Today we had our final teacher candidate lesson on creating our own stained glass window art. First, we went over a PowerPoint that discussed the history of stained glass as well as provided several examples of the stained glass windows. During the PowerPoint we were asked to write down 3 facts on a notecard that would eventually be a part of our project. Our teacher candidate's discussed the color schemes we would need to incorporate into our stained glass. An example of a color scheme are complementary colors such as green and red. After we discussed the color scheme, we were taught how to stencil our holiday design using an exacto knife. Once we cut out the different pieces of our stencil, we glued tissue paper to the back to create our different color schemes for the stained glass. To complete the project, we cut the outside of the stencil to keep the shape of the holiday picture.
As an extension activity to go along with the holiday theme, the students will create their own stained glass snowflakes. Students will create a cut out of the snowflake shape and then focus on creating geometric shapes. Once the designs are all cut out, students will glue tissue paper on the back of the snowflake much like we did in our stained glass window art lesson. The students will create designs within the snowflake to achieve balance and symmetry. This activity would be part of a math lesson focusing on symmetry and geometric shapes.
Here is an example of my stained glass window art. I used a warm color scheme (yellow, gold, orange) as well as complementary colors (red and green) to meet the rubric expectations.
Also this week, we had another teacher candidate lesson on print making. We created sketches using the back of paintbrushes to create composition in the foam paper. At the beginning of the lesson we went through a powerpoint presentation to show the class what we would be creating and then the teacher candidates provided finished examples of the project. First, we practiced drawing a nature scene on the back of our rubric to get a feel of what we will be creating on our foam paper. We began creating our composition on the foam paper, keeping in mind to press down hard so the image will show up clear once we applied the paint. We used a roller to roll ink onto the foam paper and completely covered the whole page. Once the whole page was covered, we put the ink side of the foam down onto a colored piece of construction paper and pressed firmly. To reveal the scene we created, we rewmoved the foam paper carefully from the construction paper.
As an extension activity to print making, the students will create their own Christmas and/or holiday story (e.g. Santa's helper). The images in the story will be created by the students painting. The words used for the story will be written out, the teacher will type and print them out for the students to glue onto their paper. The print making will consist of creating an image for a title page that goes along with the story. The students will have the choice of different color paints to use to roll onto their foam paper. Once again, we will focus on using complementary colors for the paint and construction paper.
Here is my example of print making:
This week during our teacher candidate lessons, we created cave art using crumpled paper bags and colored "mud paint" using dirt, powder tempera, and water. We started the lesson by talking about a favorite memory we had growing up and how that memory was recorded. We discussed that events were recorded thousands of years ago by cave and rock paintings using elements in nature. To create our cave painting, we used our fingers to scoop up the mud paint and applied it to the paper bag. We were encouraged to mix colors and use a variety of the colors of mud paint to create our cave painting. Once our painting was finished, we went in groups to discuss how we created our paintings and how we felt when creating it.
For an extension activity, the students could create a cave painting as if they lived in the prehistoric time period, not related to a favorite memory. Once the students are finished with their painting, at random, the teacher could hand out a cave painting to each student so everyone has one at their desk. The students will use creative thinking to write a short story of one of their classmates cave painting. At the end of the week each student will be able to read their short story about the cave painting and then the real event will be identified from the original painter.
My favorite memory consisted of going up to Alexandria, Minnesota and visiting my grandparents at their lake cabin. Here is a picture of my cave painting:
