Art Blog

I would use the artwork Medicine Woman, by Beverly Buchanan, in a science content classroom. The unit I would base around this piece of art would be a recycling and reusing materials unit. The artist created a really amazing piece of art by finding odd materials and old “junk” and sculpting it to be shaped like a person. Beverly uses old cans, bottles, buttons, fabrics, wood, jars, rocks, tape and more. It would be really cool to show kids this piece of art to show them that materials can be reused and recycled to preserve them and create new things. We do not have to just throw things away and pollute the environment more. Instead we can find new uses for them and that is really impactful for kids to see. I would probably assign a project around this artwork and challenge my kids to create their on sculpture of old materials. I would allow them a lot of freedom to create whatever their imagination desired. The goal is to show them that they can use things over and over that are enjoyable for them to see. If i make them create something specific, then they might not enjoy it as much and get as much out of it. I think it would be really cool to see how creative they could get with household items that they would normally consider “junk.”

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Are Book Clubs and Podcasts a Good Idea in the Classroom?

I think book clubs are a really cool idea and reading is so important for students, but I’m not sure that it is ideal for a content area class. I think it might take too long and you would probably need to give students a long time to read the book to help break it down better. I personally think it is a better idea to go through a content related book and find passages/chapters that you as a teacher believe are important and present those in some way. I think this still offers important aspects of reading and will still help students’ reading skills without placing a huge burden on them outside of class and making it seem like busy work. With those passages being read and being talked about in class, I think it would be super cool for students to create a podcast about it in class. It would show their understanding of what they have read and provide insight into what they are thinking about the text provided and what impact it has on them. It is a way for the students to really get involved and make an assignment fun so I think they would be really into it.