Middle Level Lesson Plans

Middle School Lesson Plan for Fourth and Eight Grade

For the Lesson Plan Click this Link: Lesson Plan

For the Power Point Click this Link: PowerPoint

For the Fourth Grade Worksheet: Day One Day Two
For the Eighth Grade Worksheet: Day One
For the Artist Statement Worksheet: Artist Statement

For Assessment Rubrics: Rubrics

IPTS 7: The competent teacher understand and uses appropriate formative and summative assessments for determining student needs, monitoring student progress, measuring student growth, and evaluating student outcomes. The teacher makes decisions driven by data about curricular and instructional effectiveness and adjusts practices to meet the needs of each student. 

In my lesson planning I used several types of assessment appropriate to each age level and individual student needs. You will see evidence of my assessment in my rubrics (above), in my differentiated learning statement (below) and in my teaching pictures, were I am often giving students formative and summative assessments through group critique or one on one interactions. 


Differentiated Learning: 

IPTS 3: The competent teacher plans and designs instruction based on content area knowledge, diverse student characteristics, student performance data, curriculum goals, and the community context. The teacher plans for ongoing student growth and achievement. 

One of my students has an issue with self-confidence in work and has a tendency to destroy anything he gets frustrated with or doesn’t see as perfect in his mind. I had already decided that I would do muslin for the whole class not only because it is new and interesting, but because he can crumple and tear it all he wants. I would further adapt the lesson by making sure he got one on one instruction and more freedom with the guidelines than other students. Often when he is doing work that he actually likes and wants to do, he will not destroy it. Also I would not let him handle the dowel rods unsupervised. May replace the wood dowel rod with a more sturdy material so he cannot snap it in half. Additionally, I would ask for his artist statement orally so he cannot tear up what he writes.

Critical Comments and Reflections:
IPTS 4: The competent teacher structures a safe and healthy learning environment that facilitates cultural and linguistic responsiveness, emotional well-being, self-efficacy, positive social interaction, mutual respect, active engagement, academic risk-taking, self-motivation and personal goal-setting. 

One can see how I fostered a good learning environment in both classrooms though mediation, communication with students and classroom management techniques. Evidence of these actions can be seen in the photographs and reflections below.

Fourth Grade Teaching Cycle

     Successes:

Students reacted well to music exercise and seemed to have an appreciation for non-objective art.

      Problems:

Students struggled with keeping their works nonobjective. They often wanted to tell a narrative using imagery of objects. I was surprised that so many students couldn’t consciously understand that they were making objective drawings.

       Adjustments:

Perhaps do a more in-depth analysis of how elements and principles of art tell a story or express feeling. Also provide clear and strict guidelines for what elements and principles I want to see in the works.

In the introduction students responded well to my open ended questions. They especially were responsive when I asked about the associations with various famous artworks and why. I feel they understood how abstract art is interpreted because I asked them to draw from their own experiences. It was important that I asked questions that related to their current experiences for further understanding. For example, to illustrate associations, I asked them what the first thing that came to mind when they see the colors blue and orange together. When they responded with the Chicago Bears I asked them what feelings they might have that are associated with the Bears. I think to improve responses; I should give them more frameworks for academic language, such as the elements and principles of art. By providing those, students can navigate deeper into discussion.

            Overall students seemed to have enough time to be satisfied with their work. I had to give them several work notices and reframe the project for students in order for them to all complete on time. The only student who did not complete work was absent, and will be completed in a one-on-one session on a later date. None of the students were able to mount their works on the dowel rods, but I felt as an educator it was more important to focus on the abstract expression rather than having them mount their pieces, because I want them to have enough time to engage with the material. To improve the outcome of work, I should have clear expectations about how many different shapes, lines or colors to use as a basis so students understand what is expected of them. As an educator I have to remember they cannot see what I envision in my head.

            There was some closure on all days, but most of the in-depth analysis of their works happened on the last day. On the second day, I chose to display student works that I saw as strong so students can see what I was looking for. For students this is an indicator of their own performance and ideas on how to improve their own work. In closure I asked students to explain which works had strong emotions and why those works were able to show that emotion. I felt some students did not understand the goal of the critique, and perhaps I should have changed the location and framed the objectives of the critique beforehand so that students understood what I was looking for. Again, giving clear guidelines so students understand what my vision is for that activity is critical to a successful outcome.

