Arts- Infused Activity File
Name:Emily FitzgeraldDate: March 1, 2015
Topic: Animal Adaptations
Grade Level/SOL: 3.4 Students will learn and understand how animals can adapt to surroundings.
Art or Arts involved (painting, sculpting, etc.):Sculpting, molding clay, water, popsicle sticks, other molding tools (all provided).
What are some of the big ideas that students will walk away with after participating in this activity? (essential knowledge)Students will be able to better understand and identify adaptations of animals, through simple knowledge of surroundings. Students will be able to explain the importance of adaptations and how habitat influences adaptations and life.
Briefly state how arts activities are infused into this lesson:Arts can be integrated into this lesson on animal adaptations in many different ways, using many materials. Students can draw or create different animals with their background knowledge. Construction paper, scissors and markers can be used by students to create their own animals-giving them adaptations regarding their specified environment, this allows children to use their own creativity while showing their comprehension of the importance of adaptations.
List ALL materials necessary to carry out this activity.Necessary materials: construction paper, pencils, molding clay, molding tools, water, cups, toothpicks, model animals, video on preparing/understanding how to mold clay.
Briefly list the teaching steps in order of classroom instruction. (summary of beginning, middle and end)
Introduce animal adaptations through the use of books (focused on specific animals/their habitat) and a powerpoint explaining different adaptations. See how students can think of adaptations in their own life-maybe things they notice at home with pets (dogs with webbed feet, etc) or experiences at the zoo. Then see how they understand the adaptations. Have an interactive worksheet, matching animals to their habitat/adaptations for their habitat. Next, show the students a video on molding clay. Ask them if they have every played with Pla-doh and have them create a correlation between the two. Break the students into groups and have them use the molding clay to create an animal. Then see if they can add on adaptations for specific environments, such as all the animals live in the ocean, what will they need? See how they can add/take away different adaptations for the specified environment. Finally, have the students choose their favorite environment and explain how their animal (real or made up), could live/adapt to the surroundings,
How would you assess student learning to ensure mastery of the correlating SOL? (informal, formal)The informal assessment is in the beginning, having them complete the worksheet-showing their understanding of adaptations for different habitats. I would want to see how they match up the animals to the habitat and have them explain it in their appointed groups. The formal assessment would be their presentation of their animal in their favorite, chosen environment. I would be able to see how they understand the correlations between adaptations and environments.
How will you manage the class during the activity? What will you tell the class to ensure a successful lesson?
How will you incorporate/include special needs/ELL/ESL students?
Incorporating special needs children will consist of the buddy system. I feel as though when there are children who do not fully understand the information, a partner activity helps them better understand/correlate materials. Also, using pictures and matching will increase their performance because many children are visual learners and can see the correspondence between pictures and words.
4/5-Participation in activity, file submitted
2/3-Participation in activity, no file submitted
1/0-little to no participation , no file submitted or submitted late