one of the reasons I try not to take off much work! When I do, however, I find myself debating, "How much do I trust the kids? How much do I trust the sub? Am I going to come back to art supplies all around the room? Are they going to finish the assignment in 5 minutes and then have nothing to do?" I have a slue of horror stories about subs, but the great thing is that I will have at least one honest kid who will tell me what really went down while the sub was here :) 

Anyway, I am always on the lookout on activities for my students to do while I am gone (just in case). I am taking some of my kids on a field trip this Friday, so last week I was searching for something for the rest of my kids to do while I'm out. (It is also the day before spring break, so I needed to make sure that there is enough rigor in my plans so that they can focus and not get all crazy.) Luckily, I have found an awesome sub who is an artist, so letting them use limited art supplies hasn't been an issue. While searching the web and Pinterest I had a hard time finding something that I liked, so I just created my own. 

Lesson: Art Vocabulary Application Worksheet for Sub

Materials: worksheet, list of vocabulary words, pencil, colored pencils, hand held pencil sharpeners, scissors, magazines, glue sticks (I keep the art supplies on their tables and assign a table leader to make sure everything gets put away properly)

Each student will get a packet of the same worksheet copied 4 times. The worksheet has 4 different boxes. The first box prompts the students to look up the definition of the word in the art textbooks at their table, the next box has the student draw an example of the word, the following has the student cut an image from a magazine that illustrates the word and the last box requires the student to use this vocabulary word in a sentence. The students will repeat this process on the 3 other pages attached to the packet with different words that they have selected from the list. When I return, I will look through the packets and select the best examples, then I will have that student teach the class that art vocabulary word and the students will take notes. Then, the students will have a quiz on those vocabulary words.

Benefits: 

• There are a lot of different tasks that the students have to complete in a limited amount of time, leaving less time for them to horse around.
• The students are going through the basic learning cycle by looking up the definition, applying it and then teaching the class.
• They still get to use some art supplies. If I have them do a writing assignment inevitably I hear "Why are we doing reading and writing in art class?"
• It puts the responsibility of learning back onto the students. I'm not giving a 20 minute lecture over essential art vocabulary, but they are teaching themselves and the class about the words. 

Art Vocabulary Application Worksheet

List of Art Vocabulary Words

Practical Teaching Tip: Rolling out Ceramic Slabs

This year I applied for a grant to have a visiting artist come into my class and work with my students to create a community service project. The artist specializes in ceramic tile and murals. The location my students selected to install the mural is a child care center in our community that focuses on students with special needs. After many sketches and visits to the school, we devised a plan. Each student is going to create a ceramic tile to boarder a window. In the community room of their building there are 3 large windows. One is shaped like a triangle, one is the shape of a semi-circle and the other is a square. Each window is going to have a different theme (outer space, our world, and locally our state Florida).

Practical Tip: I don't have a slab roller. Usually my students just roll out their slabs with dowel rods and a rolling pin. The artist brought a little contraption that I would like to share. Her husband used some scrap materials from his wood shop, but of course you could use other wood materials. Basically, there is a bottom piece with slats stapled to the sides. Then she used canvas to cover the wood so that the clay would not stick. She also used foam shelf liner.

The board with slats stapled to the sides

The set up: board, canvas, foam shelf liner, rolling pin and wooden stencils

Students Rolling out their Slabs

Step 1: Get your piece of clay, wedge it and then begin to flatten it out with your hand.
Step 2: Next, put the clay on the canvas inbetween the slate, and roll the slab out with a rolling pin (you should flip the clay to stretch it and change the direction of the particles so that it does not warp).
Step 3: Finally, gently roll the foam shelf liner on the back (you do this so that it creates a texture on the back of the tile. This helps to aid in drying, helps to prevent warping of the tile, and gives it grooves so that when you attach it to a wall it has grip.
Step 4: Use a stencil to cut out your tile. We used  a piece of wood the size of the tile, so that they would be consistent throughout all of their tiles.

Special Note: at first I had my students put the foam shelf liner under the clay and then roll their clay out. Since our clay was fresh it was really wet and was getting stuck to the foam shelf liner, so that it why in Step 3 I say to make the texture after.