            The work was of good quality for the most part. Only a few students seemed to rush through the project and perhaps did not engage the concepts as readily. Much of this has to do with my own classroom management. Until I could figure out what students needed to be separated and which students needed extra direction, it was complicated to make sure everyone was on the same page. Despite this, most student work was well rendered and intensely worked on. Again, a lot of this was most likely due to a combination of good work notices for students and guided practice with the music exercise. By giving students a gut response to music, they were able to have a basis for emotional abstract response. They referred to that exercise throughout the three-day lesson. Additionally, the demo I provided gave students good guidelines on craftsmanship and execution. Many times it can be assumed that most students know how to use watercolor, but the care and management of water, brushes and how to get more vibrant pigments can be lost if not instructed to do so. Giving students visual instructions allows them to understand cleaner, more efficient ways to use tools.

            In order to clarify and reinforce my points, I made sure to check on the progress of all students. Some students, namely ones who had trouble focusing, or were expressing doubt about their works, got more time than others. I made sure to enforce students who were doing well with a compliment of their work and what particularly I liked. This lets them trust me and shows them their own evidence of learning. It was also important to check in on each student’s memory. Memories can be a sensitive topic, so I made sure to discuss with each student to make sure each felt they got the proper attention.

            Overall my classroom management could use some improvement. I felt that the chaos that occurred on the first and second day could have been eliminated had I used my voice clearly and with more punch. This makes it clear to students that I mean business and that I demand respect, and in turn they will be respected. I also felt like my clean up procedures for the first day could have been improved. The chalk was unexpectedly dirty so time had to be cut out to wash hands, also clearer instructions on what to do with projects after each song could have saved the time and mess. Students need clear instructions on how and when to clean up because they will often wander or get rowdy without instruction. From a student perspective, I would think they saw me as “not a real teacher” and I didn’t mean business.

            I was successful in improving my voice and management by the last day. I was able to conduct the class by using several strategies. One strategy is saying “I’ll wait” which lets students know they cannot continue to work on projects unless they stop what they are doing and focus on me. I also called out individual student to rephrase what was just said or to answer a question. Most times, those students would stop the behavior because they do not want the negative attention from the other students and often were embarrassed having not been paying attention. These two strategies, plus more power to my voice was an effective way of managing a classroom without negatively punishing students, rather it was enforcing procedure of the classroom. I also felt that I did well in adapting the lesson to one student who has an issue with tearing up his work if he is unsatisfied with it. To combat that, I made sure I checked on him one on one and even used his work as a strong example. He felt his work was too negative and wasn’t good enough. What I saw was the aggression of doing this project expressed through dark heavy scribbling marks, a very literal emotional response that can be easily interpreted as anger by the rest of the class. I enforced what I saw was good in his work and by using those aspects as an exemplar; I made him feel good about his work. Overall I noticed that my one on one interactions were stronger because I as able to capture their attention more easily. It was important to have these one on one interaction because it gave students guidance and showed tat I cared about what they were making.

Eighth Grade Teaching Cycle

     Successes:

            Students conceptually understood the project and are responding well to vocabulary.                       

     Problems:

At first students had difficulty keeping their objects nonobjective. They also struggled with timing and keeping on task.

      Adjustments:

In the future I would definitely have a more guided brainstorming session and an analysis of common associations and connotations of shapes and lines and colors. (Ex. red is widely accepted as a symbol of anger in our culture).

Throughout the lesson students reacted very well to my prompts and open-ended questions. I always made sure to rephrase and reframe the questions in ways that matched the context of their lives as an eighth grade student. When confronted with other issues, such as vocabulary, I made sure to ask guiding questions about the topic instead of giving students the direct answer, so students can create meaning for themselves. For example, when determining the elements and principles of art, students were familiar with terms such as “shape”, “color”, and “movement” but did not recognize that each of these terms was an element or principle. I asked the class to consider what it meant if “shape” and “color” were examples of elements, then what might an element of art be? What other examples of elements are there in the world (like science)? From there students were able to use their previous knowledge and respond to my question in a more meaningful way. In the future I would be sure to keep restructuring and perhaps reframe more of my questions to go deeper with students, especially in areas they are unfamiliar with such as asking about how one might work non objectively.

            All students were able to complete their works, and from their feedback, they were satisfied with what they were able to complete. Because of extra sessions I was able to really push the planning aspect of the project further than in previous trials of this lesson. I did not allow students to proceed unless they indicated they understood that they were to be nonobjective and that they were using elements and principles to display emotions. This improved the craftsmanship of their pieces because they had more carefully considered their ideas and how to execute them. I also decided, on the second day, to do another more clear demonstration on how to use the oil pastel. Students needed to know how to make clean and solids lines or shapes, and in response, students generally were able to exhibit better craftsmanship. Again, I think in future lessons I would do a small segment to investigate common cultural associations and color meanings to expedite the planning process and allow students to form deeper meanings in their works.

