"Colored Chalk ~ Cut-Out" Activity
Submitted by tsliwoski on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
- Category: American History
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"Colored Chalk ~ Cut-Out" Activity
Teaching through the arts--as a strategy to help students understand content--is a powerful way to connect learners with ideas and emotions. Art engages children in developing verbal and nonverbal communication skills and allows all learners to actively participate in expressing and presenting thoughts and feelings. When the arts are involved, written and verbal barriers disappear and a new language emerges--empowering learners to communicate, especially my 9th grade students learning English as a second language.
I believe that communication--language--is the key to learning . The arts are a fantastic means for motivating all students in learning, sharing experiences, and thinking about what has been learned. Ms. Kaplan's "colored chalk/cut-out" activity promotes the imaginative use of materials—paper, scissors, tape, chalk and tissues—and can be adapted to various curriculum areas while teaching organization, sequence, and directions. I planned this activity for first thing last Monday morning. It was unexpected, stimulating to my students, and set an expressive tone for the whole week! I followed the same procedures as Ms. Kaplan, except some students really wanted to use blue paper. I explained that the effect would differ from the black paper, but I believe in choice. They realized the difference at the end. Next time maybe they will listen to me. Otherwise, the results speak for themselves. I was thrilled, the kids surprised themselves, their parents gazed upon a beautiful wall during conferences, the principal was impressed, and some green-eyed Art teachers grumbled at me for a few days.
All of my ESL learners understood touch, rhythm, and movement before they began to understand words in English. They color and draw before they form words. In order for learners to develop their abilities and realize their full potential, they must be exposed to many kinds of knowledge and ways of expressing their thoughts. I believe that the...
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