            Each day had some form of closure. On the first day I had students set out their music drawing exercise and do a walk around. They were able to point out different techniques and approaches their classmates used to respond to the music. From there we did several formative closures during the workdays. During those closures I generally asked a student about a particular method they were using and allowed them to share their thoughts about that method to the class. For example, one student managed bold color in her background. I asked her to share what her thoughts were when choosing to use that bold purple. Her response was that she wanted to create a focal point (a vocabulary word that was not in our lesson, but was integrated in later discussions) and emphasize the happy portion of her memory. She added that by using less water and more pigment from the watercolors she was able to achieve that bold color. For me, it showed she understood the concepts I was presenting and allowed other students to learn from peer works and begin analyzing their own works. The last day included a final critique were students shared their struggles of working, successes, and their narrative. If I were to improve the critiques I would set stricter guidelines for positive comments during critique. Occasionally students would blurt out something they didn’t like about another student’s work. I would emphasize that critiques are about being constructive and that students should include a complement and a suggestion when addressing a technique that wasn’t as successful.

            Their work was of excellent quality. Students responded well and took their time in creating their projects. I made sure to emphasize the importance of craftsmanship during demonstration and in one-on-one interactions. Some students needed clarification and extra direction. On the board I created a flow chart to help students understand how the lesson is designed for them to think about abstract art.

           

By giving students this flow chart, it was much easier for them to refer to the logical steps they had been taking in a more conscious manner. This allowed them to work more nonobjectively. All of the students had good pacing, mostly due to keeping them on task and good work notices. Only a few students rushed a little during the oil pastel section. In the future I would be clearer about composition and the possibilities of composition. While most works incorporated a lot of the elements and principles, I could have taken more time to allow students a method of arranging these components in a more logical way.

          I made my instructions and clarified constantly in my lesson. I checked their progress based on their brainstorming worksheets and seeing how much they completed and the quality of the items they were responding with. Using that data, I reinforced concepts that seemed to be lacking, such as what colors or shapes they could use for their pieces in reference to the emotions they were choosing. I always made sure to point out what students were doing well. For example, one student was contrasting a murky blue with a pale red. She explained that this contrast evokes the feeling of fear. I held up her work and showed other students what she did in order to reinforce my point about matching colors to the meaning of the work.

            As a whole, my classroom management was fairly strong. I felt that I was fairly strict about students responding with their hands raised, though occasionally I let students respond freely and openly. Only when they were talking over each other frequently did I enforce hand raising. In the first few lessons I referred to my class as “you guys”. Not only does this alienate the girls in the classroom, but it also is too informal for an educator to address a student. By the last lessons I adjusted to using “8^th graders” and “class” or “ladies and gentleman” to reestablish my authority and to call upon the whole class, not just the boys. I also used a strong voice that was confident and clear. Additionally I was sure to rephrase students’ responses and inserted academic vocabulary from the lesson objectives. On occasion, I would insert vocabulary that was not included, such as “representational” or “analogous colors” to enrich their learning experience and give them the vocabulary they needed during critiques and formative discussions. My one on one interaction was fairly strong. I was able to redirect students who were having trouble working nonobjectively. When one student in particular asked if she could use an emoticon in her artwork I asked her if it is an object. She wasn’t sure. From there I was able to direct the question to the class, where they finally came to the consensus that an emoticon was objective, but she could use yellow circles to express the joy of text messaging with reference to those familiar yellow faces used phone correspondence. Something I can improve on is making sure students are only using positive comments when talking to each other. Sometimes they would say something is stupid or silly, and by day two and three I demanded that only positive words will be allowed in my classroom space. I need to work on my enforcement of positive language.

            Overall I have grown tremendously since my first lesson. In my first lesson, my classroom management was weak, my distribution of supplies was ineffective and my voice was unclear and too quiet. Now I have greatly improved on my management and authority in the classroom by making my voice stronger and not letting kids talk over each other. I was very flexible in my lessons and was, by the second round of teaching, recognize where students were getting stuck. In response I changed the brainstorming sessions and made an adjusted worksheet. I feel more confident in the classroom and am one step closer to being a well-rounded and responsive teacher. 

Exhibition: